Hell Rains Down on Those Who Dare Question School Authority

 

Teachers/Students/Parents/Politicians Preach Tolerance of Others’ Views and Opinions, Then Walk-Out of Hearing,
Refusing to Listen to the Views and Opinions of Others

FROM OUR JANUARY, 2019 PRINTED EDITION

by Lonnie Brennan

NEWTON, Mass.  ̶  Question: How many attendees in a jam-packed auditorium concerning anti-Semitic teachings in the Newton Public Schools learned that a textbook which teachers used to falsely tell students that Jews were killing Arab women in Israeli jails was produced by the Saudis – exporters of terrorism against Jews? (Upon exposure and a tremendous amount of citizen activism, the book was eventually re-evaluated and removed from the classroom.) Or that certain Newton teachers were trained at Harvard University by an anti-Israeli activist? Or that one teacher in particular was trained in a workshop partially funded by Qatar – a regime that is viciously anti-Semitic?

Answer: only a few dozen.

Oh, it’s not that the auditorium wasn’t packed. It certainly was. That is until the majority of the attendees who support anti-Semitic teachings (students, faculty, and supporting parents) fled, refusing to listen to the views of the other side.

After a long line of speaker after speaker after speaker praising the schools, praising the school committee, praising the teachers, praising the students, declaring that Newton is the best, best, best, best place to be educated, and produces the most tolerant, smartest, and most discriminatingly-acute students, the bulk of the audience fled prior to hearing anything from the opposing side.

But before they left, they sure dished it out. They labeled groups and individuals – by name–
who dared to question the schools or seek any knowledge of what is being taught in the taxpayer-funded schools as hateful and hate groups. And hate is perhaps the kindest word they had to share. And they played the race card (even a history lesson of how blacks had to start their own church in Newton so that they could worship from the front pews), the gender card, the victim card (how can you possibly attack us, and now that we’ve dared to speak out against you we’ll be further attacked), all while proclaiming their inclusive nature and profound intelligence.

Make no mistake, hell rained down upon those groups and individual taxpayers who dared to question school authority, including Education Without Indoctrination – a grassroots group formed to speak out against the anti-Semitic teachings – and Americans for Peace and Tolerance with its president Charles Jacobs for daring to take a peek behind the curtain and reveal that things in Newton schools are not as the school committee claims.

The Scene

By now, many have heard or read of the Newton School Committee public hearing of Nov. 27, 2018. The hearing was held by demand of a citizens’ petition, following seven years of non-response to multiple requests to the school committee to reconsider the anti-Semitic teachings in the Newton Public Schools.

What you probably don’t know about the hearing is what most of its attendees also do not know (because they bolted after spewing their hatred against those who requested the meeting, or after their lengthy pontificating of how great they are, how they love their teachers, how their community is the best, etc.): That anti-Semitic teachings, books, films, maps, and other curricula have been repeatedly found in the Newton schools. Documented. Proven.

The Support Newton Values Stickers

Most at the hearing never had the opportunity to learn that it has been well documented that Newton Public Schools have shown a true propaganda film in which Israelis are portrayed as acting like Nazis, nor that that film was presented as a documentary when it does not even begin to resemble a documentary in any sense of the word. It was made up. Fiction. Crafted. Instead, students/teachers/parents and politicians alike donned oversized “Support Newton Values” stickers on their breasts, and declared repeatedly that there’s nothing to see, nothing to say, no such thing as biased teaching.

Critical Thinking

The phrase of the night was the same phrase used by the school committee for seven years when questioned about teaching lies: critical thinking. Yes, the students are taught to be critical thinkers, to weigh and evaluate and make their own decisions. Make up their own minds about the truth of a situation. But in order to do so, certain taxpayers argued that students also need to hear not just the lies from one side, but know that those lies are lies, and know that there is another side. (As an example, prior to this meeting, it had been exposed that one book used  in the school system had 103 pro-Palestine references, and only three pro-Israeli references. That book raised a question of potential bias and concern, but the school committee rejected commenting on that book, as well as many others.)

