Nunavut teacher terminated after posting ISIS photo on Facebook

Moses Suzuki, shown here, says the intent of the photo he posted on Facebook was a work of art that used “peaceful self-defence” and “intelligence” in the face of “injustice” and “deception.” (PHOTO/FACEBOOK)

Here’s the altered image from an ISIS photo, which Coral Harbour teacher Moses Suzuki posted on Facebook March 26. (FILE IMAGE)

A Nunavut teacher who posted an altered photo of an ISIS execution on a community Facebook page has received a statement of “termination without cause.”

Moses Suzuki, a Grade 9 teacher at Sakku School in Coral Harbour, told Nunatsiaq News in an April 8 email that he had received the termination statement April 7.

That move follows a complaint made March 27 to the Nunavut Department of Education and Suzuki’s suspension from his teaching duties during an investigation into his posting of the altered ISIS photo.

Suzuki posted a photo that showed a screen shot from a video of the 2015 execution of American journalist James Foley by ISIS, the militant group called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which prompted some parents to keep their children out of school.

The image in the screen shot had been changed to show the smiling face of Suzuki, pasted instead of Foley’s face on top of his orange-clothed body.

The photo of a local Inuk woman, raised in Coral Harbour and a convert to Islam, who had been in a relationship with Suzuki, was inserted at the right, next to the knife-wielding ISIS executioner.

Under the Nunavut Teachers’ Association Collective Agreement section 18.6, a Nunavut teacher, such as Suzuki, in his first year in Nunavut, who is on a one-year probation term, can be fired without cause at the end of an academic year by notice in writing.

The notice must be delivered by registered mail to the teacher at least 60 calendar days before the end of the closing day of the school in which the teacher is employed and takes effect on the last day of that school year.

Suzuki said this means his teaching position remains effective until the end of his term contract, June 9, after which he can apply for teaching work elsewhere in Nunavut.

“However, I am still on suspension, still not allowed on school premises, and still awaiting my delayed interrogation,” Suzuki said.

The first thing that should be done in any investigation is the questioning of the accused, he said.

Suzuki called the entire investigation a “hoax.” He alleges the person who filed the original complaint also fed false information to media and spread gossip that there was an ISIS bomb threat on the school.

He alleges the same person recently received a District Education Authority substitute position and remains friends with that Kivalliq School Operations official charged with undertaking the investigation.

Nunavut’s education department and the Nunavut Teachers Association have refused comment on Suzuki’s case, citing confidentiality.

As for Suzuki, he said he recently posted the photo again to the Salluit Sallirvaluk Facebook page to “clarify the confusion that has swept this town.”

April 7, in a posting on his personal Facebook page, Suzuki portrayed himself as a victim, defending his posting of the photo as a work of art that underscored using “peaceful self-defence” and “intelligence” in the face of “injustice” and “deception.”

That followed an earlier Facebook statement in which Suzuki said his “art piece,” which was only up for a few minutes, was only viewed by a few people.

“When I saw some bad comments, I took it down right away,” Suzuki said.

Suzuki told Nunatsiaq News that, when he was first sent home from work March 27, he was “unaware of what had actually happened,” and that some in the community believed that “I had posted a bomb threat on the school that Saturday night, and that the authorities believe I am part of ISIS.”

Suzuki said many parents did not believe what he called a lie and had sent their kids to school anyway.

“Some of the absences were also natural for this town at any time, most high school students were not there because the drop out rate by this time of year is huge, some kids were away at a hockey tournament and some kids didn’t show up because Monday looked like a joke to them as Tuesday was a half day with parent/teacher interview,” Suzuki said.

Suzuki said the community of Coral Harbour, which has a population of about 800, had been “extremely good to me, and has made me feel at home.”

“The people and staff here have all been friendly and supportive. My students have treated me well, and are like family to me,” he said.