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<\/a><\/p>\nAn empty school classroom. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The incident at William Diamond Middle School in Lexington, Massachusetts, initially prompted some Jewish social media accounts and conservative news outlets to conclude the principal, Dr. Johnny Cole, was apologizing for teaching about the Holocaust.<\/p>\n
A local media outlet, however, reported Thursday that Cole\u2019s apology was not related to the Holocaust at all. Rather, he had apologized for a lesson on modern-day antisemitism the school had contracted a local third-party Jewish group to teach.<\/p>\n
Following the lesson, the Lexington Observer reported, a dozen families had objected to the group\u2019s use of material from the Blue Square Alliance, an antisemitism advocacy and monitoring organization \u2014 because its founder, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, is a prominent supporter of Israel. This prompted Cole to write \u201cWe are sorry\u201d to students who, he wrote, \u201cfelt like your own history, your identity, or your community was left out or erased.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cole continued, \u201cEvery one of you deserves to walk into this school and feel that who you are matters \u2014 Arab students; Jewish students; Lebanese students; Muslim students; Palestinian students \u2014 every student.\u201d The Observer verified and published his apology.<\/p>\n
The Boston Jewish Community Relations Council shed further light on the specifics of his apology.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe now understand that the letter itself \u2014 which, as written, was deeply disturbing and offensive to many members of our Jewish community \u2014 was in fact poorly worded and not reflective of the facts and context,\u201d the JCRC said in a statement shared with JTA.<\/p>\n
Neither Cole, nor multiple representatives of the middle school committee, nor the district superintendent, nor the school\u2019s parent-teacher organization responded to JTA requests for comment. None of the listed personnel associated with TribeTalk, the antisemitism education group contracted by the school district, responded to multiple JTA requests for comment Thursday. Representatives for the Blue Square Alliance also did not return a JTA request for comment.<\/p>\n
But the details of why TribeTalk was called into the school, and what the lesson consisted of, were provided by the Observer. Citing Cole and other school officials, the paper reported that TribeTalk\u2019s visit had been prompted by the recent discovery of graffiti of a neo-Nazi symbol, as well as what Cole had described as \u201ca racist anti-Black epithet,\u201d in the school\u2019s boys\u2019 bathroom this spring.<\/p>\n
According to its website, TribeTalk receives support from several Jewish funders, some with direct ties to Israel, including Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, the regional federation arm; Jewish National Fund USA, which funds land projects in Israel; the Jewish United Fund; and several family foundations. TribeTalk personnel consulted with the school\u2019s social studies teachers on the contents of the lesson, the Observer reported.<\/p>\n
A summary of the approved lesson, published by the Observer, provides a window into how institutionally backed Jewish groups are teaching about antisemitism and Zionism to public school students in the post-Oct. 7 era.<\/p>\n
The lesson defines antisemitism as \u201cnegative assumptions or opinions aimed at the Jewish community.\u201d Zionism, the lesson notes, \u201crecognizes the Jewish people as a people\u201d and \u201crecognizes their deep-rooted ties to their indigenous homeland in Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
It further provides examples of when criticism of Israel is not antisemitic, according to TribeTalk, which lists \u201ccriticism of the Prime Minister or other politicians,\u201d \u201cadvocating for a separate Palestinian state\u201d and \u201cadvocating for ceasefires\u201d as \u201cNOT antisemitic.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lesson summary goes on to describe breakout sessions in which students discussed whether hypothetical situations were antisemitic. It included two inspired by local real-life incidents: a football team using \u201cAuschwitz\u201d as a play call and a teen posting \u201c#FreePalestine\u201d under someone else\u2019s photo of challah. Further discussion points included a breakdown of the history of the swastika.<\/p>\n
None of the students complained or expressed discomfort during the lessons, according to the Observer. In feedback notes published by the paper, some students indicated they wanted to learn more about topics including \u201cZionism,\u201d \u201cPalestine,\u201d and \u201cthe history of antisemitism.\u201d Overall feedback from hundreds of students was appreciative.<\/p>\n
Afterwards, the school said it heard from 12 concerned parents \u201cwhose students felt really harmed by the presentation because they didn\u2019t feel that their perspective, family background, and history was seen,\u201d Cole told the paper. Those concerns, he said, prompted the school\u2019s apology.<\/p>\n
According to the Observer, some parents were also concerned because TribeTalk \u201csent students home with Blue Square Alliance stickers after the talk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those stickers, Cole said he told TribeTalk, could be perceived as \u201cchallenging for some families.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there\u2019s a conflation of these things, I\u2019m worried it will make more people have resentment and associate Judaism with the actions of a military,\u201d a district parent, Andrew Harris, told the Observer.<\/p>\n
In its own statement, Boston\u2019s JCRC did not dig into the specifics of the lesson but thanked the school district for its work \u201cto address antisemitism and all forms of hatred\u201d and noted that such conversations \u201care difficult and complex.\u201d JTA requests for comment to two local antisemitism activist groups, Lexington United Against Antisemitism and Massachusetts Educators Against Antisemitism, as well as to the Anti-Defamation League\u2019s New England branch, were not returned by deadline.<\/p>\n
StopAntisemitism, a popular X account that was an initial driver of inaccurate information behind the Lexington story, doubled down on Thursday afternoon, hours after the Observer\u2019s story and JCRC\u2019s statement had been published.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is the superintendent? Where is the school board?\u201d the account wrote, referencing a day-old Fox News story about the incident that inaccurately claimed the apology was directed to \u201cstudents offended by Holocaust lesson.\u201d<\/p>\n