Massachusetts K–12 schools have established a helpline to offer pro-bono legal support to parents whose children are being targeted for antisemitism.
The Anti-Defamation League, in collaboration with StandWithUs and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, established the helpline.
Peggy Shukur is Vice President of ADL East Division. She says since October 7, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, there’s been a substantial spike in antisemitic occurrences in K-12 schools.
“So, we realized that we needed to do more to really provide better assistance for families that were really suffering from really pernicious antisemitism in schools that was not being addressed,” Shukur stated.
The “K-12 Antisemitism Legal Line” is now available for parents and administrators to report instances of antisemitic violence, intimidation, or discrimination that might warrant legal action.
Marblehead High School incident
David Magen attends Marblehead High School as a sophomore. He claims that in one of his seminars from the previous year, there was antisemitic homework.
“Several homework assignments that denied the existence of Israel. And having the land Israel Judea being referred to as Palestine was an instant red flag to me, because I knew the history and I knew the dates and I knew that something was not right,” Magen stated.
“We are taking a lot of calls from parents who were disturbed by the curriculum. It’s certainly becoming a problem. Classes of this nature providing a very slanted and biased history of Middle East,” Brandeis Center Vice President and General Counsel L. Rachel Lerman stated.
David claims that in order to have the high school’s curriculum modified and eliminated, he ultimately had to write a counterstatement. He believes that many of his Jewish classmates may greatly benefit from the new helpline.
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Jewish students fearing for their lives
Like David, a lot of Jewish students are worried about their safety as the anniversary of October 7 approaches. Additionally, they are happy that this helpline is now operational and accessible in case of need.
“I do have some worries on Oct. 7th there might be another daylong massive spike in antisemitism, and I am worried about that for my safety and safety of others,” David stated.
For this reason, ADL claims to be prepared to assist any family in need of legal representation.
