the New Jersey open public meeting law was an acted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice and to attend meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or AC in accordance with the provisions of the act the fortly board of education has caused notice of meeting to be published on January 11th 2024 and posted on the district website at www.fb.com published and the board's designated online media Outlet newspapers the record and the Star Ledger filed with the clerk of the B of Fort Lee and mailed to all persons and any who have requested said noted please be advised this meeting is being recorded and may be broadcasted on local TV and online at dat the open public meeting act allows for remote participation at board meetings and defines meeting as any Gathering whether tutorial or by means of communication equipment which is attended by or open to all members of a public body held with the intent on the part of the members of the body present to discuss or act as a unit ac specific public business of that body roll call please here Miss Curry here Mr Knight here Mrs Ken here Mr Lopez here M Morel here here here the board will be convening to Executive session to discuss legal personnel and other confidential matters we will move to the second floor public remain here there are restrooms that you can be directed to if you should that the board will reene into public session in approximately one hour at 7:30 pm may have a motion to go into executive session motion second motion Rino second Morel all in favor roll we just State for the record that minutes will be taken of the Clos executive session minutes will be taken of the Clos executive session and released to the public if with the need confidentiality no longer exists and action will be taken by the board and the public okay so motion Rino second Morel all in favor okay ex s the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice and to attend the meetings of public bodies that which any business affecting their interests discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of the act the fortly board of education has called notice of this meeting to be published on January 11th 2024 and posted on the district website at www.foe.com published in the board's designated online media Outlet newspaper the record of the Star Ledger filed with Clerk of the B of Port Lee and mailed to all persons of any who have requested said notice please be advised this meeting is being recorded and may be broadcasted on local TV and online at a future date the open public meeting act allows for remote participation at board meetings and defines meeting as any Gathering whether Caporal or by means of communication equipment which is attended by or open to all members of a public body held with the intent on the part of the members of the body present to discuss or act as a unit upon the specific public business of that body roll call police Mrs Byers K here miss kbach here M Curry here Mr Knight here Mrs kotang here Mr Lopez here M Morel here Mr Rino here Mrs Rick here the board convened executive session at 6:30 to discuss legal personnel and other confidential matters Dr pravit Will You Begin by sharing the superintendent report good evening everyone and thank you for attending this evening to our and for those of you who are new welcome to Fort Le Intermediate School uh for those who had visited our high school this past weekend for our Secret Circle of the Arts and i' would like to thank all of the students and all of the art teachers and everyone who has participated making beautiful presentation for our children Str also I'd like to follow up from our last meeting to thank Olivia Reed who's represented Fort Lee at National Spelling be in Washington DC when we last left she was the northern New Jersey Champion she went down to Washington DC and made it through the first two rounds so congratulations to also would like to thank everyone for sending me emails many of you probably in this audience we do read them and we acknowledge all we we are aware however there are certainly uh certain things that we can can and cannot comment on because of a pending investigation so publicly about the situation but we honor every one of you for participating in your public right which is to share your opinion which is what we appreciate so thank you for public schools um as far as one other thing for the agenda M RoR I have a walk-in resolution under P Personnel 11 P I will read it therefore be a resolved that the fortly board of education on the recommendation of the superintendent approves the following resignation emplo FD teacher High School effective date 6:30 202 11 that is 11 P thank you Dr pravit do we have committee reports yes we have a a c committee report um the C commit committee met on May 29th um the part the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the new K24 math program um there is a change in state math standard this year that needed to um require a new curriculum change as well as um facing out an old gold program um that that wasn't um well received by the parents and and and we have heard parents who came to our meeting in the past so thank you for sharing your feedback the district will be um rolling that out next year right correct next year um currently it is the teacher committee has been formed um and the committee represents all four Elementary School across the districts across different grades and different cohorn um general education special education and rld um the committee will be um will be recomend amending and vision for the new program it is currently being used by our fifth um fifth and sixth graders in the district and it's been used for two years the the feedback have been positive um the the advantage to The Envision program um is that it allows for better fam home support and we know that many parents have said that the go program was very difficult for