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‘Blatant Antisemitic Act’: High School Yearbook Erases Jewish Students’ Names, Replaces Photo With Muslim Students
The 2023-2024 yearbook for East Brunswick High School in New Jersey replaced a photo of the Jewish Student Union (JSU) with Muslim students and erased the names of the JSU members. Photo: Screenshot from StopAntisemitism on X/Twitter
A town in New Jersey has become the center of controversy after the local high school’s yearbook removed the names of Jewish students from a page and replaced their photo with one of Muslim students — an incident that the town’s mayor called a “blatant antisemitic act.”
The 2023-2024 yearbook for East Brunswick High School replaced a photo of the Jewish Student Union (JSU) with Muslim students and erased the names of the members of the JSU, leaving a large blank space on the page.
East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen expressed outrage over the incident and said new yearbooks will be ordered.
“At a minimum, I have … been assured that new yearbooks will be ordered and distributed with the correct pictures and names,” Cohen wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “Hate has no place in East Brunswick and antisemitism will not be tolerated.”
Cohen announced there would be an investigation into the incident.
“The administration will need to determine: 1. How did this happen? 2. What person or persons are responsible? 3. Who are the yearbook advisers and who signed off on this page? 4. Did this act occur at the publisher end? 5. How will perpetrators be held accountable? 6. Does this constitute a hate crime and how will this be prosecuted?” the mayor added.
Dr. Victor Valeski, superintendent of the East Brunswick Public School System, has also addressed the incident.
“We are aware of an error in the yearbook,” Valeskia said in an email on Tuesday. “We are working with the publisher to correct the yearbook. We are also investigating how the error occurred and will address that as appropriate at the conclusion of this investigation.”
Valeski also apologized for the “disappointment it has caused” and pledged to “rectify this situation.”
In an update to the community on Wednesday, the superintendent specifically apologized for “the hurt, pain, and anguish this event has caused our Jewish students, their families, and the impact this continues to have on the entire [East Brunswick] community,” according to local reports.
“We do not tolerate bias and we investigate all reported antisemitism,” he explained.
The incident comes at a time when antisemitism in both K-12 and higher education has been skyrocketing to record levels amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, which began when Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists invaded southern on Israel on Oct. 7, murdered 1,200 people, and took more than 250 hostages.
In the US last year, antisemitic incidents at K-12 schools increased by 135 percent, while such outrages on university campuses soared by a staggering 321 percent, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
Overall, antisemitism in the US surged to catastrophic and unprecedented levels in 2023, rising a harrowing 140 percent. The majority of the incidents occurred in the aftermath of Oct. 7, when the ADL recorded a steep rise in antisemitic outrages.
Schools have been major hubs of the spike in antisemitism.
Last month, the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened an investigation into the Berkeley Unified School District in California based on a complaint that it has allowed “severe and persistent” antisemitism since Oct. 7, with Jewish students experiencing bullying and harassment.
In January, OCR also opened an investigation into the Oakland Unified School District after it hosted a “teach-in” that gave educators guidance on how to address Israel and the Middle Eastern conflict in their classrooms. Resources included the website “Decolonize Palestine,” which claims Israel is not a democracy and does not have the right to exist. It also claims the creation of the state of Israel was a result of the “transference of Europe’s guilt onto the Palestinians.”
The teach-in also promoted the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement — which seeks to isolate Israel from the international community as a step toward the Jewish state’s eventual elimination — and a documentary that falsely claims Israel wants to take over not only the West Bank and Gaza, but also parts of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.
The post ‘Blatant Antisemitic Act’: High School Yearbook Erases Jewish Students’ Names, Replaces Photo With Muslim Students first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
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