Only Fair to Print What They Refused to Hear

Since most of those who left missed so many of the speakers, it seems only fitting to reproduce a few of those speakers’ words on these pages in the hopes that someday they might want to begin to understand the concerns of others.

For limited space here, we’re giving voice to just a few of the many, many speakers attempted to answer or respond to being called hateful, a hate group, evil, and other less charitable monikers. We’ll include more from both sides in future editions so you can get more of a flavor for the unbridled praise by students for their teachers (a love fest as one attendee described it), and for teachers for their fellow teachers, and for parents and politicians for all of Newton in general, and their condemnation of anyone who dares to say anything to the contrary.

Side note: Following the incredible heaping of praise upon themselves, while viciously condemning those who pointed out potential curriculum problems, one member of the audience paraphrased the good English bard by remarking privately and confidentially: “I think they doth protest too much.”

Aaron Shneider

“My name is Aaron Shneider…I’m a spokesman for EWI [Education Without Indoctrination]. Ladies, gentlemen, representatives of the Newton School Committee, so we find ourselves here yet again, or should I say that we find ourselves here at last.

To those in the audience who may not know, this assembly is not a recent development. In fact, it just happens to be the culmination of a hard fought, seven-year long battle against the unyielding cogs of our educational institutions. Over such a long span of time and through countless tedious school committee meetings, our temperamental memories often let things slip, so as a public service, let us recount the sheer totality of damning evidence that lies before us.

Let’s remember that the relationship between our community, and the school administration was not always so antagonistic. Quite the opposite. We gave these public servants our children, trusting them to endow the next generation with a nuanced education and critical thinking.

Imagine our surprise then, seven years ago, when it was discovered that these trusted educators used Saudi-funded textbooks to brainwash our youth. These texts were, of course, totally inaccurate, caricaturing Israel, for example, as a fundamentalist ethno state. Even now, seven years down the line, I can’t help but be puzzled by the sheer irony of such an arrangement.

Saudi Arabia, a country where only Muslims are allowed into the holy city of Mecca, accusing Israel of institutional religious fundamentalism? Saudi Arabia, the same country that only last year allowed women to drive, alleging that Israel is the region’s true violator of women’s rights. Little did Newton parents know that every day while they were at work, their children would be continually misled and influenced by the world’s foremost sponsor of terrorism.

When the news of this first broke and our community had a chance to reflect on this grievous miscarriage of authority, many among us naively believed that it was some sort of mistake. We came to you in meeting after meeting, pleading for answers and begging for change.

For a group of politicians, I will admit that you genuinely surprised me. I expected you to lie, or to deflect, as public officials often do in order to wriggle out of such a PR crisis. Instead, where I expected lies, we were met with a deafening silence. Although you said nothing, your silence told us everything we needed to know.

Seven years have passed since then, and although the evidence of the school committee’s bias continues to grow, their response has never wavered. When CAMERA’s investigation found even more evidence of Israeli bias, of anti-Israeli bias – silence. When the movie Ismail played during a mandatory assembly – slanderously depicted Jewish-Israeli soldiers abusing and exiling Palestinians – silence. When emails from within this very school administration uncovered a concerted effort with the Newton North’s history department to eradicate objectivity in the name of social justice – silence.

This community has had just about enough of your silence. If this committee, as it has for years, refuses to work with us to eradicate this propaganda, it is in turn up to us to solve…” [microphone cut-off]

Chair Ruth Goldman: “Your time’s up. Thank you. Go ahead [next speaker].”

Jerry Tuite

“My name is Jerry Tuite.”

Chair Goldman: “No applause.”

Jerry Tuite: “I come from Hopkinton, Massachusetts. I came into this controversy two years ago, many years after it started. I know a lot of the people in EWI. I got involved because everything that these people talked about and fought is documented in this book [holds up CAMERA’s book detailing the false maps, the fake curriculum]. It’s about political bias and anti-Semitism, and historical inaccuracy that was injected into your curriculum. All they were asking for was to take it out.