them to help their children at home so that's a very very key Fe feedback back when parents and it also shows that um from grade to grade the vertical articulation meaning the adoption from one year to the next is smoother so we're excited to um to see this new program being implemented thank you any other committee reports okay the board members have questions or comments on tonight's agenda or any other topic just speakly please um so tonight um agenda 2p um resonation of um Miss um Michelle CH and Miss uh Chelsea mcfallen they were both teachers of my children and they are wonderful teachers so I my heart is breaking to read that they are leaving the districts we wish you the best and uh and and and I hope you guys change your mind before before September so hi I have a comment wait go ahead go first call okay so also I wanted to comment on Miss Miss McFarland as well I remember when she first came to our district that was when Miss lockart was leaving and I watched her grow so much she will be dead dearly missed and I wanted to say the circle of the Arts is such a amazing amazing event it's like so much to to watch and see and one night I feel like maybe in the future we can have it for a couple a little bit longer maybe two days I know it's a lot of work but there's so many things to see I want to go back to the uh gym just to be able to go through the Museum of all the artwork it was incredible also I would like to thank Miss Yun for putting together that amazing um American hair um Pacific Islanders night that was a jam-packed Auditorium full of fun music the children the parents everyone it was just an amazing night so I've seen so much progress in P Le school system especially at the high school the intermediate and the Middle School levels um the elementary school levels everybody's doing great fun things too but I was really happy to see the high schoolers doing so much thank you Miss K did you want to speak um so one I I want to apologize for not being able to be there in person I understand that um we have a packed crowd standing room only I did see pictures of the line um around the building I had a family emergency with my dad and had to take um a flight to Florida so I'm participating remotely um I I I I do want to say that um with the the situation um I appreciate everyone's emails um I've received probably over 500 maybe even 7 800 emails over the last few days um have read them I I got a world history education from reading them um and I speaking for myself I just want everyone there to know that um I do take what you say in the emails to heart um it's a very serious matter for me I I I'm hoping that our district and we're all asking a lot of questions and um I for me it's important to be thorough and so um you know we are stewards of the next generation of leaders and it's important to me that you know they they appropriately get critical thinking and um so I just want to let everyone there know who speaks tonight as with the emails I'll be listening very closely to your comments and take them very seriously thank you um I have a motion to open the floor to the public second motion morale second night all in favor iose or exensions okay we will hear first from any members of the public that are physically located at the cafetorium then we will take questions and comments from the participating remotely participants are limited to three minutes in which to make their statement for remote participants please select the raised hand button District technology coordinator Mr rerro will recognize you in the order of raised Hands by lowering your hands please unmute your microphone State your home address and your name for the record and begin your comments please everyone limit your comments to three minutes take note of the direction given by the security officers those who wish to speak in person Mr I'll let you know when we're done here thank you please remember to speak into the microphone so everyone can hear you okay uh here team trustees uh good evening my name is Ben C it's on just got to speak or hold it in your hand hold it in your hand thank you uh dear esteem trustees good evening my name is f Kaplan I live in hackensac New Jersey I've lived in Burton County and New Jersey for about 40 years my children have gone to various schools in beron County pinac tet farong and walwick I'm talking to you tonight because I'm deeply concerned about this High School history presentation that was recently conducted by FIA bahun and Stefan walowitz uh was about the Gaza War the history of the Middle East and it seems that the teachers purposefully organized a stealth presentation so that there would be no record of the presentation by confiscating student cell phones the teachers apparently did not have expertise in this particular subject matter from what I understand they have some kind of expertise in social studies and perhaps special education the material that was presented by the teachers was deeply flawed because among other things it glorified Hamas which is a Palestinian polit they identified it as a Palestinian political party and an armed resistance movement they omitted The crucial fact that our government and many other countries has designate have designated Hamas as a terrorist organization obviously it's a crucial fact which uh was deliberately omitted and just to give you an idea the Charter in Hamas says that Israel will exist and continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it okay the charter also says the day of judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews kill the Jews when the Jews will hide behind stones and trees the stones and trees will say oh Muslims oh Abdullah there's a Jew behind me come and kill him in addition the charter says that initi and so-called peaceful Solutions are in contradiction to the principles of the Islam resistance movement and finally the Hamas Charter says there