US Jewish group calls for ‘zero tolerance’ as antisemitism surges in school district
JTA — The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington is calling on a local school district in Maryland to adopt a “zero tolerance policy” toward antisemitism following what it described as a recent wave of anti-Jewish incidents across its schools.
Antisemitic and anti-Israel graffiti found at Greenwood Elementary School over the weekend was only the latest entry in a “deeply troubling pattern of antisemitic and/or anti-Zionist incidents” within Montgomery County Public Schools, Guila Franklin Siegel, the JCRC’s chief operating officer, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Among the incidents cited by Franklin Siegel were “anti-Israel messaging” at a culture night at Olney Elementary School in March, “physical threats and harassment directed toward Jewish students at multiple schools,” and “Heil Hitler” gestures and speech at middle school events.
“While the details vary, these incidents reveal a harsh truth: too many Jewish students and educators at too many MCPS schools continue to face too many threats,” Franklin Siegel said, adding that the number of reports were “significantly higher than other school districts across our region.”
Montgomery County Public Schools did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. The district is Maryland’s largest and encompasses many prominent Washington suburbs, including Bethesda and Rockville.
The Greenwood........