Five years after they started, they were still working at it. They couldn’t get it out. That’s why I got involved. I couldn’t understand this, especially in Newton. I never heard anyone in that organization demean teachers. I’m shocked at what I’m hearing. It’s never been about the teachers, never about the system, only about the inaccuracy in the substance, that’s all, and that’s why I’m here.

I’m a Christian, I’m not a Jew, and I can’t stand by. The request made of this committee, transparency, that a … Explaining what anti-Semitism is, and there’s some Russian Jews here who can explain it to you if you don’t really understand what it is, because they’ve been through it, and how to recognize it, and how you’ve been exposed to it. That’s all they’re asking.

How could any school committee see this as anything but an opportunity? Even a few of your own teachers acknowledge as we found out last summer, they are propagandizing. They freely proclaim the right to press their own ideology, morality in their classroom, even after shown, it crossed a line. They declared objectivity the real threat. What initially appeared to be innocent mistakes now is revealed as something quite the opposite.

The introduction into Newton schools of racist themes, historically inaccurate narratives and political bias, has been deliberate. More and more it seems Newton has not been the victim of an unfortunate mistake, it was chosen for an ideological battle, and the demands made by these citizens in EWI to cease is not a surrender by Newton schools. It’s an opportunity.

Nobody who came to this mic tonight disputed anything in this [he said, turning  to the remnants of the audience, while displaying the CAMERA book]. Not one of you. You’re talking about your analytical ability. It wasn’t a student who brought this to the superintendent’s attention, it was outsiders. Look, my hat’s off to you teachers, all right? I don’t have a problem. But as a Christian, I cannot stand by and watch it happen again.”

[Audience applauds.]

Chair Goldman: “Hold your applause please.”

Norman Greenberg

“My name is Norman Greenberg. I’ve been a resident of the city of Newton for 45 years, and have had five children and grandchildren, five children and stepchildren come through the system. I am here to support the petition.

I cannot understand your absolute refusal to make some sensible changes in the Middle East Studies curriculum, or even to seriously consider making them when a significant number of concerned and offended Jewish parents of high school students and many others have been asking, no begging, you to do this for over seven years now.

You must think we are a crazy, ill-advised fringe group and that you are the only educated adults in the room. Are you that arrogant? I take your disregard as a personal insult. Do you think that the parents and citizens of this city have no right to be involved in the school curriculum? That this committee of elected officials has no responsibility to taxpaying constituents who have elected them? That you can just ignore us and we’ll go away? Have you no shame?

The evidence of bias, falsehoods, and anti-Semitism in the teaching of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is overwhelming. Highly regarded educational organizations have weighed it in their carefully considered opinion.

Just to refer to two of the many organizations:

In 2015 a Florida-based academic service called Verity Educate evaluated study materials obtained from students and wrote a  highly critical comprehensive 153-page report concluding, among other things, that the Middle East curriculum contained multiple, easily refuted instances of inaccurate and false information.

Academic dishonesty ranging from plagiarism [by superintendent Fleishman] to false information – materials taken directly from a hate-filled religious, proselytizing website, and repeated biases against Israel and the U.S., biases that sanitized the ideology of actions of terrorists.

It is reported that the executive director of Verity Educate approached Newton school officials three times with the report, but did not receive a single response.

In 2017, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, known as CAMERA, a nationally recognized organization, published a 108-page monograph with numerous examples of offending and false study materials, and aptly titled it, ‘Indoctrinating our Youth.’

This well-documented study essentially updates, confirms, and re-emphasizes the findings of the Verity report. It also discusses the importance of transparency and points out that Massachusetts statute allows any citizen, not just parents, access to all materials teachers use with students since they’re considered public records.

The CAMERA report points out directly to the school committee and I quote, ‘Calling upon experts from outside who are unaffected by opinions,’ … ”

Chair Goldman: “Thank you, your time’s up. Next speaker.”

