StandWithUs says what happened at Syre Elementary School in Shoreline, Wash., is part of an “insidious problem.”
David Swindle
(JNS)
Syre Elementary School, a highly ranked public school in Shoreline, Wash., near Seattle, taught children as young as 7 years old to chant “Free Palestine” and “From the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea,” and instructed them to hold mock anti-Israel protests.
That’s according to the pro-Israel nonprofit StandWithUs, which says that Syre engaged in “indoctrination, promoted hatred and created a hostile classroom environment towards the Israeli and Jewish communities.”
“We are dealing with a far more insidious problem that has crept into the educational system at much lower levels, with teachers indoctrinating young minds with anti-Israel propaganda and misinformation that incites violence and undermines and denies 3,000 years of Jewish history in the Land of Israel,” said Carly Gammill, who directs the nonprofit’s Center for Combating Antisemitism.
Randy Kessler, northwest regional director for StandWithUs, added that the anti-Israel teaching “threatens to solidify antisemitic thoughts and carries the potential of encouraging further violent actions.”
StandWithUS, which sent a letter to the school’s principal and the superintendent of the district, released a video it said the school played for children. “Even kids join!” an onscreen graphic states, as a young man with his face wrapped in a keffiyeh lifts his hand, and a very young boy yells through his cupped hands. The latter wears a sweatshirt that appears to suggest all of Israel is unified as a Palestinian state.
“They use their voices,” another chyron states, as young children yell, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
The video further suggests that indigenous peoples support Palestinians and ends with a man holding a microphone up to toddlers in strollers. He says “Free” and they say “Palestine” before the video ends with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.
JNS sought comment from the school principal and the district superintendent but did not hear back by press time. StandWithUs told JNS it also has yet to receive a response from either.
Beyond that video, StandWithUs says the Washington school instructed children to make anti-Israel signs and engage in a mock protest.
Image: Syre Elementary School in Shoreline, Wash. Credit: syre.ssd412.org.