is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad initiatives proposals International conferences they're all waste of time and vain Endeavors so um the presentation also admitted some other very important vitally important facts that the Israelis the Jews have lived in Israel since the second Millennium 2000 BCE in other words for about 3,000 years before 1948 but the presentation talks about the Jews coming there in the late 1800s and the 1920s and so on the presentation also admitted that close to a million Jews were forced to abandon their property bloggings without compensation in order to flee the Arab countries Egypt Iraq Persia Yemen and so on and they have to go to Israel because they were attacked and killed by Arabs so in conclusion what I would like urge the board to do the following conduct an immediate investigation as to how this taken place issue a public report and take the required decisive action to rectify the harm done also all the students who participated in this presentation should be given an unbiased presentation by teachers who are experiened competent knowledgeable about the Middle East inform so the the information provided apparently appropriately understood um thank you very much for allowing me the opportunity to speak and I look forward to hearing how the board will act thank you very much if everyone could please please be mindful of time three minutes thank you good evening like to thank you thank the entire everyone who's here and thank the board of education for inviting us to this meeting my name is shuel Bergman I live here in Fort Leo 1638 old Palace Road and I'm proud to serve as one the rabbi one of the synagogues in the community I'm here as a proud member of the fort Le Community who is concerned for our students as a proud American citizen and as a Jew and for all those reasons I stress the importance of responding forcefully to the classroom presentation under discussion that was afor mentioned the presentation was full of inaccuracies but I would like to focus on how Hamas was presented slide 20 of the presentation entitled who is Hamas States Hamas is a Palestinian political party and armed resistance movement and the words resistance movements are bolded and underlined the clear goal of the emphasis on the word resistance is to legitimize Hamas and its violence its violence against both the citizens of Israel and its own citizens and to argue Hamas is not a terrorist organization this assertion is egregiously false and dangerously anti-semitic Hamas openly advocates for the murder of innocent Jews and has followed through on its ideology on October 7th Hamas murdered 1,200 people before was stopped including 33 Americans it's currently holding 120 hostages including eight Americans if murdering grandparents parents children and grandchildren isn't terrorism if raping and then mutilating scores of women isn't terrorism I don't know what isnes this obvious fact and for teachers at a US public school to tell fortly students that Hamas is murdering of Jews isn't terrorism is not only anti-semitic it's also anti-American and it's simp therefore Swift harsh consequences for the teachers who participated in this miseducation is in order the message we must clearly communicate to our you teachers that if they attempt to indoctrinate their students to anti-semitic and anti-American rhetoric they will lose their job ensure that something similar does not happen again how was this lesson given was it approved if so how and if not why not our mission tonight is to ensure our students receive an American Education that impus them with the ideal that makes our country and Community special and we reach out to all fellow citizens to join with us in that mission thank you good evening my name is barell Steinbach I'm a fortly resident and a retired New Jersey licensed teacher having taught English at mon high school for 23 years recently I had the privilege of filling a maternity lead position here in Fort Le for eight months M during my time as a maternity leave replacement teacher I worked with many smart and dedicated fortly teachers and administrators who follow curriculum guidelines clearly set forth by the district so I want to say public oops I want to say publicly we can be proud of so many hardworking fortly Educators for their commitment to our fortly students let this unfortunate experience with these two teachers not t the excellent education that's being provided in our schools by our teachers and the strong leadership that is being offered by our administrators having said that a teacher has an enormous responsibility to his or her students to convey accurate and meaningful curriculum information that will enrich their lives and help them understand our complex world the two teachers in question Miss B and Mr wtz wtz clearly violated their responsibility by conveying inacurate inaccurate and misleading information about Hamas and Middle East history to a captive audience of high school students I say shame on there shame on them the district should take Swift actions to fire these teachers and to provide accurate professional development regarding Middle East history and current events for all the teachers in this fine District thank you so much uh good evening I'm Harold Steinbach I'm a fort Le taxpayer uh I reside in the colony 1530 Palisade Avenue I too would like to speak about the quote unquote lesson plan done by m bahon and Mr W um I'm a proud first uh generation American I'm a proud product of public education through college I brought up to respect teachers no one's to be more respected than teachers teachers are the only path forward to Su that's like my house that's how we were raised and that's how we raised our kids so when a teacher tells a student a fact it should be a fact things the teachers say will stick with kids for life being a teacher is a sacred trust so if they say something's an accepted fact that's