Elite New York private school accused of anti-Semitism, leadership - inaction

Jewish parents of students at an elite private school in New York claim growing anti-Semitism on campus. They also accuse the administration of inability to recognize and solve the problem. This is stated in an article published December 18, writes the publication New York Post.

For the education of their children at Fieldston School in Riverdale, their parents pay almost $ 53 thousand a year. But despite this, they reported a growing number of cases related to anti-Semitism since 2015, which they told Tablet Magazine. Parents also stated that none of the incidents was properly reviewed by school management.

About the problem

“The school has a problem pronouncing the word Jew,” one parent told the magazine. “And with his pronunciation without hatred for this community.”

In particular, parents say, the problem began with the introduction in 2015 of the new Affinity Group program. In its framework, students from third to fifth grades are distributed by general racial or ethnic background. Parents can decide for themselves which group their children belong to.

At the same time, the source notes, the parents asked to create a Jewish group, but they were refused, which, according to one of the parents, “stunned” them.

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Jewish students said their classmates responded to concerns about anti-Semitism by saying that they should be considered white and privileged, so they cannot be victims of discrimination.

In addition, swastika images began to appear in the halls and classrooms of the school. The school leadership responded with a presentation for students, in which, according to one of the parents, it was not mentioned how this symbol was used "in connection with the massacre of millions of Jews."

School reaction

Faced with outrage, the school sent out a letter in which the swastika was identified "as a hated symbol of Nazi genocide, the Holocaust, anti-Semitism, fascism and the destruction of European Jewry and other victims of the Nazi regime."

Some parents said that the school did not respond to cases of anti-Semitism in the same way that they reacted to cases of other prejudice or prejudice.

Tensions between Jewish parents and the administration intensified last month when a guest speaker compared the Holocaust survivors with the Nazis who mocked them, the article says.

"Attacks (of the Nazis. - Ed.) Is a shameful part of the story, but to some extent it reflects the variability between those who became victims and those who became criminals, ”said Kayum Ahmed, an adjunct of Columbia University's Law Faculty, standing in front of an audience of almost 21 high school students.

“I use the same example when I talk about the Holocaust. The fact that the Jews who suffered during the Holocaust and created the state of Israel today, they perpetuate violence against the Palestinians, which is unthinkable, ”Ahmed added.

Some students and parents were shocked by these statements. They were outraged at the lack of what was an adequate reaction at school.

Administrators waited until Wednesday after Thanksgiving to make a statement.

“We take the opportunity provided by this incident, not to discuss this particular speaker or his words, but to confirm the strong values ​​of our educational institution,” said school principal Jessica Bagby in a letter to the publication.

Some parents, commenting on the school principal’s statement, said it was “worse than doing nothing.” According to one of the parents, it was “completely crazy” to let such a statement be published in response to unacceptable incidents at school.

Another parent said they immediately started looking for another school.

The school did not respond to a request for comment by The Post, the source concluded.