Fighting related to war in Bay Area classrooms

In the weeks after Hamas’ deadly cross-border terrorist attacks on Israeli border towns and Israel’s ensuing bombardment of Gaza, a seventh grade Jewish student at Roosevelt Middle School in San Francisco grew accustomed to seeing her classmates display their support for Palestinians.

Students wore shirts that read “Free Palestine” and “All eyes on Gaza.” But it was more of a background hum until spring, when things took a sharper turn.

During a school assembly, a classmate spoke out against the war, equating it to genocide. Then, one teacher asked students to create a “propaganda poster” that would “persuade your audience” on an issue important to them. Many students used the opportunity to create public service announcements for cleaner oceans or against food waste and texting while driving. A handful called for an end to the war in Gaza.

One poster, prominently displayed by the teacher, caught the seventh grader’s attention. A student had drawn an image of a Star of David exuding thick chains shackling what appeared to be an outline of Israel and the Palestinian territories. Beneath the image, written in red and all capitals, was the phrase “from the river to the sea” — a slogan many Jewish people consider a call for the expulsion and genocide of Israeli Jews. Inside the star was the word “Zionism,” the student said.

“It felt really unsafe. I couldn’t be in there anymore, because there was hate against my religion up on the wall,” said the student, whose parents requested The Times not identify her by name because of concerns she would face retribution from classmates and teachers.

Her parents scheduled a meeting with school officials and said they came away startled at how little the administrators knew about the history of Israel and the region — and why Jewish families would consider the poster offensive. They said it took hours of discussion before school leaders agreed to ask the teacher to take it down.

“This is antisemitic propaganda,” the girl’s mother said. “This would not be acceptable for any other group.”

The family is hoping to transfer their daughter to a new school next year.

Growing concerns

The incident is emblematic of what many Jewish families in Bay Area communities say is an undercurrent of antisemitism that has emerged unchecked in K-12 schools amid the divisive national debates spawned by the Israel-Hamas war.

In San Francisco, Viviane Safrin is serving as a point person for Jewish families who want to report concerns.

“It often feels like I’m a triage nurse or ER doctor,” said Safrin, who sent two of her children to San Francisco public schools and overall had a positive experience. “My phone is dinging from the time I wake up until I go to bed with different photos from different things that have happened at school, or a lesson plan, or this and that was said to a student by peers.”

The Bay Area is home to an estimated 350,000 Jewish people, according to a 2021 report led by the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund. They encompass a diverse spectrum of opinions on Israel and its government, including pro-Palestinian Jewish organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace, which was founded in the Bay Area in the 1990s.

Rabbi Adam Naftalin-Kelman, the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation executive director of the Hillel Jewish Student Center at the University of California, Berkeley, sent his three sons through Berkeley schools. Naftalin-Kelman, who said he was speaking as a Berkeley parent and not in his official capacity at the student center, said it’s incumbent on K-12 educators to consider all of the experiences of young students and their families when considering how lesson plans affect their sense of belonging.

“There’s a heaviness that exists since Oct. 7 for Jewish families, families that have a connection to Israel, Zionists, Israelis,” Naftalin-Kelman said. And many now have a thudding sense that some of their teachers, classmates and colleagues have “no understanding of who they are.”

“Unfortunately, what I think is happening now is we are stuck with simple slogans that put people in camps, that remove all nuance and complexity in what is one of the most complex conversations around religion, identity, politics and nationhood,” he said. “I think there are sometimes mistakes and administrators can do more. But it doesn’t mean there is mal-intent.”

Investigations

Jewish families across the Bay Area have raised a range of concerns about what they perceive as antisemitism in K-12 classrooms.

Some of the complaints have spawned federal investigations.

On Wednesday, Berkeley Supt. Enikia Ford Morthel was called before a Republican-led congressional subcommittee investigating allegations of “pervasive antisemitism” in K-12 schools. Ford Morthel forcefully rejected accusations that Berkeley schools had become a breeding ground for antisemitism, saying educators were working hard to ensure all students feel welcome.

“There have been incidents of antisemitism in Berkeley Unified School District,” she said. “And every single time that we are aware of such an incident, we take action and follow up.”