BY WALTER ELLIOTT
Photo via Al Araby
WEST ORANGE – The indefinite postponing of a scheduled Oct. 31 student walkout from West Orange High School in support of Palestinians in Gaza over the preceding weekend here was a rare stay of other local partisan shows of support in the Israel-Hamas War here.
There was an Oct. 29 rally held on the steps on Newark City Hall, for example, calling for a ceasefire on Gaza. A virtual “SOMA Auction for Israel” was held Oct. 20-30 to benefit the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ’s Israel Emergency Fund here, South Orange and Maplewood.
An unnamed group of WOHS students started Oct. 26 with the posting of the Oct. 30 walkout but ended up issuing two statements and a postponement announcement before that Oct. 26’s school day had ended.
The group posted on the private West Orange 411 and West Orange 07052 Facebook pages to urge students to walkout during Monday’s class schedule and assemble for a rally at adjacent Joe Suriano Stadium. Their interest was to make a public show of support to Palestinians in Gaza – which has been undergoing an aerial attack and border incursion by the Israeli Defense Force in the last 24 days or so.
The group’s statement did not mention the Oct. 7 land, sea and air attack of southern Israel by Hamas fighters which caused the death of 1,400 people and triggered the Israeli government’s retribution and embargo in Gaza.
What got township elders and educators’ attention, however, of the use of the following slogan in their postings:
“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
The above slogan may be construed by some as a rallying cry – and others, including the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League, as the advocacy of Hamas’ declaration to eliminate Israel.
“It calls for the establishment of a state of Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, erasing the state of Israel and its people,” said the AJC in a recent statement. “It’s also a rallying cry for terroristic groups and their sympathizers, from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine to Hamas – which called for Israel’s destruction in its original governing charter in 1988.”
Phone calls and emails began pouring into the offices of Mayor Susan McCartney, Superintendent of Schools Dr, Hayden Moore and WOHS Principal Oscar Guerrero.
“We must be mindful that in order to be true to ourselves and our unified commitment to our diverse population many of our neighbors have been personally affected by the attacks.” said McCartney Oct. 27. “Our neighbors on both sides of the conflict have lost family members and have relatives who have been called to duty and others who are missing. As your mayor, I beseech those involved in this event to honor your community, respect your neighbors and pay for the return of the hostages and the safety of all the innocent people who have been affected by the attack and its aftermath.”
West Orange, in the 2020 Census, has six percent of its 48,500 population identifying as Jewish and three percent as Muslim.
The student group’s original posts were taken down later that Thursday, including an attempted clarification over the slogan:
“Saying ‘Free Palestine’ doesn’t mean we condone Hamas,” said the student statement. “Palestine and Hamas are NOT the same thing and we must work to separate the notion that they’re intertwined in order to protect Muslim individuals, especially in our town. We condemn the actions of Hamas and will make this known throughout our demonstration on Monday (Oct. 30). When we say ‘Free Palestine,’ we mean free them from ALL tyranny, including Hamas.”
The above was replaced on Friday with a statement that, “after discussion with administration and fellow students,” to put off the Oct. 30 walkout:
“The adjustment’s intent is aimed at affording all stakeholders ample time to receive a clear message of peace and humanity. We encourage all community members to continue upholding the values of our great community – peace, unity and unwavering support for humanity. We acknowledge how this has upset the community and want to address that before the demonstration; it was meant to call for peace and unite the community, not create division.”
Principal Guerrero said he was one of the officials who talked with the student organizers.
“We’ve met with the student who posted the original image and (to) discuss and educate them on the offensive nature of the statement in question,” said Guerrero in an open letter to the WOHS community Oct. 27. “The original post was removed and the student agreed not to use that language in future postings. Our priority is the safety and well-being of all students.”
Guerrero, that Friday, reminded the organizers and community that “our school is not sponsoring, supporting or condoning the demonstration that students had planned.” The principal said that cutting class, “making inappropriate speeches or statements” could lead to disciplinary action.
“It’s important to note that we do not tolerate any form of hate speech,” said Dr. Moore in his Oct. 28 open letter. “I express my gratitude to the high school administration and advisors for engaging with our student leaders to discuss their language used in their messaging. I also thank the student organizers for recognizing that the language was offensive to members of our community and for choosing to postpone the demonstration with the aim of ensuring that the message of peace and unity is conveyed appropriately, without any form of hate speech.”
Some 200 protestors from the “Local Talk” and adjacent area meanwhile held their rally on Newark City Hall steps Oct. 29. Members and officials from the New Afrika Black Panthers and the Palestinian American Community Center braved the Sunday morning rain to demand for an immediate ceasefire, urging Sen. Cory A. Booker (D-Newark) to support a resolution advocating an end to the violence and for the U.S. government to stop funding Israel.
“No one in their right mind can sit back and let bombs rain down on men, women, children and babies and decapitate the social and political life of Palestine,” said NABP Chairman Shaka Zulu. “What Israel is doing is a crime.”
City Hall steps speakers took turns with protestors chanting the likes of “Resistance Is Justified When People are Colonized” and “We Demand Liberation From Zionist Occupation.”
“It was a complete blackout where people were unable to see what’s going on there,” said Clifton-based PACC Executive Director Rania Mustafa of the 36-hour cutoff of Internet and other communication channels in Gaza. “So it’s our job to elevate their voices and to elevate what’s happening on the ground there and to end continuous murder.”
“There needs to be an immediate ceasefire,” said Samar Adham of the New York-based Palestinian Youth Movement. “There needs to be an immediate end to the bombing Israel has been inflicting on the Gaza strip the past two weeks. We also believe there needs to be an end of all U.S. aid to Israel.”
A controversial bill is currently circulating in the U.S. Senate that would allocate $14 billion to replenish ammunition and equipment that has been sent over to Israel. The controversy comes from some U.S. Senators who want to separate aid for Ukraine’s war effort from the bill and to take the $14 billion from funding part of the IRS.
Booker has not responded to date on whether he would support an end to the violence bill. The one-time friend of author and orthodox “Rabbi to the Stars” Shmuley Boteach had posted an earlier statement: “We who believe in peace, freedom and human rights for Palestinians, Israelis and all humankind, must reject those who use terror as a weapon.”
Booker had been talking about how he had to run into a hotel stairwell when missiles began falling on Tel Aviv Oct. 7. The former Newark mayor had to wait a couple of days to leave Israel.
The Rabbis of the Congregations in South Orange had held a special public Sabbath-ending Havdalah ceremony for residents in the village’s Spiotta Park Oct. 28. Rabbi and South Orange-Maplewood Clergy Association President Dan Cohen (Cong. Shery Tefilio-Israel) was joined by rabbis Jesse Olitzky (Cong. Beth-El) and Abigail Treu (Oheb Shalom) in messages of peace and lighting candles for the some 220 hostages held by Hamas. (The total has grown to 240 Oct. 30.)
South Orange-Maplewood mothers Jessica Pace and Hanna Zollman are counting results of the virtual SOMA Auction for Israel that was held online Oct. 20-30. Around 100 local businesses and individuals held up their goods and/or services to the highest bidder with proceeds going to the West Orange-headquartered Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ. Emergency Fund for Israel.
Results figures were not available as of press time. Pace and Zollman had set an $18,000 goal.
You may see an increased local police presence at your house of worship the past three weeks or so. Montclair Police Chief Todd Conforti, while saying “there is no known direct threat,” to the township, he has increased his officers’ presence “at all houses of worship, schools and locations with the potential for large gatherings” through Montclair.
