Ontario school played Palestinian protest song as Remembrance Day music

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An Ottawa school played an Arabic-language Palestinian protest song associated with fighting in Gaza as the soundtrack to its Remembrance Day presentation, causing outrage and distress for some students and parents.

The song was the sole musical accompaniment to a slide show of Canadian soldiers and words about peace shown at three Remembrance Day ceremonies for different age groups at Sir Robert Borden school on Monday, according to students and parents.

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The musical selection was distracting and distressing to some in the audience, particularly Jewish students, some of whom complained to the principal afterwards.

Principal Aaron Hobbs defended the selection during one of those meetings, saying it was chosen to bring diversity and inclusion to Remembrance Day that is usually only about “a white guy who has done something related to the military.”

Hours later, after Hobbs had “a closed-door meeting,” staff said when National Post tried to contact him, he sent an email to the school community apologizing.

“It has come to my attention that the inclusion of the song ‘Haza Salam’ in the program caused significant distress to some members of our school community. For this, I would like to offer my apologies,” Hobbs said in the letter.

“We acknowledge that Remembrance Day is a solemn occasion, where the focus should remain on honouring those who have sacrificed their lives for the freedoms we hold dear. The inclusion of a song that could be seen as politically charged was not in line with the values of respect and unity that we strive to uphold at this school,” Hobbs said in his letter.

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Several parents and students who spoke to National Post said they could hardly believe what song was selected for the school assemblies for students from grade seven to 12.

“It is hard to believe I’m hearing this at an assembly in Canada for Remembrance Day,” said a student who asked their name not be published, not out of fear of the administration but from other students.

“It was weird. I was confused. What is this song saying?”

No one would allow a song in Hebrew to be played, even if it was called Shalom, at a Canadian Remembrance Day ceremony

Several students used a phone app to identify the song and it took them to music platforms featuring artwork of Palestinian protests and additional songs by the artist that seem less focussed on peace, the students said.

The song was Haza Salam by Mahim Ahmed, according to the students.

The title is often translated into English as “This is Peace” and it appears to have been released less than two months after the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks on Israel by Hamas.

It has since become identified with Palestinian protests about Israel and the continuing war in Gaza. Online, versions of the song have been made into videos showing montages of photos of causalities from Gaza, Palestinian protests, and artificial intelligence-derived images of combat scenes with explosions.

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“There was only one song. There were no other ethnic songs, or other songs, just one. It was played three times,” said a parent of a student at the school who asked not to be named.

“They chose an Arabic song about peace for Gaza as the only song to play for a Remembrance Day service.”

Erica Phillips, who has a child enrolled in the school, said she was upset when she heard about the school’s Remembrance Day service.

“I have a great uncle who was in the war, in the air force, and he was shot down over Italy and taken prisoner. This service took away from the events of the war, it took away for the sacrifices of my great uncle and others. I became very emotional,” she said.

“This day is supposed to be about remembrance. When I think of everything my uncle went through and still survived and went on to raise a family — my child got none of that at school today.

“What they did was not about that. It did not represent that at all. It ignored my great uncle’s memory. It is not inclusive when you are excluding others,” Phillips said.

Another parent, who is Jewish, said the song is one in a long line of similar incidents at the school that make Jewish students uncomfortable or fearful.

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“No one would allow a song in Hebrew to be played, even if it was called Shalom, at a Canadian Remembrance Day ceremony. It should have been a song in English or French or an Indigenous language. How did Arabic become an official language of Canada?

“Something is wrong at the top,” said the parent, who asked not to be named publicly for the sake of their child.

Although Hobbs disagreed the song was problematic at a meeting he had with several students, he later changed his message.

“We recognize that the song chosen — while intended to highlight themes of peace — also inadvertently caused offence and discomfort to some students, and for that, we regret our choice,” Hobbs said in the letter to school families.

Lisa MacLeod, member of provincial parliament for the riding of Nepean, where Sir Robert Borden school is just a kilometre down the road from her constituency office, decried the school’s assembly.

She said using the song did not follow the Royal Canadian Legion protocols and was distressing to Jewish students.

MacLeod said she spoke with the school board’s director, Pino Buffante, and “shared my anger, disappointment and, honestly, utter confusion on how Remembrance Day at a school whose namesake was Prime Minister in World War One could get this so wrong.”

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MacLeod is calling for discipline against the principal.

Hobbs did not respond to phone messages or emails from National Post on Monday.

Joe Koraith, a spokesperson with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, said the board had no comment on the Remembrance Day issue beyond the letter from Hobbs.

In 2022, two Jewish student alleged they walked into a room at Sir Robert Borden school to be greeted by students speaking in a German-like accent who made a Nazi salute. There was a swastika, the symbol of Nazi Germany which perpetrated the Holocaust during the Second World War, depicted on the floor.

Two students were charged with hate crime offences in connection to the incident, that occurred before Hobbs became principal.

• Email: ahumphreys@postmedia.com | X: AD_Humphreys

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