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A Dallas School District Is Being Investigated for Antisemitism; Here’s How Other Schools Can Avoid That Fate
On July 15, 2024, the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) informed my organization that it opened a civil rights investigation into the Dallas Independent School District (“DISD”) in response to our complaint that a student was subjected to years of “severe, pervasive and persistent harassment” solely because of his Jewish identity.
The team at StandWithUs argued that DISD violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in federally-funded programs such as public schools.
After months of witnessing the harassment, receiving reports of discrimination, and being offered educational training by StandWithUs, DISD is only just now (hopefully) taking antisemitism seriously — and that is only because of legal force.
Here’s what happened:
In September 2023, we sent a letter to the principal of Hillcrest High School in Dallas and the DISD Superintendent urging them to address antisemitism and ignorance at the school, and offering our support.
We described one student’s experience — being called a “dirty Jew” and a “filthy kike,” being told by classmates “Bye kike, hope the Nazis grab you tonight,” and “go back to Auschwitz, you don’t belong here.” School leadership consistently ignored or downplayed the seriousness of these incidents. One teacher told the student, “You shouldn’t let antisemitism bother you so much.” Swastikas discovered on school property were simply covered up.
Despite our letter and subsequent meetings with school leadership, DISD allowed the hostile environment to continue. After exhausting all other administrative options, we submitted our complaint to the US Department of Education. The student bravely returned to school and was barraged with mistreatment by teachers and administrators.
We recently contacted DISD to highlight this alarming retaliation, inquire about remedial steps, and again offer our support. We urged the district not to wait for an OCR investigation to do the right thing. But we never heard back.
Now that OCR is investigating, DISD is forced to utilize its resources to respond: the district’s attorneys are presumably reviewing hundreds of documents and social media posts, and its teachers and administrators are likely being contacted during their summer breaks to meet with the OCR investigator.
Our story didn’t have to be this complex and lengthy — and it shouldn’t take legal action for school districts to do the ring thing.
Here is how school districts can direct their resources to avoid the mess DISD is in now:
Teach staff about the definitions of antisemitism and procedures required to address all forms of harassment, intimidation, and bullying (“HIB”) and discrimination, and ensure that antisemitism is an explicit part of the discussion on these topics. Engage staff, bring up tough questions, and use real life examples, including those from the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
Provide age-appropriate education to students about the dangers of antisemitism, including clear examples and consequences of discriminatory conduct. Teach about Jewish history and heritage the same way you teach about other ethnic and racial groups. To paraphrase Dara Horn, please don’t only teach kids about dead Jews.
If a student complains about HIB or discrimination, put it in writing and offer your immediate support. Validating feelings and showing empathy go a long way, and doing so does not mean you admit a violation of policies. Act immediately and consistently, with no double standards. Whether or not a formal complaint is submitted, check in after a few days. That is not an admission of a violation of your policies; it is simply showing concern for a student who was hurt.
If there is a larger pattern of discrimination in the district, address it head-on. Send a note to families about specific concerns of antisemitism — not just hate in general — and then immediately take concrete steps to address the problematic climate, not just the individual incidents.
Conduct investigations transparently and with urgency. Share the results in clear terms. If remedies are required, create a timeline for implementation. Follow up to review the impact of the remedies. If the issue remains unresolved, keep trying to fix it. If you hold a schoolwide assembly about antisemitism, and the next day, swastikas are drawn on desks, you have not fixed the problem.
Ensure that the group most impacted has a voice in the conversation.
If your district does not already have one, they should hire a Title VI Coordinator who will ensure meaningful and equal compliance.
There are a few weeks until school starts again. Let’s encourage our districts to use that time wisely, and to use their precious resources towards protecting all students, including those who are Jewish and/or Israeli.
Jenna Statfeld Harris is a Senior Staff Attorney, specializing in K-12 education, at the StandWithUs Saidoff Legal Department. She is the lead attorney in the DISD case.
The post A Dallas School District Is Being Investigated for Antisemitism; Here’s How Other Schools Can Avoid That Fate first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students
Haredi Jewish men look at the scene of an explosion at a bus stop in Jerusalem, Israel, on Nov. 23, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Ammar Awad
Israel’s military said it would issue 54,000 call-up notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students following a Supreme Court ruling mandating their conscription and amid growing pressure from reservists stretched by extended deployments.
The Supreme Court ruling last year overturned a decades-old exemption for ultra-Orthodox students, a policy established when the community comprised a far smaller segment of the population than the 13 percent it represents today.
Military service is compulsory for most Israeli Jews from the age of 18, lasting 24-32 months, with additional reserve duty in subsequent years. Members of Israel’s 21 percent Arab population are mostly exempt, though some do serve.
A statement by the military spokesperson confirmed the orders on Sunday just as local media reported legislative efforts by two ultra-Orthodox parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to craft a compromise.
The exemption issue has grown more contentious as Israel’s armed forces in recent years have faced strains from simultaneous engagements with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, and Iran.
Ultra-Orthodox leaders in Netanyahu’s brittle coalition have voiced concerns that integrating seminary students into military units alongside secular Israelis, including women, could jeopardize their religious identity.
The military statement promised to ensure conditions that respect the ultra-Orthodox way of life and to develop additional programs to support their integration into the military. It said the notices would go out this month.
The post Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends an inauguration event for Israel’s new light rail line for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, in Petah Tikva, Israel, Aug. 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a “grave mistake” that he said would benefit the terrorist group Hamas.
Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel’s military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his “next steps” but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition.
Smotrich’s comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire.
“… the cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas,” Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the Islamist group and serve as “logistical support for the enemy during wartime”.
The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.
The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.
Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to U.N. estimates.
Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.
PRESSURE
Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.
Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the ceasefire in his criticism of Netanyahu.
The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a ceasefire is agreed.
The post Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
Australian police have charged a man in connection with an alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue with worshippers in the building, the latest in a series of incidents targeting the nation’s Jewish community.
There were no injuries to the 20 people inside the East Melbourne Synagogue, who fled from the fire on Friday night. Firefighters extinguished the blaze in the capital of Victoria state.
Australia has experienced several antisemitic incidents since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023.
Counter-terrorism detectives late on Saturday arrested the 34-year-old resident of Sydney, capital of neighboring New South Wales, charging him with offenses including criminal damage by fire, police said.
“The man allegedly poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire before fleeing the scene,” police said in a statement.
The suspect, whom the authorities declined to identify, was remanded in custody after his case was heard at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday and no application was made for bail, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.
Authorities are investigating whether the synagogue fire was linked to a disturbance on Friday night at an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne, in which one person was arrested for hindering police.
The restaurant was extensively damaged, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for Australia’s Jews.
It said the fire at the synagogue, one of Melbourne’s oldest, was set as those inside sat down to Sabbath dinner.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog went on X to “condemn outright the vile arson attack targeting Jews in Melbourne’s historic and oldest synagogue on the Sabbath, and on an Israeli restaurant where people had come to enjoy a meal together”.
“This is not the first such attack in Australia in recent months. But it must be the last,” Herzog said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incidents as “severe hate crimes” that he viewed “with utmost gravity.” “The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the Australian Jewish community,” Netanyahu said on X.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese late on Saturday described the alleged arson, which comes seven months after another synagogue in Melbourne was targeted by arsonists, as shocking and said those responsible should face the law’s full force.
“My Government will provide all necessary support toward this effort,” Albanese posted on X.
Homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles in Australia have been targeted by antisemitic vandalism and arson. The incidents included a fake plan by organized crime to attack a Sydney synagogue using a caravan of explosives in order to divert police resources, police said in March.
The post Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue first appeared on Algemeiner.com.