what it should be and it was a violation of trust um to misrepresent facts and to pass off their skewed political views as facts these two teachers these two teachers this delivered a lesson in secret that could have been taken out of any text book in an Arab country that's still seeking to destroy Israel in fact I'd like you to find out where this lesson plan came from I think it's been I don't and it was just full of anti-Semitic tropes it it didn't call Hamas a terrorist organization which the United States government does it didn't bother to mention that Israel was the ancestral home of the Jewish people it didn't say that Israel came into existence through the proclamation of the United Nations it didn't say that in 1948 the Palestinians were granted a state which by the UN which didn't remain in existence because every Arab Nation rejected it and sought to destroy Israel it it calls Israel's defensive wary not what the United States government calls it and and it shockingly misappropriates the unique term never again which is about the Holocaust uh for for their uses so in conclusion uh these two teachers abused the public trust they tried brainwashing our students in secret with their own Twisted views and there's no other solution than to fire them before they good evening my name is Rabbi May kov I've been Rabbi inly the past 27 years the summer will celebrate 28 years my first time at a board meeting of Education because I trusted that the teachers will do their right job although they are underappreciated in our society we need to make sure that our teachers are trusted and our teachers are authentic and honest allowing the Distortion of facts to enter our classroom is the very reason and the beginning of the downfall of the forly education and people will move last week I had a conversation with an Asian neighbor and he was moving and I asked him why are you moving he was moving from Cliffside Park to another laboring town and I said to him where did you grow up he said forly New Jersey I said so we have a great education system he says I want better for my children and I'm moving elsewhere that should not be able to happen in the United States of America the money and the taxes that we pay to allow a teacher to premeditate premeditate going into a classroom we entrusted these teachers they exploited these children this is molestation of their minds because these children especially these children are special class education which means these are vulnerable children that are swallowing the words and can't express back to their parents what they hear in classroom we need to make sure that these teachers are fired full stop I believe I believe and I don't know the details completely that you know but one of them is tenure one is not tenure I blame the tenure more than the non- tenure she should know better what the policy of the board of education is and curriculum that's not approved is forbidden and poisonous she brought poison into our classroom with our children and if we don't make the red line here this is the demise of our education system eyes eyes are on on you eyes are on you you can't brush this away you can't say we voted and we passed eyes are on you tonight and they will continue to be on you because do not think that if you push this away people go back to bed we will not we will vote we will vote everyone out of office and we'll make sure that remains United my name is Roy R I live in for New Jersey when I talk to people about government when I talk to people about government and they say government doesn't work I said you have to move to court been very proud to live here now I'm not I'm going to talk about this is a special day from for me and my family in 1942 in the Battle of mid Midway M I had relatives fighting because they believe they were product of Education in America they believe they were fighting what was writing the same date in 1942 Harry AR from the shores of England sent his last letter home and the Jews that knew when they were going into Normandy that they were to fight until their death because they didn't want to get captured they knew what was going to happen to Jews the ger was going to win they came back that believed in America fought in the Civil Rights Movement fought for what's Best in America this is not what's Best in Bravo good evening my name is Moren gotle and I'm here today as a Jewish alumni of this school district having graduated from fortly high school just about 35 years ago on the field that side of this room also graduate of L FCO Middle School where we gathered here tonight and I I've driven over an hour from where I currently reside to be here because this school in this community holds a special place in my heart my time here was formative shaping the person I am today and instilling in me a deep respect for education and the pursuit of Truth it is with a heavy heart that I return under such circumstances over the weekend I was stunned to learn that two fortly High School teachers recently delivered a rapidly anti-semitic anti-israel propaganda presentation under the guise of a legitimate lesson plan all after confiscating student cell phones three minutes simply isn't enough to begin to address this outrage the dissemination of such biased and harmful content not only undermines the credibility of our educational system but it also endangers the well-being of JW Jewish students so what to do well clearly as you've heard here tonight and I'm in full agreement the teachers involved must be held fully accountable for their actions that's number one and you concerned about standing up and you when is necessary to effectuate that change don't worry because we'll make sure that every eye in this room outside this room and the established media will be on you until it happens that accountability is already part of this solution clearly if any district and it pains me to the bottom of my heart but