In the News

For most kids, third grade is spent learning concepts such as fractions, long multiplication, and telling time to the nearest minute. For the Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium, an education consulting group, it’s spent pursuing a different topic: decolonization.

A slide on topics that were "okay to say" allegedly included statements such as “This is genocide” or “This is apartheid,” but disallowed “jokes about terrorism” or “jokes about suicide bombing.”

Enikia Ford Morthel, the superintendent of Berkeley schools, acknowledged some incidents in her schools, but pointedly stated that “antisemitism is not pervasive in Berkeley Unified School District.”

A California public school district that attempted to hide pro-Hamas course material from parents now faces legal action.

The film institute issued an apology noting that the institute is “run by human beings.” “Let’s be direct: we handled all of this very badly,” the institute wrote. “We are flawed and have blind spots. Sometimes we make bad calls. We understand that our actions have hurt and offended many. That was the opposite of our intention, and we apologize for disappointing so many members of our community.”

The complaint alleged that the school district violated the law by refusing the parent access to a slideshow on the conflict in the Middle East taught to 9th graders. A Berkeley parent filed a lawsuit against Berkeley Unified School District for refusing to turn over curriculum taught to 9th graders about Israel-Palestine, the latest flashpoint in tensions over the conflict in Berkeley schools. The suit, filed by parent Yossi Fendel and The Deborah Project, a legal group defe

The Berkeley Unified School District in Berkeley, Calif., hides from parents what it knows to be “a one-sided presentation of issues relating to the conflict between Israel and Hamas that condemns the Jewish State’s exercise of self-defense, ignores and misrepresents the atrocities committed by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and impugns Israel’s right—conferred by the United Nations—to exist as a ‘Jewish state.’

He noticed one slide that struck him as biased. Its purpose was to distinguish between “hate speech” and “free speech,” or permitted speech, when students discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It was “not hate speech” to accuse Israel of apartheid or genocide, according to one slide. But it was considered hate speech to make “terrorist jokes” or “suicide bomber jokes.”

“Although BMFI states that this decision was made in an attempt to avoid controversy, this action only serves to blacklist Israeli culture, playing into the hands of antisemites who try to deny the Jewish people their voice and existence,” both organizations said in a joint statement.

The Philly Palestine Coalition – which has organized several pro-Palestinian protests since the start of the Israel-Hamas War in October of last year – called for the Israeli Film Festival in Philly and the Main Line to be canceled

BMFI said it was not a political organization despite hosting the festival in previous years. “However, as the situation in Israel and Gaza has developed, it has become clear that our showing this movie is being widely taken among individuals and institutions in our community as an endorsement of Israel’s recent and ongoing actions. This is not a statement we intended or wish to make."

BMFI issued a press release Monday announcing the cancelation of the film writing that “it has become clear that our showing this movie is being widely taken among individuals and institutions in our community as an endorsement of Israel’s recent and ongoing action” and this was not a message they endorsed.

“In past years, we have not regarded hosting a screening from the Israeli Film Festival as a political partnership or taking a stance on any issues. This was our feeling when we arranged the 2024 screening many months ago,” the institute said.

It would have been a terrible blow to the Jewish community because the bad guys because they threatened violence, would have prevailed. However, the law still matters in America.

Nellie Meyer, the superintendent of the Mountain View-Los Altos High School District, has announced her retirement while two high-profile lawsuits are pending against her district.

“Picking one foreign conflict to teach intensively about and demonize one side — that is the home of one-half of all Jews on the planet — is very problematic.”

Parents argued the lessons included inaccurate and antisemitic information and misrepresented the intentions of Hamas by presenting the organization as a resistance group rather than a terrorist organization.

“I’ve seen a lot of crazy things in my 16 years as a teacher, but this records request is a first.”

According to CBS, “At least 30 Jewish families have transferred out of the Oakland Unified School District over fears of anti-Semitism during the Hamas-Israel war. Jewish families in the Bay Area progressive enclave felt targeted by one of the Oakland teachers’ unions and the district at large after educators held a ‘teach-in’ that focused on pro-Palestine lessons.” Lesson plans were being taught that said, “Draw the Zionist bully’ or “I is for Intifada, J is for Jesus.”‘ Re

Although it concurred with the complaint’s assertions that Aziz’s actions were “controversial and likely perceived as offensive and hurtful to members of the District’s Jewish community,” the SEC found no proof that they undermined trust in the board or negatively impacted its ability to engage with the public.