Letter warns attire ‘has close ties to Hamas’
Two Republican congressmen are warning about alleged “antisemitic behavior” on school campuses in Texas involving students, teachers and school curriculum.
Republican U.S. Reps. Keith Self and Pat Fallon sent a letter on Aug. 6 to school district officials in Plano, a city about 20 miles north of Dallas, citing reports of “hateful behavior” on the campuses of five high schools, five middle schools and three elementary schools.
Noting recent years of high growth have proved to be “exciting times for North Texas and especially for Collin County,” the congressional letter cites a Times of Israel report from July about an in-class activity shared by parents from the Plano Independent School District (PISD) in which students were asked to play a Jeopardy-style game.
The report cited a prompt used in the game which included the answer, “Group who wants to gain back the country they lost to Israel.” The response read, “Who are the Palestinians?” The Times of Israel report also cited “anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric” in classroom discussions.
“This hateful ideology has no place in America,” Self said.
Citing a PISD policy that prohibits “inappropriate language, generally described as demeaning, derogatory, harmful, or hateful, directed towards an individual or group of individuals at a school or school-related event or activity,” the lawmakers warned that “Individual behaviors with respect to comments, chanting, and attire are subject to disciplinary action.”
“The fact that these behaviors have continued for some time indicates that any disciplinary action has not had the intended deterrent effect,” the letter stated. “While some events may occur outside the observance by staff, others, such as shirts worn throughout the day, have surely been observed and permitted by omission.”
The letter from Self and Fallon also highlighted concern over certain types of clothing worn on Plano campuses, specifically the “wearing of the keffiyeh,” a traditional Middle Eastern-style head covering. Calling the article of clothing “a political statement among those with no ties to the Middle Eastern culture,” the letter takes aim at the black-and-white “Arafat scarf,” named after Yasir Arafat, the late leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).
According to the congressmen, the scarf “has close ties to Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, both organizations which the United States has designated as terrorist organizations.”
“Since this attire has only become widespread on your campuses after the attacks of October 7, 2023, it is clear that these are meant as a symbol and violate the district’s dress code policy against attire that is demeaning or inciting of violence,” the letter states.
While the letter states PISD administrators have said the teaching material was “not approved,” Self and Fallon said it’s the responsibility of the school district to “verify that the approved curriculum is the one being taught.”
The letter concluded with questions about how PISD will enforce its policy against “demeaning, derogatory, harmful, or hateful” behavior, how it will monitor teachers who present unauthorized curriculum, and raised questions about the PISD dress code that “clearly addresses the question of harassment through attire.”
Plano ISD did not return a request for comment Monday, but a spokesperson for Congressman Self, speaking on background, said the congressman sent the letter after hearing from a number of constituents in the area that the school board wasn’t being responsive to their complaints.
Earlier this summer, Texas lawmakers passed Senate Bill 326, which requires colleges, universities and other higher education institutions to consider a previously adopted definition of antisemitism codified by the Texas Government Code when determining if a student’s code of conduct violation “was motivated by antisemitism,” according to the bill’s language.
The definition of “antisemitism” under SB 326 uses the same definition under Section 448.001 of the Texas Government Code, which states: “’Antisemitism’ means a certain perception of Jews that may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. The term includes rhetorical and physical acts of antisemitism directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals or their property or toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
The code points to examples of antisemitism from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s “Working Definition of Antisemitism,” which includes denying the Holocaust and “claims of Jews killing Jesus.”
