As a Jewish resident of Oak Park, the father of an OPRF graduate and the grandfather of a future OPRF student, I am writing about defining what is or is not antisemitism. [Divisions over Israel-Hamas war create tensions at Oak Park and River Forest High School, News, Feb. 14].
In Oak Park, and at OPRF High School in particular, we need a definition of antisemitism. If you don’t know what it is, you can’t recognize it and act on it.
D200 board President Tom Cofsky and Supt. Greg Johnson are quoted as saying school policy already bans discrimination on the basis of religion. But Judaism is not just a religion. We have people who have strong Jewish identities but are secular. Judaism is a culture, a peoplehood, and a religion. We may not agree on everything but we are all Jews.
The article on the turmoil roiling the campus quotes Thomas Milinovich and Rebekah Levin in opposition to a definition of antisemitism. They fear that people will conflate anti-Israel criticisms and antisemitism to blunt anti-Israel statements. Their political concerns should not be allowed to stand in the way of a safe campus for all OPRF students, and Jewish students in particular.
Anti-Jewish and anti-Israel statements do get conflated. By anti-Jewish people, movements and countries.
My family has been flying an Israeli flag for well over a decade. We support Israel and its people. Before COVID, we had three vandalism incidents because of the flag within a 12-month period. During the last incident a neighbor overheard the perpetrators talking about “the Jews.” An Israeli flag got their attention, but they had the talk about “the Jews.” I am confident they were not talking about what good people we are.
After the 2015 massacre at the Hypercacher Kosher grocery in Paris. The gunman “… stated that he targeted the Jews at the Kosher grocery to defend Muslims, notably Palestinians.” (Wikipedia) Someone targeted Jews in Paris to stand up to Israel, a linkage of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish thoughts and action. Notably, there were Muslim employees who were heroes, saving many lives.
There are other examples that are easily found on social media.
Thomas Milinovich is quoted in the Wednesday Journal article about problems his daughter has experienced as a MENA student. No student should be the target of hate. MENA is Middle Eastern and North African. Jews from North Africa and the Middle East also refer to themselves as MENA. There is an organization named JIMENA, or Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa. Are Jewish MENA students at OPRF welcome as part of the MENA club? Would the club and its advisors support them as it does Arab and Muslim students?
To those who say a policy prohibiting discrimination based on religion is sufficient, evidence suggests it is not. The students reporting being bullied are being singled out because of their identities. Don’t let politics stand in the way of our children’s safety and ability to learn.
Alan Peres
Oak Park