The international conflict over how to appropriately respond to the Israel-Hamas war has been playing out at an elementary school in Scarsdale.
The Scarsdale school district has canceled a fundraiser for UNICEF that fifth-graders at Quaker Ridge Elementary School would have participated in on Halloween after some families expressed concerns that UNICEF, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, is antisemitic.
Other parents told the district that it shouldn't be controversial to raise money for a humanitarian aid group that aims to help children, especially Palestinian children caught in the crossfire in Gaza.
Jessica Zellner, a parent to two fifth-graders at Quaker Ridge, wrote to school and district leaders after learning of the fundraiser. She forwarded them an Oct. 7 statement from UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russel that expressed concern for children in Israel and "the State of Palestine" and that called for a ceasefire.
Zellner also sent links to articles saying Hamas had stolen humanitarian aid from another United Nations-affiliated group, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, and that the agency had tried to cover it up by deleting social media posts.
Zellner also emailed parents links to other articles, including one from NGO Monitor, a pro-Israel research organization, about how UNICEF has worked on projects with groups that have ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, designated a terrorist group by the U.S. and others.
Farah Kathwari, the parent of a fourth-grader in the district, defended the UNICEF fundraiser, suggesting that the pushback is related to UNICEF trying to help Palestinian children.
"These kids are living under a blockade and bombing," said Kathwari, a former board member of the Westchester Human Rights Commission.
She also noted the Anti-Defamation League had said that UNICEF is not anti-Israel.
UNICEF didn't respond to a request for comment.
Charges of 'moral equivalence' and 'polarization'
School district officials didn't respond to a request for comment on the situation.
But parents shared an email from Quaker Ridge Elementary Principal Felix Gil on Thursday saying the fundraiser had been canceled and administrators were "pained that our choices caused such distress."
Scarsdale is well known nationally as a symbol of suburban affluence, with leaders of industry and culture residing there. It’s also known for being home to a large, diverse and active Jewish community. At least five established synagogues are located there or use the Scarsdale name. Many Israeli organizations and causes have long had key supporters in Scarsdale.
Scarsdale Mayor Justin Arest, in an Oct. 10 note to the community about the Hamas attack, said: “Scarsdale is home to many residents with strong connections to this region, and we extend our prayers and support to them. In times of tragedy, we have always come together to lean on one another.”
Jonathan Blake, senior rabbi at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, said in an email that the statement from UNICEF's Russel was "deeply offensive and morally flawed." He said it didn't mention Hamas' initial attack that killed 1,400 Israelis, or the kidnapping of over 200 Israelis.
"It draws moral equivalencies between Israel’s defensive response in war and the unprovoked attack by Hamas," Blake said.
Kathwari said she and some parents of Quaker Ridge fifth-graders told district officials that the fundraiser should continue and that parents could choose to keep their children from participating. She noted UNICEF helps kids all over the world.
UNICEF's Halloween fundraising program, known as Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, was started in 1950 and has raised almost $200 million, according to UNICEF. Children generally ask for donations for UNICEF while trick or treating.
Abigail Balbale, another district parent and professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies at NYU, said Wednesday she was shocked the district was reconsidering the fundraiser. Students had already attended an assembly on humanitarian aid to go with the fundraiser. She said she was worried about what explanation students would be given for why it was canceled.
In an email to the district, Balbale expressed concerns over students repeating what they're hearing from adults — asking each other which side they're on, Israel's or the terrorists.
"That's a really problematic polarization," Balbale said.
Some parents criticize Scarsdale school district statements
At points leading to the fundraiser's cancelation, some parents were dismayed by communications from Quaker Ridge or the district that acknowledged violence against one group of people but not the other.
Superintendent Drew Patrick's initial email to the community on Oct. 9 said how difficult the events in Israel and Gaza were to take in and shared supports available to students. Two days later, he apologized in a second email for not condemning Hamas' slaughter of 1,400 Israelis.
"I took for granted the fact that, as a public school district, it would be clear that we condemn all acts of terrorism, antisemitism, and hate in all of its forms. I do, and we do," he wrote.
Then, an Oct. 20 email from Chris Coughlin, interim principal of Scarsdale Middle School, explained how staff were helping students process the ongoing crisis, but only explicitly mentioned Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attack, and not the thousands of Palestinian deaths that followed.
"Unfortunately, it's exactly this bias — that Israeli lives matter more than Palestinian lives — that is leading to episodes of Islamophobic rhetoric and even violence in our schools," Balbale replied to him in an email.
Coughlin's email said the district was "keenly aware and are concerned about a rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia and how those forces of hate can impact our children."
Zellner said she wasn't accusing the district of being antisemitic and called what is happening in Gaza "devastating."
"I want this to be an opportunity to grow and learn," Zellner said.
And Balbale said she and everyone she knew abhorred the violence committed by Hamas, as well as the violence against civilians in Gaza. "To me that's not a contradiction," she said.
Contact Diana Dombrowski at ddombrowski@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @domdomdiana.
I am so sorry to see this and thinking also about what messages it sends to children in these schools. UNICEF Exevutive Director should send a strong response saying that from its start in 1946 UNICEF has always assisted children on all sides of conflicts nd wars. And that the first Executive Director Maurice Pate stressed that he would only accept to be its Execurive Director if the organization needs to assist all children that had been affected by the war, whether in vanquished or victorious countries saying that there are no enemies under the age of 15.
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