Community Erupts against Pro-Palestinian Guest Speakers at BJM

Questions swept Ithaca noting a recent event at Beverly J. Martin (BJM) elementary school: controversial activists spoke to the third grade about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as guests on September 18.

This incident was first addressed by Superintendent Luvelle Brown at a BoE meeting on September 22 as “something that I’m not happy about, nor should anyone be happy about,” as the guests were “very controversial figures invited unbeknownst to the principal.”

Brown’s comment was made in response to outcry from many parents and Ithacans over the guests’ controversial stances. Online comments, and allegedly, emails sent to the superintendent ranged in tone from outrage to confusion to threats involving Governor Cuomo’s office.

On September 25, Brown released a statement verifying that the guest speakers originally were to discuss human rights and peace but instead gave a “politically skewed, inflammatory” talk in support of Palestinians. It featured a video of a Palestinian girl referencing Israelis killing Palestinians and a closing statement about how students could help the speakers’ cause.

Bassem al-Tamimi is internationally known for protesting against Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, where he has organized protests almost every week for two and a half years against the takeover of land. These protests often turn into clashes between stone-throwing youths and Israeli soldiers routinely firing tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets. While al-Tamimi claims he supports nonviolent, passive resistance, he has been arrested by Israeli authorities over a dozen times, including in 2012 when he solicited protesters to throw stones.

More controversially, however, footages of these confrontations have raised debates worldwide on social media, where supporters of both sides have interpreted them in different ways. Images and videos of these incidents, usually involving youths harassing Israeli soldiers, were recorded by Palestinian and Israeli activists and reporters from multiple angles. These films have been broadcasted repeatedly on Israeli and Arab television, and viewed more than eight million times on Facebook and YouTube, according to The New York Times.

Supporters of the Palestinian cause say these footages are important evidence of the brutality of life under Israeli rule. For many supporters of the Israelis, they look like attempts by the al-Tamimi family, the organizers of the protest, to provoke Israeli soldiers into using excessive force just to generate images that could harm Israel’s reputation.

A law professor at Cornell, William A. Jacobson, wrote in his website Legal Insurrection, “Tamimi’s children and other children from the village of Nabi Saleh are encouraged to confront Israeli soldiers in the hope of provoking a reaction.” He added, “This all is a very dangerous exploitation that puts the children at risk. Yet Tamimi glorifies and encourages the use of children for such purposes.” Jacobson also filed a letter to the district demanding answers to questions to the district’s policies on Israel and Palestine and aspects of political discourse in ICSD.

One parent wrote on ICSD’s Facebook page, “Beverly J Martin Elementary is an absolute disgrace to host a hatemonger and anti-Semite like Bassem al-Tamimi.” “What a shame that a public school is teaching and supporting hate and anti-Semitism,” another said.

In the press release, Brown apologized for the anti-Israeli comments made by the guests. “We recognize that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is very sensitive to many members of our community,” the news release said. “We also recognize that this delicate topic was not presented in a manner consistent with its importance. We sincerely regret that this has occurred.”

He added that the talk was “not developmentally appropriate for third graders” and that the district will review policies and procedures for guest speakers and visitors, as well as how to teach human rights in alignment with the New York State standards.

Meanwhile, the controversy over whether the guest speakers were appropriate for the elementary school students continue to develop. Jacobson’s article included a statement from BJM Principal Eschbach that stated, “There were many adults present in the class and at no time was there an anti-Israel, anti-Palestine, anti-Jewish, or anti-Muslim stance.” And in reaction to Jacobson’s article and the uproar against the incident, al-Tamimi made a post on his Facebook page on September 21: “When your enemy becomes nervous this means you are in the right direction.”