(Jewish Group) Montgomery students lament antisemitism surging in their schools

Eliana Joftus couldn’t believe someone had spray-painted “Jews Not Welcome” on the entrance sign to her campus, Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda. Days before, she’d helped lead a lesson as president of the school’s Jewish Student Union on how to combat stereotypes and be an ally to Jewish students.

The graffiti was clearly a response to that lesson, she suspected.

“It could have been just coincidence, but chances are it wasn’t,” Joftus, 17, said. She added that teachers had also received antisemitic emails from a sender outside of the school system over the weekend, confirming that the action wasn’t random. “It really had purpose and motivation behind it.”

Hundreds of Whitman students walked out Thursday against antisemitism in response to the vandalism. During a forum outside class, several Jewish students told stories of targeted, antisemitic jokes that they’ve heard while in school. They described how their ancestors fled Europe during the Holocaust and called on Montgomery County Public Schools — Maryland’s largest school district — to increase its Holocaust education.

more...