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cuss Oct. 7 or its ramifications 
because it was too polarizing, 
and one Jewish student decided 
they wanted to create chapters 
of Jewish Voice for Peace and 
Students for Justice in Palestine 
at school, according to the stu-
dent. 
Still, this student felt the 
decision to quell the discussion 
of Oct. 7 in a Jewish group was 
unfair because objections to this 
discussion mainly came from 
one student who then went onto 
form SJP
.
 “Because the founder of 
(SJP) is Jewish, I believe that 
the administration believes that 
nothing that is happening now 
is antisemitic or hateful toward 
Jews,
” said the student. “But this 
is simply not true.
” 
Two weeks following this 
discussion, the pro-Palestinian 
posters went up urging students 
from all backgrounds to join 
newly forming organizations 
such as Students for Justice in 
Palestine and Jewish Voices for 
Peace. After pro-Palestinian 
posters went up, some Jewish 
students said they were verbally 
harassed by others in the hall-

way within earshot of faculty 
members who they say did not 
respond or react. 
The JN obtained a message 
sent on Feb. 12 on TikTok by the 
president of the Black Student 
Union, who describes himself 
as a supporter of “the justice for 
Palestinian people.
”
In the message, the student 
urged all other student groups to 
form a coalition to create action-
able steps to help people affected 
by the conflict and call for the 
United States government to 
end monetary and military aid 
to Israel.

ANTI-ISRAEL POSTERS
The JN obtained several photos 
that show flyers and posters that 
were hung in the hallways of the 
Upper School during the week 
of Feb. 12. 
One poster depicted the 
Palestinian flag with the words 
“
Anti-Zionism does not equal 
Antisemitism” and encouraged 
students to join organizations 
like National Students for Justice 
in Palestine and Jewish Voice for 
Peace. This poster said it is “not 
antisemitic to call for a cease-

fire or to condemn the actions of 
the Israeli military.
” 
Another poster asked students 
to think about “Why do you 
value white comfort over brown 
lives,
” “Why do Palestinians wear 
keys around their necks” and 
“What is the difference between 
the Irgun and the IDF.
” 
Another poster indicated 
the number of those who were 
injured and killed in Gaza, 
and the number of hospitals 
destroyed in Gaza without any 
sources or attribution. 
A typed flyer without attri-
bution to any individual, group, 
student or faculty member said 
that the Roeper community 
needs to “start talking about 
Gaza and the humanitarian 
crisis.
” The flyer indicated there 
is an increasing number of 
children killed in Gaza and that 
the United States funds Israel 
and supplies the Israeli Defense 
Forces with arms. 
The flyer said: “Teachers are 
ignoring the starvation, dis-
placement and confinement 
of Palestinians and that 20,000 
Palestinians would have been 
alive if the U.S. government 

voted for a ceasefire in the 
United Nations on Oct. 27.
”
The flyer asked history 
teachers to teach about Gaza 
and inform all registered voters 
about what is happening.

SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION 
RESPONSE
When Jewish 
parents emailed 
Head of School 
Christopher 
Federico explaining 
why the posters 
could be construed 
as antisemitic, 
Federico responded 
in an email saying 
that the posters were the “work 
of a very small group of students 
who acted without speaking to 
anyone in advance.
”
Federico wrote: “
As you know, 
the poster campaign was led by 
a Jewish student, which speaks 
to the complexity of both the 
facts and the feelings involved, 
and the danger of telling a single 
story about how anyone should 
perceive the conflict.
”
He continued: “
Although I 
understand why the posters 
caused upset in their criticism 
of the actions of the Israeli 
government and the IDF, I did 
not see any that advocated hate 
or violence, suggested that we 
should support Hamas or stand 
unequivocally with Palestine, or 
called for the destruction of the 
State of Israel. As much as one 
may disagree with the messages 
on the poster, I do not think it is 
accurate to say that they are the 
work of someone who is acting 
out of ignorance.
” 
There have also been concerns 
from parents about social media 
posts made on X throughout 
February by the dean of the 
middle school, Patrick Harris, 

A social media post by the dean of the middle school, Patrick Harris, who is also the Black Student Union 
adviser. 

Head of 
School 
Christopher 
Federico

