School bans Israeli flag and yellow ribbon hostage tributes - but says Palestinian keffiyehs are fine

By RUTH BASHINSKY FOR DAILYMAIL.COM 19:46 07 Oct 2024, updated 22:49 08 Oct 2024

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A New Jersey high school has been accused of 'blatant anti-Semitism' for banning yellow ribbons in honor of the Israeli hostages while allowing the keffiyeh to be displayed.

Wednesday's incident at Fair Lawn High School in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, saw a Jewish Student Union club table at a fair ordered to remove the ribbons.

An Israeli flag on the same table was also removed at a school leader's request. The school's Muslim club table - which was sitting next to the Jewish Student Union table - was allowed to keep a keffiyeh on display.

Parent Dr. Adi Vaxman was outraged when she learned of the incident last Tuesday - hours before the Jewish new year Rosh Hoshana celebrations.

'The assistant principal [Dr. Steffany Baptiste- Bosco] told the students who were manning the table that unless it was childhood cancer the yellow ribbon was considered political and they are not allowed to display it.

'She also told them flags are not allowed,' said Dr Adi Vaxman, whose daughter Maya is a senior at the school and member of its Jewish Student Union. The Jewish Student Union's Israeli flag was subsequently removed.

Vaxman was further outraged on learning that Dr Baptiste-Bosco allowed the school's Muslim club to continue to display a Keffiyeh scarf on the next table over.

The keffiyeh is a traditional headdress worn by men in some parts of the Middle East and has become a symbol of support for Palestine since the October 7 attacks.

In a statement issued Monday, Fair Lawn bosses claimed the incident had been misconstrued and that the Jewish and Muslim student clubs had both been asked to remove symbols deemed political.

It is unclear what items the Muslim club had been asked to remove.

Vaxman told DailyMail.com that she has reached out to the school board, the superintendent, the principal on the latest incident.

'All they care about is appeasing us, shutting us up, and making it go away but it is not going away. They are not dealing with it and not doing what they are supposed to do to make it stop,' she said.

'Unfortunately this isn't something new. 'It is a pattern - anti-Semitism in the high school.'

She told DailyMail.com that after her son graduated in 2020 she has seen more anti-Semitic incidents take place at the high school and since October 7 it has increased exponentially.

Vaxman said Baptiste-Bosco told the students, videos and pictures were not allowed and threatened detention, but some of the students captured what was taking place.

She said parents and students outraged by the ban contacted her to share their disgust.

Last week's incident was just one of many that Vaxman says have rocked the school in recent months.

Six months ago a swastika drawing appeared in the boy's bathroom, while a Jewish student was allegedly targeted and attacked by a Palestinian student in the hallway.

Vaxman says her daughter is regularly harassed at school, as well as her 13-year-old who attends the middle school but they fight back.

She said her daughter went to school on Monday feeling nervous, but wearing an Israeli flag pin and yellow ribbon proudly.

Her son, who is in middle school, did not feel like going to school today, having endured daily harassment from other students.

'My son didn't want to deal with it today. He deals with it everyday,' she said.

Vaxman proudly told DailyMail.com, but 'my kids speak up but how many other kids don't speak up.'

The busy mom is also founder of a management consulting firm, and launched Operation Israel, after the October 7 attacks, that provides humanitarian aid to Israeli emergency responders.

Regarding the rise in anti-Semitism she is witnessing, she spoke candidly, 'none of us want to deal with this at all.'

'I have a business to run and a non-profit to run and I really don't have the time for this but it has to be done,' she explained.

'It is not what I want to do in life. I don't want to be doing it but I don't have a choice.'

On Monday morning, the school sent out an email regarding the recent media coverage regarding the October 2nd Club Fair at Fair Lawn HS.

She shared the letter with DailyMail.com and expressed her frustration and alleged that the school district was not being truthful.

The letter referenced a New York Post story about the incident.

It said that story 'is inaccurate and does not include all the face or share the actual context of the situation.'

They went into detail about what took place.

'During this year’s Club Fair, both the Muslim Student Association (MSA) and the Jewish Student Union (JSU) were asked to make adjustments to items that had not been part of their original displays.'

'The decision to ask both groups to modify their displays was made in response to the disruptive impact that certain items were having on the learning environment.

'The school did not take any position with regard to certain symbols or items that were added to those clubs’ displays but simply asked both clubs to restore their displays to their original content.

'The school appropriately ensured that the Club Fair event provided an open opportunity for students to explore the various clubs on display,' wrote, in part.

Vaxman reading the letter aloud told DailyMail.com claimed the school district is 'lying... this is not true.' She noted that the proof is of the video she shared.

She added that on Monday - the first anniversary Hamas' slaughter of 1,200 Israelis - an announcement was made by the Principal about 'a moment of peace.'

'He did not mention October 7 or the massacre let's just say the person who told me he shouldn't have said anything at all because this is worse,' she said.

'I am concerned about my children,' she said. 'My husband and I were raised by Holocaust survivors who fought back. We don't believe in staying silent and neither do our children.'

Vaxman plans to protest outside Fair Lawn High School today with many other pro-Israel supporters. She said 101 yellow balloons will be released as they pray for the release of all the hostages that remain in Hamas captivity.

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