The valedictorian at a west Ottawa high school says she’s been told not to come to school Monday after she made pro-Palestinian remarks during a speech at her commencement ceremony.
Elizabeth Yao largely focused on highlights from the past four years at Bell High School during her speech on Thursday, including a memorable waffle fundraiser and the days spent dozing off while reading Shakespeare.
Her comments on the war in Gaza came at the end, after a land acknowledgement.
“As a commitment to truth and reconciliation, I must acknowledge colonial and genocidal atrocities today, including the massacre of more than 17,000 Palestinian children in Gaza,” Yao said, breaking off as the crowd cheered.
The next day, Yao said she received a call from her principal, who said her statements had “caused harm” and told her she shouldn’t come to school on Monday.
That decision is being criticized by some as going against Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) policy. Yao said she stands by her speech and planned to go back to school on Monday.
“I’m a little angry, maybe, at the unfortunate situation, especially since I had connected the situation to the values of the school board and what I had learned throughout my four years of being at the school,” she said.
“I was applying that to being an advocate and making sure that those who are oppressed have a voice in our society.”
‘Took focus away’ from graduation, says board
Since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023, more than 50,000 children have been reportedly killed or injured in Gaza, according to UNICEF.
In an email sent to parents after the commencement ceremony, which Yao provided to CBC, her principal wrote that her speech “intentionally took focus away from the purpose of the event, celebrating the achievement of our graduating class.”
But the escalating war in Gaza was an ever-present concern for her class through their high school years, Yao said, noting that her school has a large Arab and Muslim population.
“I have seen it affect the students around me, as they have gone on walkouts and protests in the past in order to make the Canadian government aware of what is going on,” she said.
School board trustee Lyra Evans told CBC she’s been fielding a lot of emails, texts and calls, but none of them were unhappy with Yao’s comments.
“[They] have been asking how on earth or why on earth are we suspending valedictorians and potentially putting their future in jeopardy with three weeks left to go in school,” Evans said.
Hanna Abdalla, Yao’s friend and fellow graduate, said she didn’t hear from anyone who was upset with Yao’s speech.
“I don’t think it was fair to [be] putting our valedictorian on blast,” said Abdalla. “What about the harm, the daily harm, that Palestinian students back in Palestine go through every day?”
CBC asked for an interview with the school’s principal, but the OCDSB said they would not be commenting.
In an email Monday, an OCDSB spokesperson said the board did “not feel that commencement ceremonies provide the appropriate forum” for “respectful, safe and supportive discussions,” compared to other unspecified opportunities to do so throughout the school year.
They wrote that no students were suspended as a result of the speech. Yao has not responded to questions from CBC about what happened Monday.
‘Anti-Palestinian erasure’
After her situation drew so much attention, Yao was put in touch with the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), a non-profit advocacy and lobby group.
Nusaiba Al-Azem, director of legal affairs for the NCCM, told CBC she believes the school violated OCDSB policies by both telling Yao not to come to school without officially suspending her and for punishing her for pro-Palestinian statements.
“To imply that what [Yao] said was harmful is itself a form of anti-Palestinian erasure and anti-Palestinian racism, which the school board has a specific policy against,” she said.
Evans agreed that Yao did not break any rules. She cited the OCDSB’s own guidelines, which say “slogans or symbols that signal solidarity, such as ‘Free Palestine’ etc. are permitted so long as they don’t violate the code of conduct.”
The school board should revoke the suspension, ensure no mark is made on Yao’s Ontario student record, and issue an apology to the broader Palestinian community, Evans said.
