A school board in Canada has cancelled an event with ISIS survivor Nadia Murad, claiming that her presentation will offend Muslims and encourage “Islamophobia.” Murad would discuss her book The Last Girl: My Story Of Captivity with children from the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), Canada’s biggest school board with approximately 600 schools, in February 2022 at Tanya Lee’s book club.
Murad’s exposé details her escape from ISIS after she was kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery when she was 14 years old. Her book tells her tale of being raped and tortured before fleeing to a refugee camp in Durhok, northern Iraq, and eventually to Germany, where she currently resides.
The Toronto District School Board(TDSB) has prohibited kids from attending the event, claiming that it will promote Islamophobia. Superintendent of the TDSB, Helen Fisher, raised concerns over Murad’s book, urging that kids should not attend the February session with the author as it could offend Muslim students.
Tanya Lee has written an email to the superintendent about the matter. In the email, she has written, “This is the meaning of the Islamic State. It’s a terrorist group, to be sure. It has no effect on ordinary Muslims.” According to The Telegraph, she has also written, “The Toronto school board should be aware of the difference.”
Notably, this is not the first time that the TDSB has been accused of promoting the ‘cancel culture.’ A Room Of Your Own Book Club featured author and lawyer Marie Henein in October, while he was defending Canadian radio star Jian Ghomeshi against sexual assault accusations. Despite the fact that Ghomeshi was cleared of all charges in 2016, the TDSB refused to allow its pupils to attend the gathering.
It is noteworthy that Murad was the first Iraqi woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy against sexual assault and abuse. She is a major advocate for genocide and sexual abuse survivors, as well as a UN Goodwill Ambassador.
