BARTLETT (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - A yearbook controversy is stirring at Bartlett High School after distribution was paused due to a photo that school officials deemed antisemitic.
In an email to parents last week, Bartlett Interim Principal Melanie Meidel said the school paused yearbook distribution after finding out an "offensive" and "antisemitic" photo was included.
Members of the school’s Muslim Student Association said they believe the photo in question is one from the school's multicultural fair in March. The photo captured a group of students holding a sign reading, “from the river to the sea.”
Students spoke out at Monday’s School District U-46 board meeting in support of the photo, including senior Ryhah Rizvi.
“Palestine, whether it is Gaza or the West Bank, is between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. To consider that phrase offensive is to deny the Palestinians’ very existence on that land, and that is true discrimination.”
However, many supporters of Israel see the phrase as a call to wipe out the Jewish state.
School District U-46 Superintendent Suzanne Johnson said the school would resume yearbook distribution but did not specify whether the photo had been removed or when the yearbooks would be available.
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