Berkeley school district received federal complaint for ‘severe and persistent antisemitic bullying’
(KRON) — A federal complaint claims students and teachers at Berkeley Unified School District are practicing “antisemitic bullying,” much of which relates to the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. For example, a Berkeley High School history teacher allegedly called Israel an “apartheid” state, and whilst trying to find articles that oppose the apartheid narrative, the teacher called the narrative “laughable.”
“The eruption of antisemitism in Berkeley’s elementary and high schools is like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” said Kenneth L. Marcus, chairman of the Brandeis Center and the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for the George W. Bush and Donald Trump administrations in response to the complaints made.
The Brandeis Center, whose mission is to “advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all,” and the Anti-Defamation League, whose mission is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all,” filed a formal complaint against BUSD as part of a lawsuit to stop antisemitic content from being taught in Santa Ana public schools.
Teachers have also offered students excused walkout absences to encourage attendance at rallies, leaving one or two Jewish students in class alone and without instruction, causing “major schedule disruptions for students who spoke out,” and making Jewish students “feel isolated,” the complaint said.
Some examples cited in the complaint include how, after a Jewish student presented a project related to his Jewish ancestry in an ethnic studies class, another student crossed out the word “Jewish” on the presentation handout and wrote “free free Palestine.”
“Children feel forced to hide their Jewish identity for fear of reprisal is downright shocking. We must demand more from our educational leaders.” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO, who claims BUSD is violating Title VI, a title that “prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin”
In contrast, students were also commenting about Islamophobia during BUSD’s most recent council meeting on February 21st. After being seen wearing a keffiyeh, a traditional Arab headscarf, Julio Gonzalez, a student at Berkeley High School, was “shocked” to find many students casually saying he looked “like a terrorist.’”
BUSD has received a record number of complaints of antisemitism since Oct. 7, including a letter to the Berkeley Superintendent and Board of Education that was signed by 1,370 Berkeley community members. The Brandeis Center claims BUSD “has ignored parent concerns, refused to discipline teachers and students who have engaged in anti-Semitic harassment.”
Here is a statement from BUSD Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel sent to KRON:
“Berkeley Unified stands against all forms of hate. This is a message we share widely and frequently in our school community. We acknowledge the difficult moment we are in and the pain some members of our community are experiencing due to the ongoing crisis in Israel and Gaza. We believe that classrooms are spaces where all students need to feel safe, seen, felt, and heard. We work to make these spaces responsive and humanizing for our diverse students, today and every day.
The district continuously encourages students and families to report any incidents of bullying or hate-motivated behavior and vigorously investigates each and every report. We stay in communication and work in collaboration with various members of our diverse community and have recently had focused conversations on these specific concerns. While we have not received official notification of the recent federal complaint, the district will work with the Office of Civil Rights in support of a thorough investigation. We remain committed to engaging with our community to ensure that BUSD is a district that lives up to its values of excellence, engagement, equity, and enrichment.“
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