A Michigan principal is under fire after using a diversity assembly to espouse anti-Israel and anti-Jewish viewpoints.
The incident happened after Huwaida Arraf, a former candidate and pro-Palestine activist was allowed to speak at the assembly at Bloomfield Hills High School.
Arraf reportedly discussed the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza strip, which went outside the bounds of agreed upon topics for her to speak to students about.
Bloomfield Hills has one of the largest jewish populations in the state of Michigan, making the decision to host an anti-Israel speaker even more controversial.
The principal of the school wrote a letter apologizing to parents and students for Arraf’s statements at the assembly, though some believe it is insufficient and that the school should have intervened during the speech.
The principal, Lawrence Stroughter, said that the school ‘denounces any speech that targets individuals or groups based on religion’ and that the school was ‘sorry for harm caused to our community’ as a result of the speech.
The Gateway Pundit Reports–
“We know everyone has different political views but to bring those views into a public school, to have those things forced upon them, it’s not the place,” said Robyn Stern, a parent of a 10th grader at Bloomfield Hills High School.
She says she learned about the speaker Tuesday morning when she got a text from her son, who was upset about what a speaker was saying during a diversity event.
“Him and his friends were not sure what to do,” Stern said. “They didn’t stand and applaud, but they were really upset and concerned.”
The event was a panel that featured four speakers, one of which was Huwaida Arraf, a local Palestinian human rights activist who the Jewish Community Relations Council says should not have been allowed to speak given her anti-Israel stance and rhetoric.
“A 20 second Google search would have shown a result that this woman should have been disqualified from the beginning,” said Sam Dubin, assistant director of the Jewish Community Relations Council/ AJC. “She’s very, very vehemently anti-Israel, so there’s really no counter… There’s really no other side to what this woman is perpetrating.”
