14 | MARCH 30 • 2023 

continued from page 13

“This is the time to act since the high school 
administrators have shown poor leadership 
and judgment before this incident, during 
the incident, and after the fallout of the 
incident.”
The petition continues: “Schultz, the 
Director of DEI, and Stroughter failed to 
conduct an effective vetting of the speak-
er, who proceeded to speak about inflamma-
tory Middle East politics for four different 
sessions with students, even after being noti-
fied and asked to shut down the speaker as 
the students were panic-stricken and fearful 
for their safety.” 
“The school administrators have acted 
with a cruel disregard for our community. 
They have ignited a political firestorm and 
placed a burden on our teenage children and 
families to deal with. They have demonstrat-
ed gross negligence and failure to protect the 
safety and security of our students by being 
ignorant and callous about the implications 
to our teenagers in an unsupervised and 
unregulated environment.”

PUBLIC COMMENT 
At the meeting, a mix of people filled the 
main and overflow rooms, and there was 
not a single empty spot in the parking lot. 
Muslim and Arabic students and families 
outnumbered Jewish ones. Some students 
wore keffiyehs or green, black and white 
scarves bearing the word “Palestine” around 
their necks, and one student wore a sweat-

shirt with the entire map of Israel covered in 
a checkered keffiyeh. A few Jewish students 
sat with their parents, but no one wore any 
clothing in blue or white or bearing the 
insignia of the Israel Defense Forces. 
As the public comment section began at 
8:30 p.m., Board of Education Vice President 
Siva Kumar read a statement from the 
Muslim Unity Center (MUC). The message 
pointed out the mosque’s pride in years of 
educational collaborative efforts with the 
school district but expressed deep concern 
when it “became aware of multiple occur-
rences that do not align with the district’s 
commitment to a safe environment that fos-
ters inclusion.” 
The statement said that after the district 
released two emails alleging Arraf’s presen-
tation had some comments that were antise-
mitic in nature, the MUC consulted with 
Arraf to hear her side of the story. She truth-
fully shared her views and experiences on 
behalf of working for Palestinians and said 
her remarks were pertinent to addressing the 
topic of persecution and discrimination. 
The statement continued: “Students have 
expressed they feel silenced, ignored and dis-
missed by the administration because they 
hold views on a topic that may run counter 
to the narrative, as is portrayed by pro-Israeli 
or anti-Palestinian constituencies. We deem 
attempts to silence or ignore students from 
any side of a debate, run counter to the val-

“I’D LIKE TO ASK MY 
MUSLIM BRETHREN 
HERE WHAT THEIR 
RESPONSE WOULD 
HAVE BEEN HAD 
THE SPEAKER 
BEEN A PRO-
ISRAEL ACTIVIST. 
WE ALL HAVE 
SENSITIVITIES AND 
NEED TO CONSIDER 
THE OTHER SIDE. 
AND NOW THIS 
HAS BECOME A 
TINDERBOX AND IS 

SCARY TO ME.” 

— JAY KOZLOWSKI, PARENT

Rabbi Asher Lopatin of the Detroit 
JCRC/AJC speaks at the meeting.

continued on page 16

OUR COMMUNITY

