Jewish parents at Wissahickon High School outside Philadelphia took issue with a Muslim student booth last week. (WikiCommons)
"When the principal is posting pictures of students wearing slogans like ‘Jerusalem is ours,’ and the superintendent is encouraging illegal minor-led games of chance, while visiting & taking photos with politically charged booths dressing students up in keffiyehs, that’s not education—it’s indoctrination. We don’t send our kids to school to be marginalized. We demand accountability, not photo ops."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Wissahickon School District multiple times and did not receive a response.
Steve Rosenberg, Philadelphia director for the North American Values Institute, told Fox News Digital that "the Wissahickon administration continues to set the gold standard for educational malpractice."
"The blurring of lines between culture and radical political propaganda — facilitated by staff, celebrated by leadership, and normalized for students — is both an embarrassment and a warning sign. School should be a place for critical thinking, not cultural intimidation and performative activism masquerading as diversity. The district owes its students better."
A letter sent by dozens of Jewish parents to the school, obtained by Fox News Digital, further outlines the concerns about the event and said their children witnessed several things that "crossed clear educational and ethical boundaries."
KEFFIYEH-CLAD ANTI-ICE PROTESTER THREATENS TO STAB AGENT, HARM FAMILY IN SAN FRANCISCO MOB ATTACK
A statue of George Washington tied with a Palestinian flag and a keffiyeh at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., on May 2, 2024. (Craig Hudson/Reuters)
"Jerusalem is currently a conflict zone in which two parties are actually fighting over it," the student said. "That statement was written in Arabic so none of the Jewish students could actually understand that and take that as antisemitic, so that is actually just something that an individual is saying to tear us down and paint us as antisemitic. Which is actually going off of my previous point that antisemitism should not be watered down. We should not throw that term lightly here and there."
The parents in the letter call on the school to take five measures in response to their concerns, including providing a public explanation of the district’s involvement in the keffiyehs being passed out and addressing the principal’s social media post amplifying the controversial message.
Additionally, the letter calls for the release of the "planning framework" for the event, including how booths were approved.
The parents also ask for "clear district guidelines" addressing how they will ensure that cultural programming does not veer into "political advocacy" and how all groups, including Jewish students, will be protected from "intimidation."
Lastly, the parents are asking for a "listening session" where Jewish families and students can share how they were impacted by the booths.
"Schools must be safe, neutral spaces where students of all identities are respected," the letter concludes. "What happened this week undermines that principle, and it has caused real fear among Jewish students who now wonder whether their district will protect them — or leave them to navigate this climate alone."
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pa-school-faces-fury-after-muslim-clubs-pro-palestinian-display-leaves-jewish-students-shaken