in any District but particularly this one in which a bracing set of circumstances unfold like this okay requires a lot more than two people being shot with one I'm going to give you three things that need to happen right away and they're pretty simple number one out of this meeting you need to if you haven't adopted it already the IH definition of anti-semitism this definition has been widely accepted and endorsed and it provides a clear framework for identifying and addressing anti antism in all of its forms I'm sorry I'm Hing through this second form a truly independent Committee of current and former fortly parents from the Jewish community that has members that are not simply seen as robber stamps from the Boe or Administration and pass that committee with bringing in respected organizations such as the AJC the ADL along with independent Consultants to conduct a thorough view of the Middle East history Israel and Jewish culture curriculum have those recommendations delivered directly to the public and adopt them and do an internal audit to see what your exposure for this Fiasco and God knows what else has been occurring under title six of the of the Civil Rights Act 1964 with respect and finally I want you to know that you know in Myer Community we we faced anti-Semitism did rear its ugly head and we stood up and we were unyielding and our district did turn it around because because they knew we were serious and I can promise you that if I have to come down here again and again and again because I love this school district and I love this community I will mark my words I'm back up2 education shapes the minds and hearts of future generations and the for Le School District it's too special a place in my heart to sit still while it is used to spread the most V form of of anti-Semitism and this is my final sentence to the parents who might be afraid to speak up because they hear retaliation You Are Not Alone we will stand with you we have your backs ofai please be mindful of a green minute time limit that you have in course for policy when you hear the buzzer go off please stop your comment out of respect quite frankly for the other speakers or waiting patient to speak thank you so much my name is Helen CER Catz I I've been resident to Fort Le for over 40 years my son is a graduate of fortly high school 2007 I've always been proud of our education system and fortly high school I was very much involved in the in the parent Association when he was in school and I was thoroughly a Gass at what happened with these two teachers and how they tried to brainwash our students um and they should be fired no if ANS or butts about everyone me were was very eloquent in what they said so I don't have to repeat it I think we all know it but we have to we have to set the record straight and we have to set up some sort of a lesson or a presentation to provide to our students and give them a true picture of this situation um so that they that they don't walk out of this feeling that they have been um uh that they have been trotten upon and um they have to go yes they have to go and I was looking at your public participation rules rule number three the board will not need to CH the board will not entertain any comments from persons who communicate obscene material make statements which are considered bias intimidation in which a person intends to intimidate any individual orace or ethnicity or makes comments intending to harass or speak any offensive language these are your rules and your teacher should be following those rules okay the anti-Semitism that they showed was disgusting and horable excuse me sir your name and address to the record my name is Michael Valance the disgusting horrible racism that they showed is very very bad but there is a bigger issue they are basically supporting an organization that says death to America every single americ especially people like me who is a veteran we just recently CBR holid people gave the ultimate sacrifice which is the the thing that they own which is the most important their lives and if these two maggots these two pieces of extraen are allowed to come into a scho and spread their garbage saying yes to America that is an insult a disgrace to every single veteran that ever served in the military past present and I want to go to Arlington Cemetery there's plenty of graves there you have a good selection you go over to the grave and you look at it and you say I Spit On You by allowing these these termites to come into a classroom and and spread their filth their garbage that their nonsense their pollution to small children who might might believe what they're saying they should have been fired one hour after them you go home you look in the mirror and you say yourself I have just resigned from the human race and that's all I have to say hello hello okay this is Adrian royg I've been going to plyy high school ply board of education schools all my life um hi uh good evening my name is Valentina I to and is for high school student um I am sa shazo I am an American Jewish also Israeli um and I'm proud of that and I refuse to have anti-Semitism in my school I am a senior at Fort Le High School bard of education schools my whole life and this is just a disgrace to see in my own school it's disappointing so in regards to the issue at hand um us four students which are very few of us from ply High School in this room it's more of a older audience more Jewish and Israeli Community you know it's important for us to speak out the forly high school actual students that go to school and I just want to say that um as a current student I think it's important for us as a Jewish and Israel community of the town and the school to hear the for Le Board of Education uh opinion regarding these two issues the public condemnation of Hamas and terrorist organization and number two number two the public condemnation of anti-Semitism at forly high school which is