Judy Elovitz Greenberg

“Hi. My name is Judy Elovitz Greenberg. I’m a graduate of the Newton South High School class of 1977. I loved my school. I loved my teachers. My children, all seven of them, kids and children and stepchildren, graduated Newton South High School. They loved their school and most of them loved their teachers.

So I look over here and I see how much the children now love their teachers, because this place was jam-packed, and I don’t know, one teacher said, ‘Get up and leave,’ and they all got up and left, so, that’s the ah, that’s the indoctrination we’re getting here. And that’s really frightening to me.”

Chair Goldman (to audience): “Quiet. Quiet.” As members of the audience heckled Judy Greenberg.

Judy Greenberg: ” I held it in when people were calling me, were demonizing me, for finding fault in the curriculum of the history department of what my children were learning about the Middle East.

My son came home to me and told me that there was a map in his classroom of the Middle East. There was no Israel there. There was no named Israel. What’s up with that?

And when when I wanted to go in to complain, my son begged me not to say anything, because he wanted his teachers to like him. He had colleges, college applications, ready to go. He needed those recommendations. These children are young adults … are so vulnerable because they need so much from these teachers. It doesn’t matter what they teach them, they will understand, they will believe, and they will repeat it. Thank you very much.”

[Audience members applaud.]

Judy Greenberg: “I do support Newton values, by the way. They’re our values. Honesty, transparency, and being nice to each other. Thank you.”

Chair Goldman: “Who’s next?”

Richard Salter

“My name is Richard Salter. I live at Steven Place in Newton. I wouldn’t sign the petition that was going around, but I did graduate. I do have seniority of the class of 1962, Newton North. That’s just before the two high schools split, and I think there is a split from what I understand.

From my reading is that the Saudi Arabian dictated study guide was at Newton South, so all these students who are talking about Newton North and their experience in history, there may not be as relevant.

I just want to clarify something about Charles Jacobs and APT [Americans for Peace and Tolerance – a group, as well as Mr. Jacobs – repeatedly attacked by teachers and students during their time at the microphone].

I’m not a friend of Charles Jacobs. He’s a nice enough fellow. I’m not a member of APT, but I do know something about Charles’ history.

He’s a fellow who went out on his own and rescued slaves, black slaves in Africa, and was acknowledged for that. So I don’t think to categorize him as some kind of hysterical, right-wing ideologue is accurate.

I don’t know how many slaves people in this room have rescued recently, but there’s a guy who went out and did something quite righteous in the name of freedom and human rights.”

[Audience members cheer.]

Chair Goldman: “Hold your applause, please.”

Salter: “I didn’t come here to defend Charles, but I just think that, what’s happening here is that people are being categorized. There’s the right, and there’s the left, and it’s all confused. Critical thinking is kind of an absurd concept. We’re here to defend critical thinking?

I think we all should be here to defend the truth. The truth. The truth should be absolute. So when you talk about school curriculums dedicated to critical thinking, and I confronted Dr. Fleishman on the subject, because I’ve been at these absurd school committee meetings where we’re stared down by these committee members, never responded to, like we are some kind of radical group of complainers.

All we wanted was the truth to be taught in the schools. They say, ‘Well, the truth is taught about everything in school,’ except Israel.

Now somebody referred to Martin Luther King, and I thought that’s great. He’s one of my heroes. And Martin Luther King said that anti-Israel is anti-Semitism. He understood what anti-Israel meant in all of its forms.

And right now, these kids are leaving the schools, Newton South and Newton North, and they’re going to enter colleges where anti-Semitism is alive and well, where Jewish kids can’t even wear or acknowledge their Jewishness because people associate Jewish kids with Israel, and Israel has become not politically correct. And this is what’s being taught in Newton …”

Chair Goldman: “Thank you.”

[Audience applaudes.]

Chair Goldman: “Hold your applause, please. Go ahead.”

Karen Hurvitz

“Hi. My name is Karen Hurvitz. I’ve been before you before. I am the lawyer for Education Without Indoctrination, and I’m from Concord, Massachusetts.

It seems to me that this controversy over a very limited aspect of the curriculum did not have to explode into this community-wide battle that is getting national attention.

