Image: Margaret Reid / Chilliwack school board member Margaret Reid has removed two pictures from her Instagram account that depicted her wearing and proudly promoting a traditional Arab headdress known as a keffiyeh, images that drew condemnation from two Jewish groups in British Columbia.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Chilliwack trustee Margaret Reid

Chilliwack school board member removes online content linked to a keffiyeh that she wore to a public meeting

Jun 24, 2024 | 9:07 AM

CHILLIWACK — Chilliwack school board member Margaret Reid has removed two pictures from her Instagram account that depicted her promoting a traditional Arab headdress known as a keffiyeh, one she wore to a public meeting that subsequently drew condemnation from Jewish leaders in British Columbia.

As Fraser Valley Today first reported last Thursday, Reid wore the keffiyeh to a meeting of the Chilliwack Board of Education on Tuesday, June 11. She also posted pictures of what she called her “beautiful keffiyeh” on Instagram.

Those pictures no longer appear on Reid’s Instagram account.

The decision to wear the keffiyeh to a public meeting elicited concerns from Jewish leaders, including B’nai Brith.

According to National Public Radio in the United States, the keffiyeh can be defined as a traditional Arab headdress. It is often made from cotton and decorated with distinctive woven patterns. While it comes in many different colours, NPR noted, over the past 100 years, the black and white keffiyeh has become synonymous with Palestinians.

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Aron Csaplaros, regional manager in British Columbia for B’nai Brith, said wearing a keffiyeh, or any political symbol, to a school board meeting is highly inappropriate given that the keffiyeh has become a striking political symbol regarding the current war between Israel and Hamas.

“School districts must be both apolitical and welcoming to students from diverse backgrounds, and the public display of such a politicized and divisive symbol by a School Board Trustee violates this principle,” Csaplaros said.

Michael Sachs, a leader in the Vancouver Jewish community, had similar concerns around showcasing the keffiyeh. He said he wonders how many times Reid wore this same keffiyeh prior to the massacre that occurred on October 7 in which Hamas terrorists waged the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

“It is highly inappropriate for a school board trustee, someone that parents trust to be an impartial official, to cavalierly wear something that has become a symbol, not of statehood, but of war and massacre on October 7th,” Sachs said.

Fraser Valley Today emailed Reid Wednesday morning, June 19 seeking comment on her decision to wear a keffiyeh, and notified her on her Instagram post about its intent to seek comment from her. FVT also messaged Reid on her Facebook account. As of Monday morning, June 24, Fraser Valley Today still had not heard back from Reid, who was first elected to the Chilliwack school board in October 2022. Reid has not issued any statement about the matter on her Instagram page.