"At Youth Congress, students sound off against bias" by Ellen Ishkanian Globe Correspondent March 19, 2016
What brought more than a thousand middle and high school students from across the state all together Friday morning was the Anti-Defamation League’s 22nd Annual Youth Congress and its message that their words and actions can make the world better.
Some talked about how, in a climate where they see national politicians give people permission to be bullies, and cheering at high school sporting events can devolve into ugly name-calling, they feel a responsibility to speak out.
What about newspapers that promote war lies on their front pages?
What does that do for the conversation?
Or the other values they promote, for that matter?
They also discussed solutions.
Students from Gloucester and Beverly talked about the inequity they notice between boys’ sports and other activities at their schools and came up with plans to invite the football team to the school play and other events to inspire others to follow.
Students from Lynn English High School talked about being bullied in the hallways because of their race, ethnicity, and accent.
“It’s gotten much worse this year,” senior Shnaidie Macajoux said. “I think it’s because of the presidential race. I walk in the hall, in the cafeteria, and people say things.”
She and classmate Regina Ngaleu said they plan “mix it up dinners” where students have to sit with classmates they don’t know in an effort to dispel some of the animosity between different groups.
At Stoneham High School, students said a “Culture Night” was a huge success in bringing different groups of people together to learn about each other’s backgrounds.
“But didn’t it attract the kids who don’t need the lesson, and not the kids who do?” a student from Scituate asked.
“No, we expected 50 and got 300,” said senior Michael Turner, adding that good music, and language teachers offering extra credit for students who cooked authentic dishes for the event, helped lure a crowd.
Sometimes that's a good thing, and other times no.
Ashland students had classmates sign a pledge sheet vowing to stop using “the R-word, retarded” as slang for dumb.
And Braintree High School student Gianni Hendricks, a member of the Wampanoag tribe, said she is working to change the name of her school’s sports teams from “The Wamps” to something less offensive, by first making classmates aware of the history.
In each of these cases, students reminded each other that the first step is to politely ask someone to stop making insensitive remarks or using humor to cover bad behavior.
“The key thing to remember is to be kind; treat others the way you want to be treated,” Carver senior Doria Gedraitis said.
Tell it to Israel.
“You have the power to change the world,” Robert Trestan, New England regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, told the students.
Related:
ADL - America's Most Powerful Hate Group
ADL - World's Largest Hate Group
The ADL's hate crimes legislation
The ADL Hates Our Freedoms
"The 21st century reveals the ADL has evolved into more than just an American Jewish lobby masquerading as a civil rights organization, but an un-American Israeli lobby, that smears patriots as extremists, racists and anti-Semites, if they as individuals or as part of groups, dare criticize the history of Jewish War Crimes Against Humanity waged by the Israeli government and Jews upon Arabs living in the occupied State of Palestine and surrounding region. The ADL even publishes dossiers on their web site as a fear-smear tactic to intimidate, discredit and silence people that criticize Jewish racism, hate and chauvinism. One hundred years after its birth, the Anti-Defamation League and AIPAC have become the vanguard of the all pervasive and politically powerful racist Jewish Nationalist (Zionist) movement, that conspicuously promotes one set of values for Western nations like America and another for Israel. The proof of this culture of fear is that no politician can ever get elected to US Congress or stay there, who openly takes the side of Palestinians as victims of the core middle east conflict of ethnic cleansing conducted by Israel, enabled via U.S. military equipment and financed with American tax payer dollars."
And I'll bet you didn't know that the ADL was a supremacist Jew hate group that was founded to defend a murdering Jew pedophile, did you?
Just making the world a better place -- for certain chosen people.
They also heard from Willie O’Ree, who suited up in Bruins black and gold on Jan. 18, 1958, as the National Hockey League’s first black player.
They also heard from Willie O’Ree, who suited up in Bruins black and gold on Jan. 18, 1958, as the National Hockey League’s first black player.
“We beat the Canadiens at the Montreal Forum that night, 3-0,” he said.
There must have been a connection.
Among those in attendance were two groups whose schools have recently grappled with their own challenges.
Twenty-seven students from F.A. Day Middle School in Newton and their principal, Brian Turner, went to the conference in the wake of recent revelations that three incidents of anti-Semitic graffiti had been discovered at the school since October.
It is so damn obvious it isn't even worth commenting anymore.
And seven students from Catholic Memorial School attended along with Debra McCourt, the director of campus ministry. At a recent playoff basketball game against Newton North High School, some Catholic Memorial students shouted “You killed Jesus” after some Newton students mocked the all-boys school with taunts of “where are your girls?” and “sausagefest.”
The Catholic Memorial students declined to comment about the incident. But McCourt said she and the students are proud of how the school immediately took action....
