Jewish groups file federal complaint alleging antisemitism in Fulton schools
ATLANTA– Three Jewish advocacy groups have filed a federal complaint against the Fulton County School District over alleged anti-Semitic bullying of Jewish students since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7.
The complaint said administrators failed to take action when Jewish and Israeli students were harassed. The school district “created a hostile climate that allowed anti-Semitism to thrive in schools,” the complaint said.
In a written statement, the Fulton County district denied the allegations. “The private group’s attempts to portray Fulton County Schools as promoting or even tolerating anti-Semitism are false,” the statement said.
The organizations filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education on August 6 under Title IV of the Civil Rights Act. Title IV prohibits discrimination based on race, color and national origin.
The complaint follows a wave of allegations of anti-Semitism against schools and universities across the country. The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish advocacy group, filed a similar complaint complaint in July against the Philadelphia School District, one of the nation’s largest public school systems. In November, the Department of Education announced to research to seven schools and universities for alleged anti-Semitism or Islamophobia since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Activism exploded in universities, colleges and schools as the war began. On October 7, Hamas killed 1,200 people and took hostages in an attack on Israel. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the conflict began, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Some estimates say that as many as 1.9 million people have been displaced from Gaza.
The Fulton County complaint cited verbal attacks on Jewish students since Oct. 7, but also described certain displays of pro-Palestinian sentiment as intimidating. The groups took issue with students wearing keffiyehs, a scarf that has become a symbol of the Palestinian movement. The complaint said that the day after the Hamas attacks, students wearing keffiyehs chanted “Free Palestine” at Jewish students, a slogan the groups labeled “a rallying cry for the eradication of Israel.”
Other examples described in the complaint include a high school student cursing in Arabic at an Israeli student, and a high school student telling an Israeli classmate, “Someone needs to bomb your country, and hey, someone already did.” In the classroom, the complaint said some of the pro-Palestinian stances teachers took were inappropriate.
Jewish parents met with Fulton County School District leaders in late October after several complaints about anti-Semitism and “other students dressing up as members of Hamas,” according to the complaint. Parents offered to organize anti-Semitic training, among other suggested actions. The complaint says school district leadership refused to take action and ignored numerous complaints, including an email to the district’s superintendent signed by more than 75 parents.
The district says it already takes complaints seriously.
“As with most, if not all, schools across the country, world events have spilled over onto our campuses at times,” the district said in its statement. “When inappropriate behavior is brought to our attention, Fulton County Schools takes it seriously, investigates, and takes appropriate action,” the statement said.
The Louis D. Brandeis Center For Human Rights Under Law, Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education and the National Jewish Advocacy Center filed the complaint. The organizations asked the district to expose anti-Semitism, discipline teachers and students for anti-Semitic behavior and consider how to improve the experiences of Jewish students.