Parents Outraged as Muslim Student Group Sparks Antisemitism Firestorm in Public School

In Biden-era public schools, it might’ve gone unnoticed. But under the Trump administration, patriotic parents are saying “enough is enough.”

A suburban Pennsylvania high school is facing a mounting firestorm after Jewish families accused administrators of allowing a pro-Palestinian student group to hijack a school cultural event—handing out keffiyehs, displaying inflammatory slogans like “Jerusalem is ours,” and offering prizes to students for engaging with their political booth.

Now, those families are demanding answers — and accountability.

“My child came home shaken and unsure if it’s even safe to speak up as a Jew at school,” said Lynn Simon, a parent at Wissahickon High School, just outside Philadelphia. “This wasn’t cultural learning — it was political indoctrination.”

The event in question? The school’s annual “Culture Fair,” held last Monday, where various student groups were invited to showcase their heritage. But according to furious parents, the Muslim Students of America (MSA) booth crossed the line — and school leaders didn’t just ignore it. They posed with it.

Photos show Superintendent Dr. Mwenyewe Dawan and Assistant Superintendent Sean Gardiner smiling alongside students while Principal Lynne Blair proudly shared pictures on social media — some of which she has since deleted after public outcry.

One now-deleted photo showed students dressed in keffiyehs — the patterned scarf often worn in solidarity with Palestinian causes — while another image reportedly featured a sign in Arabic reading “Jerusalem is ours,” a phrase Jewish families say undermines Israel’s right to exist.

“This is not education. It’s propaganda,” said Steve Rosenberg of the North American Values Institute. “Wissahickon’s leadership has turned a school event into a political rally—and Jewish students are paying the price.”

According to a scathing letter signed by dozens of Jewish families and obtained exclusively by Fox, students at the MSA booth were offered candy and even cash prizes to participate in activities — a move parents called “manipulative and coercive.”

“Using money and candy to lure kids into politically-charged displays is outrageous,” the letter reads. “This was not about culture. It was about recruiting sympathy for a cause, at the expense of Jewish students’ sense of safety.”

Even more disturbing, the letter says district leadership not only witnessed the activity but did nothing to stop it.

“Students saw you at the booth, Superintendent Dawan. You didn’t intervene. You didn’t ask questions. You took pictures. That silence sent a clear message: Jewish students don’t matter here.”

Once a symbol of Arab identity, the keffiyeh has, in recent years, become a global emblem of anti-Israel resistance. It has been worn by activists at anti-ICE rallies, featured in violent pro-Hamas protests, and even draped over statues of George Washington by anti-Zionist mobs in D.C.

Now, it’s in high schools.

“When you have administrators promoting the keffiyeh in 2025 — when we’ve seen it at protests where agents are threatened and American flags are burned — it’s no longer innocent,” said Rosenberg. “It’s political theater.”

At a school board meeting on Dec. 1, the president of the MSA chapter denied any wrongdoing, arguing the Arabic slogan “Jerusalem is ours” was misunderstood.

“It wasn’t antisemitic,” the student said. “Most of the Jewish students can’t even read Arabic. They’re just using this to paint us as hateful.”

The statement did little to calm concerns — and in fact, fueled further outrage.

“If a message can only avoid being offensive because the victims can’t read it — that’s not education, it’s cowardice,” Simon told reporters. “This is gaslighting.”

The letter to the district outlines five demands for immediate accountability:

1. A full public explanation of the district’s role in distributing keffiyehs.
2. Clarification of how the booths were approved, including full access to planning documents.
3. An investigation into Principal Blair’s deleted posts and any staff participation.
4. New guidelines ensuring school events remain educational, not political.
5. A listening session where Jewish students and parents can describe the fear and intimidation they experienced.

“Schools must be safe, neutral places,” the letter concludes. “Our kids shouldn’t feel like outsiders in their own classrooms.”

This controversy comes just weeks after similar outrage in Fairfax, Virginia, where a Muslim student group posted violent anti-Israel imagery on social media following a school event. Co-author of Stolen Youth, Bethany Mandel, told America Reports that public schools across the country are “allowing the rot of antisemitism to fester.”

Under President Trump’s second term, many parents have grown more vocal — and empowered — in demanding educational spaces that prioritize learning over activism.

“The 2020s gave radicals free rein in public schools,” Mandel said. “That era is over. Parents are taking their schools back.”

As of this report, the Wissahickon School District has not responded to multiple inquiries.

In the meantime, concerned families are considering legal action — and a possible Title VI civil rights complaint.

“This is about our kids,” said Rosenberg. “We will not let them be silenced. Not here. Not now. Not ever.”