Federation in the news: Jewish Journal 4/20/23

Jewish students at Belchertown middle school faced widespread harassment

Dozens of students at a Massachusetts middle school are accused of harassing their Jewish peers, including by performing Nazi salutes and making references to the gas chambers and Holocaust.

The incidents took place over the course of several months, according to a parent’s letter to city officials in Belchertown, a small town near Amherst in western Massachusetts. That same letter claims that a school investigation has uncovered video, social media posts and Google Docs made by the offending students that verify the allegations.

Brian Cameron, superintendent of the Belchertown school district, condemned “racist and derogatory language and symbolism” in an email to parents in early April. “No one should ever have to come to work or school and experience discrimination and bigotry in any form,” he wrote.

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