Berkeley Schools’ Antisemitism: Superintendent Testifying to Congress Wednesday Morning

“Kill Jews.”

That was scrawled on a Berkeley High School wall recently, prompting the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD)  to do, well, nothing.

It appears the antisemitism problem in BUSD has only grown since February, when the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under the Law and the Anti-Defamation League filed a federal complaint civil rights against the district, alleging that numerous overtly antisemitic acts were committed by students and teachers which the district in turn ignored.

Monday, the Brandeis Center expanded the complaint, adding many new blatant acts of antisemitism to the litany of charges against the district.

In response to the initial complaint, said Brandeis Center civil rights attorney Marci Miller, the district has offered only “basic broad statements, trying to appear to care but has taken no action.”

The district did not respond to a request for comment.

But the situation is so dire that district Superintendent Ford Morthel has been called to testify before Congress, specifically the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, the committee that has been spearheading the congressional investigation of antisemitism at the university level.  This is not the only  investigation into educational antisemitism occurring now in the famously woke city – the same committee has already started into UC Berkeley.

Morthel will be testifying Wednesday morning, starting at about 7 a.m. California time.  A link to the live stream is at the bottom of this article.

Morthel will not be alone during the hearing as the committee has called two other superintendents to testify about antisemitism in their own districts – one superintendent from New York and one from Montgomery County, Maryland which – like Berkeley – is a woke enclave and also one of the richest counties in the country.

Think Marin County here in California, except with government workers and lobbyists.

The woke/progressive embrace of over antisemitism has stunned many, including Jewish Berkeley parents who consider themselves quite progressive.

“I’m surprised civil rights don’t apply to antisemitism,” said Miller, who describes herself as progressive as well.  

The federal complaint, said Miller, needed to be amended to account for the continuation of the continuously hostile environment to Jews in Berkeley schools.

And age does not seem to matter. From the amended complaint:

A first-grader heard older children on the playground saying “Jews are stupid.” The six-year-old told his mother that he wishes he were not Jewish because people do not like Jews. Since the incident, he has not wanted to go to school. Instead of intervening, the school principal suggested the six-year-old speak with the older bullies to resolve the problem. 

And venue does not seem to matter.  From the amended complaint:

During a cooking lesson on Palestinian food, a seventh-grade teacher forced her students to listen to a podcast that demonized Israel and the Jews, included false information, and presented a libelous narrative about Israelis “stealing” land, appropriating recipes, and engaging in “ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”

And employment status does not seem to matter.  From the amended complaint:

An art teacher who created a hostile environment for Jewish and Israeli students was finally put on leave after dozens of major media outlets, including CNN, reported on the anti-Semitism in his classroom. Since then, posters have appeared tacked on walls all over the high school building with an image of the teacher and the caption “Bring Mr. ____ Back.” Instead of addressing the inappropriate posters, the principal sent “shoutouts” to all students and faculty, praising the teacher.

Miller said that the teacher has in fact become a bit a cause célèbre amongst other teachers, with a number of them bringing posters and speaking at district school board meetings demanding he be brought back, that the board “Free _____,” reminiscent of the “Free Palestine” calls.

Here’s one of his “works”:

That, said Miller, would “absolutely not be permitted” if another minority group was being targeted.

Jewish parents, said Miller, have continued to complain, with even a few attending board meetings only to be met with genuine hostility and not-terribly veiled threats.

Some Jewish kids have been trying to hide their identity while at school, Miller said. 

One wonders if all of the Jewish students declared themselves Jewish and trans how the district would react – it would probably create a devastating district feedback loop, a la Captain Kirk asking an evil computer a paradoxical question on Star Trek – fwwoomph!

Whether or not Mothrel will go “fwwoomph” herself during the hearing is not known, but Miller expects the questioning to be tough.  

If the district continues its “arrogant” posture and continues to refuse to tackle the problem, Miller said, the feds could conceivably place a civil rights overseer in the district.

That could embolden the people in the district that actually know what is happening is wrong but “feel powerless” to speak out “even though they know they’re right.”

And then maybe the indoctrination will stop.

To watch the hearing, https://www.youtube.com/@EdWorkforceCmte/streams