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<\/a><\/p>\nSigns at Beverly Hills High School in Beverly, Hills, Callfornia, on Dec. 9, 2024. (Brian van der Brug \/ Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
School board president Rachelle Marcus voted against the resolution that passed on Tuesday, citing fears that the flag could cause schools to become targets.<\/p>\n
Another board member, Amanda Stern, also voted no, arguing that \u201cpartisan material,\u201d including national flags, is not appropriate in public school resolutions. \u201cI love Israel, but I don\u2019t think it belongs here,\u201d she said, according to the Los Angeles Times.<\/p>\n
But three board members voted yes on the resolution, which included other measures meant to combat antisemitism in local schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a time right now that Jews are being killed and slaughtered on the street, and threats are happening,\u201d said one of them, Sigalie Sabag, according to CBS News.<\/p>\n
The resolution represents an aggressive response to concerns about antisemitism in Beverly Hills, which is home to celebrities as well as an epicenter of Los Angeles\u2019 Iranian Jewish community.<\/p>\n
It drew support from Beverly Hills\u2019 Jewish mayor, Sharona Nazarian, and its vice mayor, John Mirisch, who also serves as the chief policy officer for the Israeli-American Civic Action Network.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis should be a no-brainer for a school district that represents one of the only Jewish-majority communities outside of Israel,\u201d Mirisch said at Tuesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n
In addition to displaying the flag in its schools, the resolution also compels Beverly Hills to begin commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Day, designate Oct. 7 as a \u201cDay of Remembrance,\u201d train educators to respond to antisemitism and adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. The definition has drawn challenges because it characterizes some forms of Israel criticism as antisemitic.<\/p>\n
The resolution comes as California has faced heightened scrutiny over antisemitism in public schools. Many of the challenges have centered around an ethnic studies requirement, recently suspended, that critics said opened the door to antisemitic and anti-Israel instruction. Lawmakers considering legislation meant to fight antisemitism in schools, which some critics have decried as overly broad, held a press conference on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
In Beverly Hills, all five members of the board initially supported the antisemitism resolution during an Aug. 5 meeting. After drawing criticism including from local Palestinian activists, they later revised the wording to say that the flag was meant to show support for the \u201cJewish community\u201d rather than the \u201cJewish state,\u201d the L.A. Times reported.<\/p>\n
During the meeting on Tuesday, several community members expressed disapproval. One public speaker, Daniel Lifschitz, argued that the language of the resolution eliminated \u201cany distinction between anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiment.\u201d<\/p>\n
In response, board member Russell Stuart said, \u201cIn the end, our job is not to solve geopolitics,\u201d adding that the board\u2019s job \u201cis to make sure that our students in our school district come to school and feel safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andrea Grossman, a mother of three children who attended Beverly Hills schools, said at the Aug. 5 meeting that she feared the resolution would \u201cignite rather than discourage antisemitism.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBeverly Hills is a public school district in a diverse city with more than one religion, with more than one ethnic group,\u201d Grossman said. \u201cYour resolution would be appropriate in a Jewish day school, in a private school, not funded by taxpayer dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n