12 | MARCH 7 • 2024
J
N

J

ewish students and parents of
the Upper School of Roeper
said that there have been
rising tensions in the months fol-
lowing the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel,
culminating with the appearance
of posters with pro-Palestinian
messages calling for a ceasefire
and accusing Israel of committing
genocide on the week of Feb. 12 just
before the private school’s scheduled
winter break.
Some students requesting ano-
nymity are saying that the climate
has become inhospitable to Jewish
students, with a few feeling socially
ostracized for expressing pro-
Israel views and others concerned
that this ostracization may hurt
their academic standings and their
scheduled trajectory toward gradu-
ation during the final years of high
school. One student said they were
verbally bullied in the hallway after
the appearance of the posters.
Days after the Oct. 7 Hamas

attacks, the Jewish Student Union
(JSU) released a statement to the
student body informing them how
Israelis were attacked and killed
from air, land and sea. To gain
approval from the administration,
the JSU had to amend the statement
to include the death of Palestinians
as well.

DISCUSSIONS QUELLED
As the months went on, members
of the JSU were divided about the
idea of bringing Metro Detroit’s
Shinshinim Israeli delegates into the
school to offer an Israeli perspective
of the events before and after Oct. 7.
However, some JSU students did not
want to have Israelis in the building,
and the JSU was told by the admin-
istration that if the Shinshinim were
to speak to the organization as invit-
ed guests, they were not allowed to
talk about Oct. 7 or the ensuing war.
After some debate, the JSU decided
they were no longer going to dis-

OUR COMMUNITY

Jewish Upper School students meet
with pro-Palestinian propaganda.
Tensions at Roeper

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER