Shoshana Milich was at work when she got the first in a string of text messages from one of her four children who attend Sweet Home schools.
“Mom, I’m all shaky and panicky right now … When will you be home I need to see you in person.”
A few days later, the frantic text messages resumed, including one that read, “Another kid who knows I’m Jewish held up the swastika, to get my attention and laughed about it in my face. WHY CAN’T PEOPLE JUST RESPECT OTHER RELIGIONS????”
The text exchanges shared with The Buffalo News show that the fallout from the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel – which led to war in the Gaza Strip and polarized groups of pro-Israel and pro-Palestine supporters around the world – has rippled into some Western New York schools.
Some Sweet Home students started to wear clothing or flags that represent their support for Palestine. Even those without ancestral ties to the Middle East have expressed their beliefs about Israel’s actions.
“I feel very unsafe. I feel targeted. I don’t know people’s intentions,” said the student who sent the text messages. The student and the mother asked the child’s name and gender not be used for fear of reprisals.
“I don’t want to be in that environment,” said the student, who stayed home from school this week as a result.
“The problem is across the district,” said Milich, who has an older child along with her four other children in various Sweet Home schools.
Antisemitism, harassment, bullying and inappropriate neo-Nazi gestures have been reported by various students to their parents, Milich said.
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