completely unacceptable well personally I am not um a Jewish student but I still feel like I just become an IR because as was a fortly high school student I have witnessed how this situation has affected Jewish students and teachers who Target these students should not have a platform and need to be held accountable for their actions State what they wrote on their slides they said we must also remember that having anti-zionist stance does not mean you are anti-semitic this is completely false if you are anti-zionist that means you are hold on I'm going that was repeated many times it says Kamas is a Palestinian political party armed resistance movement based in the Gaza Strip they are not a resistance movement they are terrorists oer seventh slide they said that uh Hamas launched over 2,000 Rockets into Israel and were able to break out break out they did not need to break out they can they have a free access anything in Gaza they were not captive in Gaza this is completely false they are against us they hate Israel they hate Jews and I do not think these teachers should ever be allowed to teach in any school my name is AR and I've been resident here in Fort Lee for over 20 years uh and uh my child was one in the and I am still awaiting information around where that investigation is of where this curriculum started from how it came about because there many is beyond the history which is false and presented but also thinking about the children the fact that they were presented bi us and that terminology utilized in the classroom to begin the day where we put our trust in these teachers to be able to educate our children not bring their bias to the table telling our children that our history is wrong that our history doesn't count either right within there we all have Voices That should be heard there was only one side presented and the kids certain kids were singled out and asked whether they be comfortable sting through a presentation how does this department listen you got to calm down if you don't settle down settle down and sit down settle down sit down please everybody get a chance please sit down please sit down you have to Cal down and sit down please down please thank you thank you very much education is supposed to be about the children not one group all of them but they were singled out that day and the anxiety and the possible depression and other aspects that come with it that is unacceptable these teachers do not have the right to speak in my kid that way or anyone else [Applause] evening my name is long so I everything that the pr said uh I will try to talk from a more formal perspective so um as we know Hamas is designated as terrorist organization by the United States Department of State and by United States government and uh basically presting the views of the view presented by those teachers would fall on political activities which is prohibited by the district policy 3233 it's a strong policy 3233 political activities which prohibit political activities by teaching staff in the classroom so clearly that was violated uh I also have a question and I want to thank the board for item 5 p on the agenda last two lines uh seems that two teachers are placed on administrative leave effect is May 28th and May 29th I just want to make sure that this resolution uh will uh take place it's legitimate even though the names are not spelled out on the print out so I hope it justce take place uh and I would encourage the board to proceed further and to not renew the contract of the n teer and proceed with 10 charges of the 10e teacher and please consider a restorative lesson to the students thank [Applause] you evening everybody uh you got one hell of a job in front of you I don't want to be in your shoes I don't want to be in your shoes at all I'm speaking to you as a parent not giving you a history lesson I'm sorry name and address please I'm sorry Daniel canani for Resident Center Avenue you have a hell of a job one of my my son was affected in this class uh the questions I have the anger I had I've been thinking about it for the whole week we really what I want to tell you not tell you there's a couple things right so can somebody say to me did this really happen yes the phones were taken away you've heard it hundreds of times now was he told that it's going to be biased he was what he told if you don't like it you can leave the classroom he did that material made it to the classroom Google Classroom I ask if all these materials are pre-approved or teachers have to hand in their work how did this work did not get approved or looked at before they made it to Google class [Applause] I'm not anti- Palestine I'm not any of that it's about our kids I listen to people argue outside about this and the lines and people everybody forgets the reasons why we're here there were kids in a class they were presented something that was biased as for the teacher it was biased as for people that have a mind and and realize what's right and wrong they were asked to so my thought is to you guys you know we're in a type of world right now where we thought this was not going to come to our doorstep I told my kids the reason that we have to stand up for this is because we watch it on TV we know that it happens we stand in two-hour traffic in Fort Lee because there might be uh you know parades or might be things that can't get across the bridge or whatever that might be do you want to be the board who says I will not allow this I would not allow one of my teachers to show this type of material to our children how are you going to stop it in the future are you going to be the board that says you know what it's okay if we show a little bit of this because we might show a little bit of something else what's next you're going to have a North Korean teacher talk about South Korea what's next you're going to have a Russian teacher talk about Ukraine where does it where does it start we it