How Are Local Public Schools Handling Anti-Semitism?
How Are Local Public Schools Handling Anti-Semitism?
They seem to embrace a policy of "ignore it and hope it will go away."
This week’s story is a collaboration of research and writing by local education writer, author, and editor Linda Morgan and myself.
Kids called Jack Kezner, a Mercer Island 6th grader, a “dirty Jew.” At Highland Middle School in Bellevue, Jewish students have reported being taunted with Palestinian flags and told to “go back to Israel and die.” In multiple schools around Greater Seattle, swastikas as well as the slogan “from the river to the sea,” understood by many Jews as a call for the violent elimination of Israel, have been carved into desks and bathroom stalls. Walkouts and on-campus protests against Israel are tolerated and seem to be organized by non-students. And just this week, Jewish community professionals meeting with the Board of Regents at the University of Washington about Jewish safety on campus were forced to end their meeting and leave the building when met with anti-Israel protestors chanting “we will honor all our martyrs.”
It is 2024 in the Northwest, not 1938 in Europe. Yet, once again, Jewish students — and their parents — find themselves trembling at the recent resurgence of Jew hatred. And administrators, from teachers all the way up to the state superintendent’s office, don’t seem to be doing much to stop it.
“The [administration’s] response has been either nothing or active gaslighting or lying to us,” says a parent who is active in the Bellevue School District, who, like many parents, prefers to remain anonymous out of fear of inviting retaliation against his children. “We say, ‘I have a video, do you want to see it?’ And they say ‘no, I don’t want to see it.’”
Every school district is experiencing a surge in anti-Semitic incidents, says Rabbi Daniel Weiner, senior rabbi at Temple De Hirsch Sinai in Seattle and Bellevue. “We are hearing about teachers making sideways comments about Israel; about things in the curriculum that focus on a one-sided Palestinian narrative with no mention of the Israel narrative.” Many people don’t understand anything about Jews, Judaism or the relationship Jews have with Israel, says Weiner. “Some are well-meaning but just don’t know. Others may be negligent or insensitive.”
The upward trend of Jew hatred began in 2016, years before the events of October 7, when Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, torturing and murdering some 1,200 people and taking hundreds back to Gaza as hostages in tunnels and in family homes. “We were on the brink of becoming more polarized,” says Miri Cypers, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). “We saw high disinformation levels on social media and an increase in hate.” The ADL has seen a “steep rise,” says Cypers, in harassment and vandalism in synagogues, day care centers, community centers, and other Jewish institutions, along with college campuses and K-12 schools. Reports of anti-Semitic incidents jumped 400 percent just in the 2023-24 school year in Washington state alone, according to the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. “Antisemitic smears, such as using the ‘K’ word, Holocaust-related comments…it’s quite bad,” Cypers says.
“At a high level, the superintendent and the chief of staff, I don’t think they’re bad people or they’re anti-Semitic at all,” says the Bellevue parent. “I think it is huge blind spot for them. Teachers and district staff don’t know how to spot it and what to do when they see it. You’re either oppressor or oppressed, and you can guess which bucket we fall into. It’s a really hard thing to break.”
“Jews are not seen as a vulnerable population,” says Weiner. “To the extreme left, we are exploiting our history by using anti-Semitism. The extreme right feel we are displacing good, white Aryan supremacists and that our goal is to take over the world.” And schools rarely cover what’s historically happened to the Jews. “Many don’t teach students about the Holocaust; they figure they need to cover every other group, and are more focused on Black, Latino, Muslim, and LGBTQ groups.” Schools don’t see Jews as a disadvantaged population, says Weiner. “They see Jews as successful.”
Coming off of last school year’s surreal experience, Jewish community leaders, students, and parents attempted to start the school year off on the front foot, armed with education and advocacy. StopHateinSchools, comprised of several local organizations, spearheaded a petition signed by more than 5,000 people to Washington State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, Governor Jay Inslee, and Attorney General Bob Ferguson, calling on them to take “immediate action” to protect Jewish students:
We call on you to address antisemitism in Washington State K-12 schools and to ensure compliance of all federal, state and district laws and policies. Specifically, we urge you to:
1. Rigorously enforce existing policies designed to protect the civil rights, mental health, and physical safety of all students.
2. Implement mandatory and recurring training for teachers and administrators to help them recognize and address antisemitism.
3. Partner with mainstream Jewish organizations to conduct a thorough review of educational materials used to teach Middle East history and the conflict in Israel and Gaza to ensure they are accurate and free from bias.
The Jewish Community Relations Council also sent a letter, along with resources and recommendations, to school districts, tribal schools, and independent schools across the state. The letter calls for more training, better reporting mechanisms, policy reviews, public displays of support for the Jewish community when under attack, and engagement with mainstream Jewish organizations.
Only 20 schools statewide have responded to the letter, and just two — Walla Walla School District and a charter school in Des Moines — have asked for meetings. “The responses we’ve received have largely been thanking us for providing resources, but that is mostly where it’s stayed,” says JCRC associate Perri Doll.
The JCRC is also waiting for a meaningful response from Reykdal’s office. “Nothing really happened,” says Ishai Shvartz, a parent who attended a meeting with Reykdal and the JCRC. Though he “said the right things,” Shvartz says, “there isn't much to share.” (Note: The Cholent has an interview scheduled with Reykdal.)
A recurring trend in reports about bullying, discrimination, and harassment of Jewish students is the lack of teacher or administrator intervention. In one reported case at Chinook Middle School, a student made a Nazi salute and called it a “Kanye salute.” At Newport High School, a popular male student was accused of provoking and harassing Jewish girls, including shouting “Fuck you, Zionist bitch” when one told him to stop. At Highland, someone changed computer screensavers to images of swastikas and Hitler. In all of these cases and many others, teachers and administrators ignored, excused, or even defended the behavior, according to the reports.