This controversy is not about Newton values. Everybody agrees that Newton values are great, and it’s not about the value of critical thinking, which nobody is even attempting to disparage. It’s not about abstract teaching. And it’s not about teachers not being dedicated. The majority of teachers, I am sure, and I’ve heard from the students, are dedicated, devoted professionals.

However, in this one area, the materials have found to be inaccurate, and so they should have been changed to reflect the truth.

Why is that so controversial an idea?

Why are people who bring the inaccuracies to light, labeled as hate groups?

Why are the teachers, administrators, and school committee and students just circling the wagons?

Why not fact check?

CAMERA, and Mr. Tuite brought the book, has done an excellent job of just that, first in its monograph published last year, and just yesterday in its update.

I have never heard that any of the points that CAMERA makes have been refuted.

If you fact check, you will find that every simple point they make is undeniably and unquestionably true, so why not just say, ‘Thank you for pointing this out. We do not want to teach children hateful, inaccurate material. We will change it.’ Why is that such a controversial thing to do?

I watched the rally put on by Superintendent Fleishman and the teachers, and I was totally baffled. They said nothing about the substance of any of the complaints. They merely held signs that said, ‘Hate has no place here,’ and they complained of being targeted.

Well, if hate has no place in Newton, why not just take hate out of the curriculum?

If the teachers don’t want to be called out, why don’t they take responsibility for what they’re teaching?

I read the articles that they’re complaining about. There’s nothing hateful about them. They were an exposé. Of course, teachers cornered by what they’ve been taught teaching and they’re called out that it’s wrong, they would be angry.

And by the way, portraying a propaganda film, Ismail, as a documentary, as one of the students pointed out, is a fine example of what we are talking about.”

Chair Goldman: “Your time is up, thank you.”

Tom Mountain

“Hi. My name is Tom Mountain … I am the chairman of the Newton Republican Committee. I am also the vice-chair of the Massachusetts Republican Jewish Committee. Oh, how I wanted the teachers to stay here, the so many dozens who were here, because I wanted to ask them a few questions.

I wanted to query them as to how many among them are Republicans, how many voted for Donald Trump, how many voted for Charlie Baker? In reality, I really don’t need to do that because we all know the truth. They’re not Republicans because the Newton Public Schools does not hire Republicans, as does the superintendent, who does not hire Republican principals. There are no Republicans on his staff. It’s a Republican-free zone.

Now the individual that you saw over there who talked, who staged the walkout of the teachers so that they didn’t have to listen to diversity of opinion, meaning our opinion, that was the same one who basically showed the movie that depicted Jews behaving as Nazis. He’s the one who did it. When I queried him and asked him to stay for my response, he looked at me in a snide remark and refused to do so – and how telling is that? How telling is that?

He gives the word, he snaps his fingers, they all rise, like automatons. They all rise and they get out of town. They don’t want to listen to us. They don’t want to hear us. They don’t care about us. That’s how it’s been and that’s how it will continue.

I’ve been the chairman of the Newton Republican Party for a very long time and I will tell you this. I am at the stage where those of you who are Republicans, who are conservatives in the audience: Do not send your children to the Newton Public Schools. What you witness here is what they think of you. They don’t like Republicans; they despise Republicans. If looks could kill, I would’ve been dead 10 times over with the eyes that I got on me because I’m wearing this coat … because I’m wearing this Trump jacket, the same jacket that I will wear next week when I proudly attend the Hanukkah reception at the White House. They don’t like us; they despise us.

Ask your school superintendent. Ask him how many principals are Republican. Ask him how many teachers are Republican. On top of that, they say that I’m biased. Ask how many of them showed up at the Veterans Day event last week beside the mayor. Ask how many showed up at Memorial Day. They never show up. They don’t care.