Yeah, somehow the Catholics were made to feel guilty.
--more--"
Want to see the highlights?
"Catholic Memorial students chant anti-Jewish taunt at game" by Evan Allen Globe Staff March 12, 2016
NEWTON — The chanting started with a rude taunt: Newton North High School students cheering for their basketball team Friday night shouted, “Where are your girls?” to the fans of Catholic Memorial School, an all-boys school.
Related: "Some Newton fans had begun the taunting by mocking the all-boys Catholic school with chants of “where are your girls?” and “sausagefest,” which some construed as homophobic. Spectators were stunned."
But the response from the Catholic Memorial fans to their opponents, many of whom are Jewish, left the Newton North crowd horrified and upset: “You killed Jesus!” shouted about 50 to 75 Catholic Memorial students. “You killed Jesus!”
The Newton North students fell silent, their faces registering surprise and anger.
That is what happens when bullies are met with their own medicine.
Of course, it's okay to be a racist and supremacist in this world if you are Jewish. They are such good people, according to my jew$paper.
“I found it chilling,” said Newton Superintendent David Fleishman, who arrived at the game, which was held at Newton South High School, about 20 minutes later. Fleishman said he was immediately approached by a visibly upset parent who told him she was shaken. “In my mind, this is incredibly upsetting and troubling, and they have a lot of work to do at Catholic Memorial,” Fleishman said.
Take a look in the mirror!
"Look in the mirror, Newton North (“Anti-Semitic chant chills ballgame,” Metro, March 13). I live in Newton but work in Brockton. A few years ago, I went to see the Brockton boys play Newton North at UMass Boston in the state semifinals. After a long season of cheering success on the basketball court, the Newton fans were a well-oiled machine — synchronized jabbing fingers (“You, you, you!”), typical foul-shot screams, mocking cries of “Air ball!” — part and parcel of so-called healthy student involvement. But by the end of a tense and well-played game, it had become apparent that Brockton was going to win. Newton students began to loudly taunt the largely black and Latino fan base sitting nearby in the bleachers. In unison: “You’ll be working for us! You’ll be working for us!” In contrast to the Catholic Memorial situation, no Newton official made any effort to intervene. I was told later by an adult Newton acquaintance that it was cute, like Duke yelling “Safety school!” to North Carolina fans. Sigh."
I often feel that way.
Fleishman contacted the Anti-Defamation League about the incident, and said Newton students would discuss it at school on Monday. Newton officials will also discuss the Newton fans’ use of a joking reference to male anatomy, which Fleishman acknowledged could also be offensive.
I'm sorry, what?
More boorish Jewish behavior from those who think they are God's chosen?
The president of Catholic Memorial issued a statement Saturday condemning the “abhorrent behavior” of the students and promising to work to end it.
Go flog yourself.
“Catholic Memorial School is deeply disturbed by the behavior of a group of student spectators who made an unacceptable chant Friday night while playing Newton North High School,” said Catholic Memorial President Peter F. Folan in a statement Saturday. “Catholic Memorial School believes deeply that intolerance, of any kind, is unacceptable. We apologize for the actions of our students and we will continue to strenuously address this issue within our community.”
The statement said no further comment would be made Saturday.
As soon as the Catholic Memorial students began their chant, said Fleishman, the interim principal spoke with Catholic Memorial administrators, who put an immediate stop to it.
Oh, they did the right thing at the request of the Jews.
Both Fleishman and Folan said the students were reprimanded, and each personally apologized to the principal and shook his hand. Catholic Memorial won the game, which was the Division 1 South Final.
Don't worry; God got even with them and they lost the next game because no fans showed up.
Nate Hollenberg, senior captain of the Newton North basketball team, said he and his teammates were warming up when the chanting occurred, and he did not know what happened until his parents told him at the end of the game.
“They might not have meant it so personally, but you should think about things before you speak,” said the 18-year-old, who is Jewish. “That hurts. They’re coming at my religion, at who I am, a big part of me. That’s just not right.”
Waaaaaaaaah!
No wonder they lost the game. Not mentally tough.
Doug Haslam, whose son is a senior on the Newton North team and who has been attending games for years, said that taunting chants — such as “sausagefest,’’ a joking reference hurled on Friday at fans of the all-boys school — are common.
Really?
But he had never heard anything like Friday night’s calls about killing Jesus.
“There’s a lot of rowdy, rambunctious, probably crude and obnoxious chants, but there’s usually a line, and students rarely cross it,” Haslam said. “When they do, there are repercussions.”
One Newton resident who attended the game and spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal said the chant sounded pre-planned, and that Catholic Memorial administrators and parents did not appear quick to try to halt it. And the president, he said, could have cleared the stands, or made an announcement condemning the chant in that moment, as the game had not started — but he did not.
