ACTION ALERT
DEMAND PUBLIC APOLOGY AND CONDEMNATION FROM WESTERN HIGH SCHOOL FOR ANTISEMITIC AND LIBELOUS COMMENCEMENT SPEECH
At the senior graduation of Western High School in Davie, FL, held at the BB&T Center on June 8th, the speech given by the salutatorian contained lies about Israel and crossed the line into antisemitism.
The leadership at Western High School and the Broward County School Board have a responsibility to its student body, parents, and tax payers to publicly condemn and apologize for the lies and antisemitism that was given a platform from which to be espoused and applauded. The school must do a better job of educating itself and its students on the definition of antisemitism.
During her 4-minute speech, (which starts at around 1:08 in the video) that had been previewed by the school administration, salutatorian, Rachel Cheng stated, "To my Middle Eastern peers, who have been facing struggle after struggle, and are in constant fear of their families and friends being struck down by a militant government, who have had their lands stolen and abused, I applaud you."
The "militant government" that Ms. Cheng was referring to is not the terrorist regime, Hamas, that rules over Gaza, the area where the 10,000 Jews who had been living there were uprooted in 2005, the entire land and farms built by the Jewish community, left and destroyed by Palestinian Arabs. Hamas, the terrorist regime that fired over 4,000 rockets aimed at innocent Israeli civilians during a 2 week period in May, murdering 10 Israelis and at least double the number of Gazans. Hamas, the terrorist regime that uses women and children as human shields to protect its weapons arsenals.
Ms. Cheng wasn't referring to the Palestinian Authority, the regime that compensates jailed murderers for acts of terror against Jews, the more heinous the act, the more casualties, the higher the pay.
She was referring to the only Jewish State among the 22 surrounding Arab nations, and the only Democracy in the Middle East, Israel. According to Florida law, the U.S. State Dept., and over 30 other countries that have adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, demonizing and applying a standard on Israel that is not applied to any other country, is a form of antisemitism. During her speech, Ms. Cheng also left Jews out when she listed minorities that have been victims of hate crimes, even though Jews are the most targeted of any religious minority.
The leadership at Western High School and the Broward County School Board have a responsibility to its student body, parents, and tax payers to publicly condemn and apologize for the lies and antisemitism that was given a platform from which to be espoused and applauded. The school must do a better job of educating itself and its students on the definition of antisemtism.
If you agree, contact the Western High School leadership and Broward County School Board and make your voice heard.
CONTACT:
Laurie Rich Levinson Vice Chair: 754-321-2006
Principal of Western High School: Jimmy Arrojo 754-323-2400 OR e-mail
