National Jewish Organization Threatens to File Complaint Against FCPS

[Anonymous]

Sheesh. Zionists. What do you expect. Plenty of decent Jewish people condemn this crap, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So a student is roasted for roasted and almost thrown out of school or team something posting smth stupid off school hours, but SB member with quazi official accounts are immune? Give me a break.

She said apartheid and colonization are bad. She said she can't celebrate while Israel kills Palestinians. What exactly offends you? You celebrate apartheid and colonization? You think Israel taking out high rise buildings with extensive civilian casualties is something to celecbrate? SMH.

[Anonymous]

Doesn’t sound like a great climate for a Jewish kid to be in. Have to believe that some of the alleged bullies pick this up from antisemitic moms and dads in Fairfax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't condone Hamas' actions. Israel, however, is an apartheid state. This also started because Israel tried to evict Palestinians during Ramadan from homes they'd lived in for generations. Israel is entitled to defend itself, but leveling huge building with no regard to the loss of civilian life is unconscionable. Hamas is a terrorist organization and Israel violates international human rights laws with impunity. Hamas being bad doesn't absolve Israel of its own atrocities. In this country, any criticism of Israel is viewed as antisemetic. This is largely why Israel continues to do things like evicting Palestinian from their homes, building settlements, and doing other things that make a two state solution difficult to achieve. This doesn't serve Israelis or Palestinians well.

This is entirely beside the point. Omeish’s role on the SB has absolutely nothing to do with Israel/Palestine policy and it’s not an issue that a SB member should be addressing in an official capacity. Anti-Semitic incidents at Robinson or elsewhere are deplorable.

Everyone is entitled to view Israeli policy however they want but that is not a justification for anti-semitism. American Jews are NOT Israelis or representatives of Israel. If you have questions about this I’d be happy to answer them.

Omeish did that on her personal social media and her comments were about Israel not about Jews. Also, where in my post did I equate American Jews to Israel or justify anti-semetism? Disagreeing with the actions of the Israeli government doesn't make someone anti-Semitic. And, no, I don't need you to answer any questions as you seem to have a problem with reading comprehension.

That is the account she uses for official communication as a school board member. Up until her antisemitic comments, she had a heading that said it was her school board account.

Nothing antisemitic in the post ZOA referenced:

Eid Mubarak! Congrats on 30 days of worship!

Hurts my heart to celebrate while Israel kills Palestinians & desecrates the Holy Land right now. Apartheid & colonization were wrong yesterday and will be today, here and there. 🌎💞🌍


Is her statement against the oppressive actions of the Israeli government, yes. Americans criticize our government all the time, China for its treatment of the Uyghurs..., why is Israel exempt from criticism?

+1 I can critique Israel, abhor Hamas, and abhor anti-Semitism. No problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

That is the account she uses for official communication as a school board member. Up until her antisemitic comments, she had a heading that said it was her school board account.

Again, that account predated her election. IANAL, but it strikes me that there is precedent for treating private accounts as personal even if politicians make professional announcements there.

So, @POTUS is an "official" account because it follows the office not the person. Similarly, there are spokesperson accounts that follow the office, not the person.

This isn't that. It's not "official" in that sense, and therefore she is free to post critiques of foreign governments as much as she would like.

Trump's personal twitter account that he'd had for years was suspended because he was using it as an official account. So in that sense, it was "official".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

That is the account she uses for official communication as a school board member. Up until her antisemitic comments, she had a heading that said it was her school board account.

Again, that account predated her election. IANAL, but it strikes me that there is precedent for treating private accounts as personal even if politicians make professional announcements there.

So, @POTUS is an "official" account because it follows the office not the person. Similarly, there are spokesperson accounts that follow the office, not the person.

This isn't that. It's not "official" in that sense, and therefore she is free to post critiques of foreign governments as much as she would like.

Trump's personal twitter account that he'd had for years was suspended because he was using it as an official account. So in that sense, it was "official".

I mean, he was using it to try to attempt to launch an insurrection. The fact that he was the lame duck president at the time expanded the impact of the attempt, but his personal account does not belong to the government the way the POTUS account does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

That is the account she uses for official communication as a school board member. Up until her antisemitic comments, she had a heading that said it was her school board account.