JWho started it again?
One Catholic Memorial alumnus, who asked for anonymity to speak freely about the tight-knit school community, said he had never expected to hear an anti-Semitic chant from the school’s students, and that he was ashamed of their actions.
“I felt deeply embarrassed,” said the alumnus, who was not at the game.
I must be evil because my initial reaction was a smile. Someone finally punched the Zionist bullies in the face!
The alumnus said the school he knew was a brotherhood, full of empathy and understanding, where students were taught to support each other, be open minded, respect other cultures and faiths.
And where the priests did some pooper-pumping.
He said he believed it was imperative for alumni to speak out about the chant. “It’s important to recognize that it’s happened, and to apologize,” he said.
I'm waiting for one in return.
Anti-Semitism has been a topic of concern in Newton recently, as three incidents of anti-Semitic graffiti were reported in recent months at F.A. Day Middle school, including an incident earlier this month in which “Burn the Jews” was scrawled on the wall of a boys’ bathroom.
How coincidental giving the timing of the game!
"Newton officials are investigating two incidents of anti-Semitic graffiti at one of the city’s middle schools after receiving an anonymous letter with photographs of an offensive phrase left in a boys bathroom and a swastika imprinted in snow. The incidents occurred in October and January at the F. A. Day Middle School, but principal Brian Turner failed to report them to authorities at the time they occurred, as stipulated in a memorandum of understanding between the School Department and Newton Police Department. In a letter to Day School families last week, Turner apologized “for not promptly and publicly notifying the school community about these unacceptable actions.” “My initial response to these incidents did not convey the moral outrage I felt at this violation of our core values,” read the letter, dated Feb. 25. Turner will host a community forum on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the library at the Day School to address the incidents and their aftermath. In addition, the next Parent-Principal Coffee at the school Friday at 8 a.m. will also be devoted to discussing the incidents."
I no longer am, sorry.
Fleishman said the district does not tolerate that, either, and that the incidents were being investigated.
Friday’s chant came just one day after Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, speaking at Temple Emanuel in Newton, called for both Catholics and Jews to “build a civilization of love.” The talk marked the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, a proclamation from Pope Paul VI in 1965 that repudiated anti-Semitism and stated that Jews did not bear collective responsibility for the death of Christ.
He talks about love but is silent on the genocide against Palestinians.
In a statement on Saturday, the archdiocese called the chant “unacceptable,” and said the incident presented an opportunity to promote “an important learning experience” for the students.
It's a way to flog them with political correctness.
“We stand ready to assist Catholic Memorial in providing the student body with the awareness education that is needed to ensure that there is no recurrence of these actions or attitudes,” read the statement. Catholic Memorial is an independent Catholic high school.
Robert Trestan, regional director for the Anti-Defamation League New England , said Saturday that the immediate intervention by staff was excellent, but, “now comes the hard work.”
“We’re interested in working with both schools to make sure this doesn’t become a lost opportunity,” said Trestan. “This incident is a reminder that we still have a lot of work to do, and we need to do it together.”
Now I'm sensing an agenda at work!
Robert Leikind, director of the American Jewish Committee’s New England Office, also commended Catholic Memorial administrators for their quick response, but echoed Trestan’s sentiment that more discussion is needed.
“I won’t assume that because teens chanted this, they all hate Jews,” said Leikind. “But it’s clear that the spread of these ideas can generate hatred. And so it’s important to take them seriously.”
What about the bias and hate chanted by the Newton kids?
Newton Mayor Setti Warren said he was “deeply disappointed” by the chant. The city already had planned a community discussion for April 7 on how to make Newton welcoming to all, he said, and in the wake of the chant, it was even more important.
“I would extend an invitation to all to participate,” he said. “From outside of Newton, as well.”
Members of the Catholic Memorial community would be welcome, Warren said.
--source--"
Related:
"This incident is particularly disturbing given the increasing anti-Semitism in Europe. Seventy years have passed since the defeat of the Nazis, yet Jews still face hatred in many places. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are three Abrahamic faiths; how sad that in the 21st century there is still such animus."
Newton mayor announces plan to combat hate incidents
Catholic Memorial vows changes after anti-Semitic chants
Taunting at high school games is a challenge for administrators
A game where the fans were the winners
Also see:
Wheelock names education dean at Texas college as new president
This Post Right in Your Wheelock
I'm sure Trump is to blame, and you would have to be a saint to cheer this slop.
Four games in Springfield to decide state girls’ basketball champs
Previewing the boys’ state championship basketball games
I'm going to go watch some NCAA and cheer the hometown hero now.
