Jewish community slams Virginia district after students post antisemitic videos on social media accounts ‘bearing school names’

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) is doing damage control after high school students posted videos on social media depicting acts of violence – including kidnapping and hostage-taking – against Jewish people.

“Acting out these types of violent acts is traumatizing for many of us to watch and, given world events, especially traumatizing to our Jewish students, staff, and community,” the district said in a statement to the local Fox affiliate.

“FCPS would never consider these videos to be appropriate or acceptable content. Any students found to be violating our Student Rights and Responsibilities will be held accountable for their actions.”

However, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington argues the district should go further in addressing antisemitism within its schools.

“Fairfax County Public Schools has a long history of struggling with school-based antisemitism,” said Guila Franklin Siegel, the organization’s chief operating officer, in a statement.

“We appreciate Superintendent Michelle Reid’s sincere commitment to making FCPS a more welcoming and inclusive environment for Jewish students and families. However, the school system’s slow and nontransparent response to several recent incidents demonstrates that FCPS must do more to properly address such behavior.”

The videos “depicted violence, kidnapping and imitating taking Jews as hostages,” with some showing people “being hooded and placed in the trunk of a car,” the news outlet reported.

“The parents who have seen this video are beyond outraged,” Siegel told journalists. “It’s almost chilling to see teenagers so blithely acting out something that is so horrific.”

The students making the videos posted on “unauthorized social media accounts bearing FCPS school names,” Siegel’s statement explained.

“It is never appropriate to make light of such horrific acts, but it is especially callous and cruel to do so when Hamas continues to hold the bodies of deceased Israeli hostages more than two years after committing the worst mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust.” 

‘The current climate of hate targeting Jews’ 

Other school districts across the nation are also experiencing an increased number of antisemitic incidents, drawing concerns from Jewish advocates over their responses. 

In one example, Cherry Hill Public Schools (CHPS) in New Jersey failed to honor its settlement terms after a family sued the district, alleging antisemitic attacks against a high school student. 

“By refusing to send out the statement about antisemitism in the same way it routinely communicates about all kinds of issues, the district sends a message that the safety and well-being of Jewish students and families are not its priority,” wrote Susan B. Tuchman and Jeffrey Schreiber in a commentary published by the Courier-Post. 

“This message is especially damaging given the current climate of hate targeting Jews. The Anti-Defamation League recently reported that New Jersey has the third-highest number of antisemitic incidents in the country, and the problem is scarily escalating elsewhere.” 

Likewise, a Massachusetts town heard concerns from its Jewish community reporting multiple incidents of hatred in one of its public-school committee meetings this year. 

“Silence and inaction allows hate to fester, and our children deserve to feel safe, respected and seen,” said one Bedford parent, noting her children had seen swastikas, Nazi salutes and other threatening actions at their middle school.