By Donald H. Harrison
CHULA VISTA, California – An anti-Israel, anti-American cartoon that appeared in the Bonita Vista High School newspaper has sparked a controversy that has escalated to the point that San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan has said her office will look into whether a hate crime has been committed.
The cartoon pictured an elephant identified as Israel holding a sign reading “We want to genocide Palestinians” and Uncle Sam, representing the United States, holding another sign reading “We are entitled to foreign land.” On the other side of the cartoon is a deer, identified as Palestine, holding a sign reading “We want freedom” accompanied by a masked man holding a Palestinian flag aloft. In between the two opposing duos is a man with a sign saying “Both sides are valid,” with the word “valid” replacing a crossed-out word “wrong.” Below the cartoon was the caption, “Centrism, insufferable and inhumane.”
BVHS Principal Lee Romero, shortly after the cartoon appeared, wrote to the “Baron community,” – Baron being the nickname for the school’s teams – acknowledging numerous complaints about the cartoon in The Crusader. He noted that the publication “is a student-run newspaper and students have editorial control over their publication which by law cannot be censored by administration or teaching staff. We do want to be clear that the views of The Crusader specifically this editorial are not the views of the Sweetwater Union High School District BVHS Administration or BVHS staff.”
He added, “We at BVHS take pride in creating a positive culture and promoting peace in our community. The staff and students at BVHS continue to stand together against hate and we are proud that “The Baron Way” encompasses the belief that the rich diversity on our campus is what makes us strong.”
Similarly, the District’s Superintendent Moisés Aguirre wrote to Sandra Scheller, curator of the Remember Us the Holocaust exhibit now being shown at the Rancho San Diego County Library, that “as a school incident, this editorial cartoon is being approached as a teachable moment. At this time, the students involved decided to remove this editorial cartoon from their website. Further, the school and the district are working with community members and organizations that support the development of understanding in the different facets, be they historical, cultural et cetera. This will likely be occurring in the coming days and weeks. We understand this is a moment fraught with concern for many, and Bonita Vista High School and the District are supporting the students at Bonita Vista High School so each student can feel safe and supported.”
Meanwhile, Rabbi Daniel Srugo of Beit Eliyahu Torah Center in Bonita and parent Tommy Broudy notified members of the Chula Vista Jewish community and friends about the controversy, calling on them to “fight antisemitism at Bonita Vista High School.”
In a Nov. 9 letter to Romero, Broudy protested the cartoon, saying he was “appalled and disgusted that our alma mater, and school to all of our high school boys, could spew such antisemitic vitriol. Your response that there is nothing that could be done is not acceptable. All speech has limits. Making matters worse is the feeling that there is a double standard that does not protect Jews; in the days following the George Floyd murder, it is hard to imagine that a cartoon depicting terrible and racist anti-black sentiment would have been published … Giving platform to this kind of cartoon informs and inflames 1000s of impressionable minds with some of the worst antisemitic messages we have experienced in Jewish history. It calls for the viewer to take a side and inspires to take action. What action would that be? Isolate Jews, harass Jews, threaten Jews? It creates conditions for the next shooting threat – or worse.”
Broudy obtained 274 signatures on his letter, which called for the adoption of a Fighting Antisemitism on Campuses Effectively (FACE) initiative.
The controversy prompted an “urgent call to action” by protestsandiego, which wrote on Spotify: “The Sweetwater Union High School District Board will meet to discuss the student-run BVHS newspaper that has been facing threats from the ADL and community members after [it] published an editorial cartoon condemning the Palestinian genocide. We will be showing up in solidarity with the student under fire. We are asking for people to show up in person…” and to send a message to board members of the Sweetwater Union High School District in time for its meeting on Monday evening, Nov. 13. That message received “likes” from 180 people on Spotify
According to Scheller, the Nov. 13 meeting became so raucous that school board members had to order the hearing room cleared.
Writing to District Attorney Stephan, Scheller reported that on Nov. 13, “a group of Jewish people from Chula Vista were verbally and emotionally attacked by San Diego Protest.” She related that “while at the board meeting, two protestors for Palestine got very loud and the board had everyone leave the room, after 7:00 pm, in the dark, cold and with Palestinian protestors shouting.”
One Jewish student reportedly was screamed at by pro-Palestinian protesters, “Fuck you, you ugly bitch”; “I hope you die Zionist asshole”; “Burn in hell Zionist terrorist.”
Scheller complained that “verbal attacks and threats happened outside with no one to help until CVPD (Chula Vista Police Department) showed up.” She said that “I believe this is not a ‘teachable moment’ as stated by Mr. Aguirre. There was no reason to be subjected to this violent behavior with no security.”
In response, Stephan wrote to Scheller on Nov. 20, “thank you for bringing this disturbing matter to our attention. It was referred to our Special Operations- Hate Crimes Division to review for any potential criminal conduct working with the police department.”
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Donald H. Harrison is editor emeritus of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com