A yearbook scandal has shocked a New Jersey high school after members of a Jewish student group had their names erased and their group photo changed to one showing Muslim students.
The controversy first arose Tuesday, when about 375 yearbooks were distributed at East Brunswick High.
In the yearbook, the section pertaining to the Jewish Student Union was completely eliminated, and members’ names were also removed.
The photograph of the group that should have remained in place was changed to one of a group of Muslim students, not associated with the club.
Although East Brunswick school system Superintendent Victor Valeski said it could be a “legitimate mistake,” others were quick to denounce the act as an unequivocal example of anti-Semitism.
A yearbook scandal has shocked a New Jersey high school after a Jewish student’s student names were blacked out and his group photo was changed to one showing Muslim students.
In the yearbook, the Jewish Student Union chapter was sandwiched between the Tenor Bass group and the Key Service Organization, whose names appear next to their photographs. For the Jewish Student Union, however, there is no text, just blank space.
In a statement, East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen called it a “blatant anti-Semitic act.”
Superintendent Valeski, after apologizing to both Jewish and Muslim students, urged the community not to jump to conclusions.
“Today I sent a message to the community saying we are investigating, and I wanted people to give us time to investigate, not rush to judgment,” he said. NBC4.
He speculated that the error could have been innocent and without anti-Semitic motives.
“I’m going to wait to see what the investigation finds because it could be a legitimate mistake.” And he added: “I don’t want to call it anti-Semitism yet.”
Mayor Cohen, however, seems to feel there is no other tenable explanation.
Of the yearbook scandal, he said, “It caused a lot of outrage in the community because most people have a hard time understanding how this happened ‘by accident.'”
If the textbook incident was the product of anti-Semitism, Mayor Cohen has questioned whether or not it should be considered a hate crime.
Mayor Cohen, however, seems to feel there is no other tenable explanation.
Superintendent Valeski, after apologizing to both Jewish and Muslim students, urged the community not to jump to conclusions. He speculated that the error could have been innocent and without anti-Semitic motives.
In a statement, East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen called it a “blatant anti-Semitic act.”
“I think the community, both the Jewish community and the community at large, deserves a quick response,” Cohen said.
The mayor proceeded to criticize those who had reservations about labeling the act as a display of Jewish hatred.
“It is frankly disturbing and outrageous that you do not denounce it for what it is: it is an anti-Semitic act.”
Once the problem was detected in the yearbook, members of the Jewish Student Union met again to take a new photo, which will be included, along with their names, in amended versions.
The school district has also hired an outside law firm to launch an investigation into the matter and get to the bottom of it.
“Hate has no place in East Brunswick and anti-Semitism will not be tolerated,” said Mayor Cohen.
Once the problem was detected in the yearbook, members of the Jewish Student Union met again to take a new photograph, which will be included, along with their names, in amended versions.
School buses leave the East Brunswick High School campus after the school day on February 22, 2018.
Meanwhile, the New Jersey office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations order a “transparent and fair investigation.”
The yearbook incident “has sparked an egregious backlash against some Muslim students who were unaware that their photograph was being misused,” spokeswoman Aya Elamroussi said in a statement.
Tensions have flared on university and school campuses following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
On Saturday, Israel managed to rescue four people in a hostage rescue operation in the heart of Nuseirat.