Jewish parents furious over map of ‘Palestine’ replacing Israel featured at middle school multicultural night

The Palestinians “talk about from the land to the sea, which means having all the Jews wiped away,” said a Jewish student’s mother.

By Shiryn Ghermezian, Algemeiner

Parents are fuming over a map display that was presented at a recent cultural event at a Georgia middle school which featured “Palestine” in place of present-day Israel, local news station 11Alive reported late last week.

The map was seen at a multicultural night hosted by Autrey Mill Middle School in Fulton County, Ga. Several Jewish and Israeli parents deemed the map highly offensive and complained to school authorities.

“Kids who saw this or anybody that was exposed to this last night that doesn’t even know what the story is behind all this, right now, thinks that this is the map of Palestine,” said one Jewish mother.

“Israel wasn’t mentioned on that map at all,” another Jewish student’s mother said. “They basically wrote Palestine in the place of Israel. They [the Palestinians] talk about from the land to the sea, which means having all the Jews wiped away and the Palestinians on the land instead of the Jews.”

According to the report, the presence of the map was reported to the school’s principal, J.E. Trey Martin, but it was not removed. Another image from the event shared by parents showed a table featuring Israel and Jewish-related cultural items such as a menorah, a Jewish skullcap, also known as a kippah, and a flag of Israel.

“Nobody in the school was going over the content of the materials that is being presented,” one of the parents said.

Martin sent a lengthy letter to parents on Friday saying he was “extremely disappointed and disgusted with the individuals who presented an insensitive political and geographic representation” adding that “this display does not represent our school culture, which is one that values inclusion and unity.”

A Fulton County Schools spokesperson said the map is not displayed at the school on a regular basis and they are investigating who was responsible for it.

The school system said: “Fulton County Schools was made aware of an insensitive political and geographic display at Autrey Mill Middle School’s recent Multicultural Night. This event is hosted by families and staff with the intent of celebrating different cultures and nationalities. We condemn the negative and extreme political agendas these symbols represent. We are investigating this incident, and will take all necessary actions to find the individual(s) responsible and hold them accountable.”