6 | MARCH 30 • 2023 

Letter to the Editor
“Diversity and Inclusion” 

“Diversity and inclusion” 
never seem to include 
Jews, and as we’ve seen 
at Bloomfield Hills High 
School, “diversity and 
inclusion” can descend 
into Jew hatred. Somehow, 
even though almost 60% of 
religiously motivated hate 
crimes are committed against 
Jews, BHHS program orga-
nizers couldn’t find a Jewish 
speaker to speak about 
anti-Jewish discrimination.
While others are praising 
Superintendent Watson’s 
letter of contrition, Watson 
minimized antisemitism by 
tying it to “Islamophobia.” 
Muslim students were not 
the ones being humiliated 
and denigrated by a bigot-
ed speaker. And it wasn’t 
“Islamophobia” that caused 

students to wave Palestinian 
flags and chant “We love 
Kanye West.” 
Somehow, it’s never ok to 
fight antisemitism on its own. 
It must always be tied to some 
other form of bigotry, as if 
Jews aren’t worthy, and we 
must ride others’ coattails or 
get permission. In addition, 
BHHS Principal Stroughter 
said that “faculty will work 
with Jewish and Muslim 
student leadership groups.” 
Is there something we’re not 
being told? Jewish students 
suffered. Did Muslim students 
have a hand in it?
Worse, at a public meeting 
meant to address this epi-
sode, Watson read a letter 
from the “Islamic commu-
nity” suggesting that calling 
out Arraf’s antisemitism is 

“Islamophobic.” There were 
many more Muslims than 
Jews in attendance.
If we are looking for 
meaningful change though, 
we’d better learn to stand up 
as Jews. We must demand 
that BHHS, and public edu-
cation in general, do better. 
That means teaching about 
Israel and Jewish history 
beyond the Holocaust. The 
Holocaust didn’t just happen 
at Hitler’s whim. It was the 
culmination of centuries of 
European persecution. 
This episode is just a taste 
of the Jew-hatred that has 
been revived on university 
campuses. Jewish BHHS stu-
dents will face even worse 
antisemitism and anti-Jewish 
indoctrination in the guise 
of “diversity and inclusion” 

and “criticism of Israeli gov-
ernment policies” when they 
arrive at the university of 
their choice. 
It is incumbent upon us 
to make sure our children 
know our history. They need 
to be able to counter the 
antisemitic lies they will be 
fed by the numerous bigoted 
anti-Israel professors and 
student groups. 
In short, even as we expect 
BHHS to do better, we, and 
our local Jewish leadership, 
must do better. We’ve gotten 
way too comfortable, and it 
is our children who are pay-
ing the price.

Respectfully,

Harry Onickel

Ferndale, MI

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