Jews and other white liberals take note: they hate you as much as they hate the rest of us
/Prestigious private school diversity conference devolved into ‘festival of Jew hate’: outraged attendees
An “equity and justice” conference involving many of the country’s most prestigious private schools devolved into a “festival of Jew hate” that had scared students leaving in tears, according to outraged parents and attendees.
Speakers at last week’s National Association of Independent Schools’ annual People of Color Conference accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” and downplayed the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks that killed 1,200 Israeli civilians — prompting some frightened kids to hide their Jewish stars as they left early.
…. The NAIS — an organization of 1,300 independent schools that includes Manhattan’s Tony Dalton, Brearley, Collegiate, Trinity, Fieldston, and the Riverdale Country School — held the professional development and networking event Dec. 4-7 in Colorado along with its Student Diversity Leadership Conference. Approximately 8,000 students and adults attended.
Among the New York prep schools in attendance were the Brooklyn Friends School [when I attended Friends Meetings and the George School, they were Quaker institutions — how times have changed] — Ed}, Dalton and Horace Mann. A complete list of attendees was not immediately available.
On the second day, Dr. Suzanne Barakat, a physician and activist, claimed Israel was “founded on ethnocentric superiority and an inherently systemically racist framework,” according to transcripts obtained by The Post.
The Mideast conflict, she said, stemmed from a “strain” of Zionism created when Jews fled nationalism in Europe in the 1800s. Critics said she made support of the Jewish state sound like a disease.
“They began immigrating to Palestine as colonists,” Barakat said, calling it “ethnic cleansing.”
Barakat cited the far-left group Jewish Voice for Peace and recommended a book by controversial author Ta-Nehisi Coates, who once said he didn’t know if he would have been “strong enough’’ to not join the Oct. 7 massacre.
“To suggest that Israel is committing genocide, that this current conflict is the most documented genocide in modern history — which smacks of Holocaust denial — was like being punched in the gut,” said Sirida Graham Terk, a teacher and diversity and inclusion coordinator at Milken who attended.
….“Nobody could even bring themselves to say the word ‘antisemitism’ in the acknowledgement,” said Sarah Shulkind, Milken’s head of school.
“Most horrifying is that the thousands of educators that were in that room teach at the nation’s most elite schools . . . they stood and cheered,” Shulkind added. “It reveals to me two things: virulent, unapologetic Jew hate, and profound ignorance.”.
…. On the last day of the conference, Princeton Professor Ruha Benjamin donned Palestinian colors and earrings showcasing watermelons, a symbol of Palestinian solidarity, as she addressed students and educators.
…. At the end of her speech, she launched into a presentation of Gaza “before the genocide” and Israeli “oppression.”
Hmmm. On the one hand, rich, woke white liberals who chose to attend a People of Color of Conference are fools, and deserved what they got; on the other hand, if it opened a few eyes to the reality of the people they’ve been considering allies and friends, maybe it was worth the airfare to Denver (especially is they got some skiing in while they were out there).