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Dr. Sabreena Ghaffar-Siddiqui @sabreenaGS I was forced to resign from my role as Senior EDI Advisor (Jan 2024) and then let go from my position as professor (Aug 2024) at Sheridan College for my advocacy on the genocide of Palestinians. While waiting for the arbitration date, I was advised by the union lawyer to “cool it” on my advocacy if I expect any positive outcome. I made it clear from the start that my only reason to fight this unfair dismissal was to get a formal apology and public acknowledgement of the college’s bias. I was told an apology would be expecting too much, but compensation a more likely reality. Over a year later, I’m still waiting for the date of arbitration. And in this time, the department I worked in has dissolved, the people involved in my case have moved on to better pastures. even the president has left. This institution that I’m waiting to receive accountability from has been totally refaced. AND the genocide has continued with even greater barbarity. I was expected to hold my tongue, suppress my conscience, lie in wait, all whilst the institution and people that harmed me not only continued to harm others, but be rewarded for it. The systems that oppress us are designed to silence us and the systems in place to protect us from them are designed to tire us. Clearly my advocacy never stopped. Because my moral conscience was a price I was not willing to pay for my career. Look, accountability is important, we should take every step to hold these institutions to task, but we must also understand that a fair and just outcome - in my case, being vindicated, compensated or reinstated is rare. The false hope we are asked to place into the systems that we know so well to be historically discriminating, all at the expense of our silence, is nothing but a tantalizing and delusive dangling carrot. Don’t fall for it. Maintain your integrity. Never stop speaking the truth.