1942 - 2024
Covering and Connecting
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6 | FEBRUARY 1 • 2024
J
N
statement
Ann Arbor School’s ‘Ceasefi
re’ Resolution
T
he Jewish Federation
of Greater Ann Arbor
and local community
leaders are extremely disap-
pointed in the Ann Arbor
Public Schools Board of
Trustees vote to approve a res-
olution calling
for a “bilateral
ceasefire in Gaza
and Israel.”
The Oct. 7
terror attack by
Hamas was and
continues to be
a heartbreaking
tragedy. One hundred and
thirty-two hostages remain
captive in Gaza after more
than 100 days. And Israel’s
response in Gaza has created
an ongoing humanitarian cri-
sis for civilians in Gaza. The
trauma and ramifications will
be felt for years — decades to
come.
Unfortunately, activists have
used this crisis to sow division
in our community.
The proposal of this reso-
lution was politically moti-
vated — not about students
and education. It was part of
a national activist effort to
bring ceasefire resolutions to
local governmental bodies
— hijacking the important
local work they were elected
to do and calling on them to
take positions on geopolitical
affairs, over which they have
no authority, which will have
no effect on foreign policy,
and which only impact the
local community by further
dividing it.
The fact the resolution
calls for it to be distributed
to print, voice and internet
media speaks to the intention
to spread this activity to other
communities.
This resolution led to a
poor use of district resources
— time, money and personnel
— and encouraged a chaotic
and uncivil atmosphere lead-
ing many Jewish families to
wonder about their place in
this district and community.
The Ann Arbor School
Board missed an opportunity
to unite the community by
putting forward an alternative
resolution with very similar
language that was shared
with all board members; one
that did not directly call for
a ceasefire. The language of
this alternative was inclusive
of families connected to other
world conflicts and called for
training and resources to be
provided to teachers helping
them to feel more comfort-
able navigating these compli-
cated conversations. While
some sections of the alterna-
tive resolution and a sentence
from a local City Council res-
olution were included in the
final product, the ceasefire
language remained, alienating
the almost 2,000 signatories
of a petition calling on the
Board to focus on education,
not engage in geopolitical
affairs.
It is deeply concerning that
the many important issues
facing the board, including a
$10M deficit, passing a spe-
cial education millage, hiring
a superintendent, falling
test scores, and demanding
accountability for address-
ing the egregious incidents
of anti-Arab and antise-
mitic speech and behavior,
were ignored while trustees
PURELY COMMENTARY
Eileen Freed