Alleged antisemitic incidents prompts walkout at Southern California school
Frustrated with teachers and administrators, students at a local high school staged a walkout Tuesday to draw attention to alleged antisemitic incidents they say they’ve experienced on campus, the most serious of which was an assault on a Jewish classmate that they don’t feel has been properly addressed.
The walkout, organized by a group of seniors at El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, drew dozens of students, protesting what they claim has been an increase in antisemitism in their classrooms.
“I’m honestly scared to go to school,” Danielle Eshed, a ninth grader at the charter school, told KTLA’s Rachel Menitoff.
The ninth grader said she was a victim of a hate-fueled assault when a fellow classmate yelled antisemitic remarks at her and then physically attacked her.
“He called me a dirty Jew, and then I said something out of defense,” Eshed explained. “He said he was going to beat me up, and I didn’t believe him until he got up, pushed me and started punching me repeatedly in the neck and the back.”
While the ninth grader says her teachers didn’t act as she hoped, the principal of the high school, David Hussey, said the offending student was disciplined and school police were notified.
“We don’t want any students to feel that they’re afraid,” Hussey said. “We would definitely like to talk to the parents, talk to the students, have a safety plan in place to make all of our students feel comfortable coming to school.”
Student organizers say that another issue they’ve witnessed is hateful notes passed between classmates referencing Hitler. They also say they have shared concerns about the insensitive teaching of World War II curricula.
Some parents, like Bilal Solomon, attended the walkout as a show of support for the student body.
“Our kids come to school to learn, and they’re exposed to hate,” Solomon told KTLA. “I’m not going to fight negativity with negativity. I’m going to fight it with positivity, and I think that’s a footstep forward to a realignment of education.”
Ninth grader Max Chelin and his mom, Belinda, said they are hoping the charter school does something meaningful to address the altercation and perhaps use the incident as a teachable moment.
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“I honestly just want to feel like we’re heard,” Max said.
“I would expect the principal to at least call a meeting of the school and the students and explain to them that what happened was unacceptable and that it won’t take place at the school,” Belinda said.
The principal tells KTLA that the school is working on an email to parents and students explaining what happened and how it was handled.
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