Ask about the programs that they have for Veterans Day. Nothing, nothing. Folks, it’s over. If you’re a liberal Democrat, mazel tov. Stay here. It’s your paradise. It’s your biosphere. If you’re a Republican, if you’re an independent, it’s time to get out of town. It’s over. I’m telling you this from the bottom of my heart. It’s over. I’m going to get out of town and as soon as I feasibly can.  And I can see some of you are smiling. Good, fine, you won. You got rid of Tom Mountain. Congratulations. Mazel tov to all of you. The liberals have taken over. I’m going to be at the White House next week, I’ll be representing … ”

Chair Goldman: “Next.”

Margot Einstein

“Margot Einstein of Newton. Look at CAMERA’s research. Has anybody on the school board or administration read Education Without Indoctrination? They have the monographs, the bias, and propaganda in the schools – is all documented there. Stop calling our grassroot citizens group names. I am not involved in a hate group.

Name calling tries to divert and cover up the travesty that Newton school materials are not twisted history and fiction. We taxpaying citizens know that we are gaining strength because people are beginning to speak up. Students who have been harassed and victimized are starting to talk about being bullied for their views and opinions.

How about this public hearing tonight, legally demanded city-wide of the school administration, because of the huge amount of outrageous citizens who signed the demand petition?

There’s plenty to be outraged about. Why is perverted history taught in the schools? Why aren’t the students getting facts instead of fiction? Why did the school board extend David Fleishman’s contract four more years with high kudos from every member, when the man is known nationally as a plagiarist, and locally we know he has lied to us over and over. Some role model for our young people.

Fleishman’s salary is $206,000 a year with a typical annual pay increase of 3%. Has he or the school committee solved the problem of the bias, skewed curriculum? No, no, and no. The materials in the schools are anti-Christian, anti-American, anti-Western, anti-Semitic, and pro-Islamic. We must work together as Americans to see that facts given to our children are true.”

Chair Goldman: “Hold your applause, please. Next.”

Leon Kadis

“Leon Kadis … I’ve been living here since 1961 and attended 12 years of school. No problems, I was very happy and I never saw any hostility to Israel or Jews. However, I don’t think that’s the case now.

The thing that disturbs me the most is finding out that a film was presented at Newton Public Schools, critical or hostile to Israel, portraying soldiers of the IDF as almost like Nazis. What’s going on here? It’s unbelievable. If that was ever done to any ethnic or any other country, people would go wild, but it seems Jews are fair game.

I’m asking you to take the recommendation of this petition and implement it. Other than that, that’s really about it. I am a supporter of Charles Jacobs. Thank you.”

Leon Mintz

“Hello. My name is Leon Mintz. I am from Acton, Massachusetts. For many years now, Newton schools are secretly teaching that the Israelis are like Nazis. They are teaching that Jewish soldiers have been murdering and cutting up women and children in jails.

In their recent letter, Newton school graduates praised their teachers for great education. It’s horrifying that a whole generation of Newton children have been raised believing in the blood libel.

Newton became known as the center of anti-Semitic propaganda in the United States. Newton sees this, and they must decide if they want to stay that way.

I also want to say something about harassment. It’s not harassment when teachers are asked: What are they teaching? It’s harassment if its students have to sit through anti-Semitic movies and from a Noam Chomsky presentation. That is very harassment…

Next, [history teacher] Mr. Bedar said that he is for critical thinking when he brought a bunch of students and then he ordered them to leave [this hearing, before anyone questioning the schools could speak]. Time to go to school [Bedar told the students before they walked out of the evening’s event]. That’s called critical thinking? God forbid he will listen to our opinions!

I also take [time] to tell about Education Without Indoctrination [EWI], I’m one of these people, and why I joined it, because growing up in the Soviet Union, I found out that the same thing that Mr. Bedar produced as his school’s curriculum…was developed then by Brezhnev, Soviet Union, 50 years ago. Just the same curriculum stuff repackaged and added some stuff from Hamas, and then brought to our schools.

And, the last thing I want to say: Mr. Bedar said he is Jewish, and many people here are Jewish. OK, I have seen Jewish commissars…”

Alex Koifman

“Good evening. My name is Alex Koifman. I am a longtime resident of Newton. My son graduated from Newton North. I am president for the Russian Jewish Community Foundation, RJCF.