Jamie Kezner, Jack’s mom, says Islander Middle School didn’t contact her or her husband, Dan, after the student made the anti-Semitic remark to their son. “Everyone involved should have been called,” says Kezner. The parents asked to meet with administrators, and ultimately sat down with the vice principal, who suggested providing more instruction focused on hate, racism, and anti-Semitism. “That didn’t go anywhere,” she says. “There is no education about what anti-Semitism is — or means — at the school. This should be an educational opportunity, but schools seem to follow ‘the plan.’” Ultimately, the student was moved out of the class.
“This should be confronted and called out,” says Weiner of Temple De Hirsch Sinai. “It may take lawsuits — and there are some percolating. We are not asking for special treatment. In the same way you insist upon spaces for kids, we want the same for Jewish kids.”
On April 19th, Israel advocacy organization StandWithUs sent an 11-page letter to Superintendent Kelly Aramaki outlining dozens of allegations of harassment and discrimination and the district’s failure to take action, along with recommendations to improve conditions for Jewish students. The letter was released to the public after it generated no response from the district. If nothing changes, the complaint could become the basis of a Title VI lawsuit.
“I can't escape the thought that, that despite our best efforts, they just still don't get us,” says StandWithUs Northwest director Randy Kessler. “They just don't get our experience. I worry about the flattening of Jewish experience into, you know, us just being another denomination, some religious grouping of white people.”
Bellevue School District chief communications officer Janine Thorn points to a new strategic plan that includes a guiding principle of belonging. “There is a system we are putting in place to make sure we are centering the concerns of our families and considering deeply their thoughts and opinions and creating with them and committing to what we create,” she says. “Dr. Aramaki is really wanting to feel that sense of belonging, so when they come to our schools they feel safe and empowered to learn and grow.”
Now that school is back in session, the Bellevue parent says he and others are on “pins and needles” in anticipation of more walkouts and incidents.
The administration is “not actively wanting this and encouraging this, and they just want it to go away,” he says. “That’s probably what we’re dealing with more than an institutional desire to single out Jewish people.… You can’t just ignore it. It’s not going away.”
Announcements
Last call registration for the showing of Confronting Hate Together on Thursday, 9/19. Location will be provided upon registration. Please come to show your support.
—Lisa Kranseler
The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity”, a Modern Adaptation of a Classic Jewish Fable to Premiere at Climate Week NYC on Sept. 23rd
During the 2024 Climate Week NYC, Earth Law Center will host a live reading of Anson Laytner's play based on a classic Jewish fable “The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity.”
Muslim scholars of a Sufi order in Iraq first wrote the story in the 10th century CE. Later, in the 14th century, Rabbi Kalonymus ben Kalonymus was asked by his patron, Robert Charles, the Christian ruler of Anjou, to translate the Arabic version into Hebrew and Latin, and it has long been an important tale in both Muslim and Jewish communities.
Rabbis Anson Laytner and Dan Bridge translated and adapted the classic Hebrew version of the story into English and it was published by Fons Vitae back in 2005. The theatrical reading of “The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity” at Climate Week will be the official debut of Laytner’s adaptation of the story into a play and he will speak at its premiere. Laytner also made it the focus of his recent novel, “The Forgotten Commandment.”
[Although “The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity” is an ancient tale, its themes are especially valuable in light of the current ecological crisis and speak to the ways in which legal systems can be used to enact rights for animals and ecosystems.]
Registration is required to attend. Please follow this link (https://www.climateweeknyc.org/events/animals-lawsuit-against-humanity-live-reading-premiere) and consider a $30 recommended donation to support ELC’s work. Following the theatrical reading, there will be a panel with environmental leaders exploring the play’s applicability to modern-day legal movements and challenges, including the treatment of animals through factory farming. The reading and panel will also be livestreamed for those who would like to attend remotely.
Shoutouts
Congratulations to Rabbi Jason Levine on his new role as Associate Director of the JCRC of the Federation! —Nancy Greer
Shoutout to Kamala Harris on her debate performance. —Stuart Kaufman
 | A guest post by
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Under the rules and the laws, if parents contact a school district and the school district doesn't respond, the plaintiffs have the right to file a complaint with the State Superintendent's office, OSPI. OSPI can't really do anything unless they receive a complaint with evidence that they contacted the school district. Superintendent Chris Reykdal said in a zoom meeting that OSPI can investigate complaints about conduct enforcement in the schools and about certificated teachers. The OSPI doesn't have power over non-certificated non-employees, such as consultants.
There is a web of state laws that have taken power and responsibility out of OSPI and transferred it to the State Board of Education, the PESB and various committees.
Thank you Emily and Linda for this quite a timely article.
I would suggest that the current form of Jew hatred goes back much further than 2016, Our American Universities have been pushing this for over two decades. Just look at the past few years at our own UW Jewish Studies / Jackson School programs for some context. It's less about not caring than it is about pushing this awful hateful agenda.
In K-12, where do you think grade school kids come up with this hatred? Just look at the next PTA and parent conference meetings.
Rather than wring our hands there is one practical thing we can do as early as Nov. Washington State Superintendent Chris Reykdal and Attorney General Bob Ferguson are on the ballot. Ferguson has been ignoring this issue for his entire 2 terms as AG and now wants to ignore it as Governor. And Rykdal is seeking another term. What they do matters way more than their lip service. Let them know this will sway the way you vote.
And by the way...the Chair of the State Senate Committee on Education is our own Lisa Wellman. I am always amazed that when we bring these issues up to her...she always seems surprised, but she promises to look into it.
Sorry folks this is not business as usual.