OCTOBER 24 • 2024 | 17

because it will chill and suppress 
much-needed discourse. It was 
members of this board and local 
news organizations that perpetuated 
an opinion that plays no role in the 
business of Bloomfield Township. 
There is nothing that any of us can 
do here … that is going to change the 
realities in the Middle East.
” 
Fakih, who is of Lebanese descent, 
described the mass destruction in 
Gaza and Lebanon, the crumbling 
infrastructure and death of innocents 
without making mention of the vast 
network of tunnels the IDF discovered 
in Gaza and southern Lebanon 
beneath civilian structures. 
Fakih said that in recent years there 
has been a dangerous precedent in 
conflating and “redefining” Judaism 
with Zionism. She then quoted 
the definition of Zionism from the 
Merriam-Webster dictionary as being 
a 20th-century political movement to 
“establish a Jewish state in Palestine.
” 
“Judaism is a religion and Zionism 
is an ideology,
” she said. “
And in the 
last year, in support of this ideology, 
we have watched as for retribution for 

Oct. 7, that much of Gaza has been 
obliterated and there are a countless 
number of deaths.
” 
Saying that the Israelis are no safer 
now than they were a year ago and 
calling out the “disgusting” vandalism 
of the Max Fisher Federation building 
on Oct. 7, Fakih said all bloodshed 
must stop. 
Fakih closed out her remarks by 
quoting Elie Wiesel: “I swore never 
to be silent whenever and wherever 
human beings are enduring suffering 
and humiliation; we must always take 
sides.
” 

THE JEWISH COMMUNITY 
DEMANDS ACCOUNTABILITY
Fakih was immediately met with scorn 
from many Jewish commentators. 
While most spoke about the tragic loss 
of human life in Gaza and Lebanon 
and an understanding that emotions 
can get the better judgment of people 
when posting on social media, they 
also expressed feelings of betrayal 
that an elected official would call a 
minority of her constituents such a 
slur that was akin to how the Nazis 

continued on page 18

“STEPHANIE, I AM ONE OF THE PEOPLE 

YOU CALL ‘SCUM.’ I DON’T THINK 
OF MYSELF AS THAT, BUT THAT’S 
WHAT YOU CALLED ME. ACTIONS 
HAVE CONSEQUENCES, AND YOUR 
DEPLORABLE ACTIONS SHOULD HAVE 
CONSEQUENCES. YOU SIT THERE 
WITH THAT SMIRK. YOU SHOULD 
RESIGN IMMEDIATELY. AN 

APOLOGY WON’T CUT IT FOR ME.” 

— MARGO WOLL

About 100 people were allowed in the meeting room; some 100 more stayed outside 
and listened through a loudspeaker.

“Your weaponizing the words 
of Elie Wiesel against Jews is 
despicable,” Benji Rosenzweig 
said at the meeting.