I grew up in the Soviet Union where I was taught lies about Israel and the United States. If we had a meeting like this in my high school in the Soviet Union, asking students to conform to the party line and see how much they loved the school curriculum, you know what it would be? It would be here, like this, 100% with the party line.

This is despicable.

We are back to the Soviet Union, pretty much everyone in the Russian Jewish community agrees with my description of this Soviet reality.

When the Soviet propaganda attacked Israel, everyone understood that it was directed towards us, Jews. It is happening here. Attacks on Israel are really attacks on Jews. We see it on college campuses. FBI statistics show that Jewish students are harassed more than any other ethnic group. Hate crimes against Jews constitute over 50% of all ethnic hate crimes. A great deal of this harassment against Jews is a result of anti-Israel propaganda.

In this context, it’s alarming to us – although apparently not to David Fleishmann – that there have been documented incidents in which students at Newton schools were given biased information about Israeli-Arab conflict. Recently, students were shown the movie Ismail, drawing parallels between Jewish soldiers and the Nazis. The movie is made to look like a documentary, although it is a pure work of fiction.

I remember as a student watching war movies in the Soviet Union that showed German soldiers treating civilians in the most inhumane ways. Ismail depicted Jewish soldiers to look and behave like Nazis. This is blatant anti-Semitism, and this is not just my opinion, it is according to both the [U.S.] State Department and Department of Education.

Other cases of bias and lies are well documented in the book, Indoctrinating Youth by CAMERA. You should be studying this book in your school curriculum.

I have a question for the school committee. Why do you allow such blatant, anti-Israel propaganda? I have a question for Superintendent Fleishman. Do you not realize that a biased, mostly one-sided presentation can have profound consequences for the students and for the society? Thank you.”

Charles Jacobs

“My name is Charles Jacobs. I’m president of APT. We have been defamed in many ways here for years.

One of the things that you say is that we were the only ones who cared about this, and in the beginning that might’ve been true, but right now the ADL and even the JCRC is very concerned about this. There are certain facts.

I just wanted to say to the Palestinian woman, the doctor, that you wouldn’t be able to get the Israeli point of view in the current curriculum. So there’s certain facts.

And Ruth Goldman said when we came to the school committee meetings, you didn’t have to respond to us, and that’s why we’re having this meeting, so that you can respond to us, so you can engage.

I have a series of questions that I would phrase to, or pose to David Fleishman, or any of you:

David, when did you find out that the textbook that teachers used to tell students that Jews were killing Arab women in Israeli jails, when did you find out that that was a Saudi-produced textbook? And, when you found out, did you tell the students that it wasn’t true? That’s the first.

Second, when did you find out that 90 teachers from the history department were trained at Harvard University by an anti-Israel activist, the BDS leader, in Somerville? And, after you found that out, did you tell anybody about it, and would you now?

Three, when did you find out that David Bedar was trained in a workshop that was partially funded by, in a group workshop, that was partially funded by Qatar? Qatar is a regime that is viciously anti-Semitic, not just anti-Israel, but viciously anti-Semitic. When did you find that out, and will you tell people that it’s true?

Fourth, when did you find out that teachers gave to their students doctored primary documents? The Hamas charter was changed. They took out the part where Hamas says, ‘We have to kill every Jew in the world,’ so that students would think this is a conflict about borders and not religions or existential. These are all true facts I’m telling you.

Five: it’s clear to me why students would come and defend their teachers, because they love their teachers. They didn’t know that their teachers were giving them things that even their teachers didn’t know were false. For example, they gave them a set of maps that was produced by the PLO. It’s a lying set of maps. Everybody in the Jewish community knows how to defend against that, but you took the PLO logo off the maps, so the students – how would the students know they were given false information?

My questions to you – will you answer these questions for us? Thank you.”  ♦

 

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Read more in our printed edition. We’ll also have more in our February edition, including more comments like that shown below by school committee members. Also, visit EducationWithoutIndoctrination.org to learn more.