Again, that account predated her election. IANAL, but it strikes me that there is precedent for treating private accounts as personal even if politicians make professional announcements there.

So, @POTUS is an "official" account because it follows the office not the person. Similarly, there are spokesperson accounts that follow the office, not the person.

This isn't that. It's not "official" in that sense, and therefore she is free to post critiques of foreign governments as much as she would like.

Trump's personal twitter account that he'd had for years was suspended because he was using it as an official account. So in that sense, it was "official".

I mean, he was using it to try to attempt to launch an insurrection. The fact that he was the lame duck president at the time expanded the impact of the attempt, but his personal account does not belong to the government the way the POTUS account does.

Yes it does. All the posts under his "realDJT" account are officially archived as official presidential statements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I simply cannot comprehend how, if true, a swastika was not removed. What is going on in this county?

Agreed. Maybe we should hit the basics of human decency before we go in for a trendy anti-bias curriculum and teacher training. It sounds like they aren't implementing the policies they already have in place.

+100
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I simply cannot comprehend how, if true, a swastika was not removed. What is going on in this county?

Agreed. Maybe we should hit the basics of human decency before we go in for a trendy anti-bias curriculum and teacher training. It sounds like they aren't implementing the policies they already have in place.

+100
DP

Or maybe the anti-bias curriculum will teach students to treat everyone, including Jews, with dignity? Just having rules in a student handbook clearly isn't working.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I simply cannot comprehend how, if true, a swastika was not removed. What is going on in this county?

Agreed. Maybe we should hit the basics of human decency before we go in for a trendy anti-bias curriculum and teacher training. It sounds like they aren't implementing the policies they already have in place.

+100
DP

Or maybe the anti-bias curriculum will teach students to treat everyone, including Jews, with dignity? Just having rules in a student handbook clearly isn't working.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Yes! Now someone is making sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I simply cannot comprehend how, if true, a swastika was not removed. What is going on in this county?

Agreed. Maybe we should hit the basics of human decency before we go in for a trendy anti-bias curriculum and teacher training. It sounds like they aren't implementing the policies they already have in place.

+100
DP

+200. But maybe you can’t write as many big checks for outside consultants when you commit to teaching civics, good manners, and mutual respect instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I simply cannot comprehend how, if true, a swastika was not removed. What is going on in this county?

Agreed. Maybe we should hit the basics of human decency before we go in for a trendy anti-bias curriculum and teacher training. It sounds like they aren't implementing the policies they already have in place.

+100
DP

+200. But maybe you can’t write as many big checks for outside consultants when you commit to teaching civics, good manners, and mutual respect instead.

That's not the right "lens"

[Anonymous]

Found this thread while trying to think about why in April 2023 the Fairfax County Public School Instagram account would include "Palestine" in a wonderful post about Arab students and culture in the county. I don't think anyone could argue with "Palestinian" if that's how the student identifies. The other students identified countries. The US doesn't recognize Palestine. https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-palestinian-territories/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Found this thread while trying to think about why in April 2023 the Fairfax County Public School Instagram account would include "Palestine" in a wonderful post about Arab students and culture in the county. I don't think anyone could argue with "Palestinian" if that's how the student identifies. The other students identified countries. The US doesn't recognize Palestine. https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-palestinian-territories/

Idk - i think you’re looking for things to bother you. i am pro Israel but I understand why that kid may have wanted to say that’s where they are from.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, I appreciate the response and understand. I'll take the invitation to think about my sensitivity level, as you suggest, especially when the main point of the Instagram post is a great reflection of the amazing diversity and positive students (and delicious food) in the county.

I was thinking that the graphic might be interpreted as potentially discourteous. I think FCPS should seek to expand open discussion, context, and political and cultural sensitivity at some level, but I see how this could be a misguided concern here. The student is young, FCPS may have prepared the post, maybe it wasn't meant as a political statement, and it's not presented as a political statement. On the other hand, it could be viewed as a political statement and it seems objectively disputable to identify Palestine as a country of origin.

That's all I have on this, I appreciate your thoughts. For reference the post is in the middle of the page at https://www.instagram.com/fairfaxcountypublicschools