The head of the Markham Public Library is promising to undertake a “thorough review” after a decision was made to briefly remove Islamic Heritage Month displays from branches while complaints from staff and community members about favouring one side of the Israel-Hamas war were being investigated.
Catherine Biss, MPL’s CEO, said during a news conference on Tuesday that the review of relevant policies and procedures will be conducted in response to an email that surfaced on social media in which staff were directed to “take down any merchandising on this topic” and not “actively promote” Islamic Heritage Month as to not be perceived as “taking a particular side.”
The email in question appears to have been written by Karen Yang, the library’s publicity and marketing manager, and sent last Wednesday.
In a statement issued on Monday Bliss called the email “inaccurate” and apologized “for any confusion or hurt this has caused the community.”
On Tuesday she told reporters that the email was“sent out prematurely,” but would not speak further to what occurred, calling it a “HR matter.”
She added that library management did meet one morning last week and decided to advise staff to remove the displays until a review was completed. By that afternoon, they directed staff to return them, she noted.
All Islamic Heritage Month displays are now present in all libraries and will remain on display for the remainder of October.
Biss said typically MPL reviews complaints and then makes determinations on the direction it plans to take moving forward. However, she suggested that in this case a mistake was made.
“In retrospect, while we were following our normal process, I want to apologize for the confusion and the hurt that this has caused,” she said. “I take full responsibility and apologize to the community.”
Biss also said that MPL would be reaching out to local faith-based communities to “reassure them of our commitment to diversity and rebuild trust that has been lost as a result of this incident.”
"I want to be absolutely clear that in no way does MPL confuse Islam, Islamic culture, or Muslim people with the events in the Middle East,” she said.
Biss’s public remarks come one day after the National Council of Muslim Canadians (NCCM) denounced the decision to order the removal of the displays and called for an immediate investigation by the City of Markham.
“We do not think that those involved in making such a decision deserve to be on the city payroll any longer. We cannot tolerate Islamophobia - especially not from our institutions. Period. There must be zero tolerance,” the organization said in a statement posted to social media.d Israel just over a week ago there’s been a “major spike in Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism.”
During an interview with CP24 late Tuesday afternoon, Aasiyah Khan, the organization’s COO and director of education, said MPL’s apology is a good start, but more must be done.
“The community has called for accountability. To see an email like that go out during this time of you know, a community, a number of communities feeling increasingly hurt, isolated, and also, you know, feeling really alone right now, and so seeing this come out at this particular moment and being used in this way to actually remove displays during IHM, a time of celebration and affirmation for the community is not the right messaging,” she said.
Khan said that the Muslim community has heard the apology, but wants to see accountability for what happened, which includes an independent investigation from the City of Markham that looks at “who was involved and to ensure that these people are held to account.”
She said that NCCM has reached out to Markham, but has yet to hear back.
Khan also said that several members of the Markham Muslim community as well as allies have also contacted NCCM about their concerns with this “particularly disturbing” email.
“You know, it speaks of perhaps a climate that's been created around Islamophobia,” she said, adding the fact that a city councillor was reportedly involved in directing staff to take down the display is especially concerning.
Khan went on to say that during this difficult time the community need to be coming together more than ever.
“We need to be seeing spaces created for folks to engage in learning, in changing narratives that we're seeing right now and this was a perfect opportunity for that,” she said.
“Rather than kind of leaning into that, we actually saw the opposite. We need to be standing firm against hate and any form of Islamophobia and this is particularly disturbing for the Muslim community here in Markham.”
Lastly, Khan said that while MPL’s CEO said that they weren’t confusing Muslims with events in the Middle East, the email leaked online says otherwise.
“I think it was particularly because of the events in the Middle East. Those were what were referenced in the email and that was the reason why these displays were under review in the first place,” she said.
“We're seeing the ways in which what's happening over there has been weaponized for our local communities here and we need to be pushing back against all forms of hate, and we need to ensure that we are not creating these narratives of dehumanization. Because if we do, then we are going to be seeing rises in Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian racism, and of course other forms of hate, and so we need to be calling this out as it is.”