but it's also frustrated I want to share with you it's been a week it's been a week this happened last Thursday and the fact that we're here but we're still saying we're like it's Personnel we're talking about this it's it's kind of disturbing a little bit be the board that says this is not allowed in a school system because you know it's right not because 100 people give you a history lesson because you know that this should not have made into a Google Classroom how did it make it there maybe the teacher said you know what I'm going to sneak it in we need to come to the bottom of this and this board you have to do the right thing for your [Applause] [Music] talent I'm going to be very short I'm going to daughter is going to be eth grade next year my daughter is going to be e8th grade next year in one year she's going she might end up in high school or academ I don't know school and potentially she might end up in one of those teachers class so if that happens I'm going to pull out I don't want this SC back to teach her I don't she has amazing history teer we need more teachers like that thank [Applause] you hello my name is Michael schw been a resident of Fort Lee and it's been a resident for over 30 years my daughter has graduated school number three the Middle School and high school here um and I'm um uh very concerned uh of what's going on here and I agree with everybody uh who said things before me but I would like to point out this I'm a um an immigrant from the Soviet Union and came to the United States 47 years ago I became a citizen five five years since and I've been a uh tax paying citizen ever since um I went and completed High School in the Soviet Union Soviet Union not Russia Soviet Union and immigrated in 1976 and I know when the teacher of History presents lies total lies we don't want the Soviet Union to to be here in the United States we immigrate from the Soviet uniones from people who come here and do propaganda to the young kids [Applause] bra you have the responsibilities to stop it you need to teach truth you need to teach truth in history especially and this is what I'm charging you with you have to get rid of of these two liers people have no idea what really is the truth and the history to push their political use and to little [Applause] children6 there was a kgp officer who who escaped to the United States who said the the best thing that the KGB did he infiltrated the universities and the schools in the United States he they infiltrated the minds of the them professors don't do this don't don't get to the level of of of being propagating the lies to the little children thank you so [Applause] much hello thank you for taking the time to listen to us today I'm Masha abil a longtime Bergen County resident with a child in the Fort Lee School District wonderful school for at Le School four we are the family that is moving that the rabbi mentioned earlier we are moving to Faron I am speaking to you on behalf of the next generation of children that are not here that are unable to speak my seven-year-old wanted to join me today and I told him I didn't feel safe I speak to you a Russian American Jewish immigr married to an Israeli Moroccan who brutally murdered on October 7th Hamas is not a resistance movement when you go home tonight and all of you will be thinking about this tonight I can assure you that I would ask you to deeply think about the impact you can have on the next generation of children not just Jewish children but all children I'm going to close with one question do you want Fort Lee making National headlines because it's a safe loving good town with good schools or do you want Fort Lee to be remembered as the T that was on the wrong side of [Applause] History good evening ladies and gentlemen my name is Lee Cohen I have the honor to be president of be of the pal on I the honor to be president of States I also am recently retired almost a lifelong resident for close to 75 years now portly K through 12 portly education and until I retired two years ago I had the honor of being the burough attorney of Fort Lee for 25 years and the labor attorney for Fort Lee for 25 years in fact on a number of occasions I was even specially hired by this board of education to remove employees for you now I asked you a simple question that all of these people assembl have on their minds we would like an answer tonight shouldn't be too hard you took the right step you initially you suspended the two teachers I understand there are due process considerations but I asked you now facts seem pretty clear of course they're entitled to a hearing have you prepared the tenure ch charges have you filed the 10e charges to remove the 10-year teacher that's one two for the non- 10year teacher have you voted to let that teacher go that teacher is at will have you reported this incident to the New Jersey attorney general's fire St [Music] Force if if the story is corrected I say if if the phones were confiscated from the students even for a brief time that's thousands of dollars of telephones which were stolen under the law and you should report it to the police department course now I don't know if your council is here but I would like an answer to those questions anybody have you prepared to take CH I'm right here sir good evening um there will no responses from the board as this matter is still subject to a pending investigation as you know or should know it's the practicing attorney it's privileged personnel and subject to the attorney client privilege as well as handing or anticipated litigation any other responses from the bo will come at the end of public comment thank you sir so I don't disagree with anything you said sir but did I understand you correctly to say that at the end of public comment tonight the board will announce a decision the board will respond and or make comments to the extent it can as a practicing or former practicing attorney you I'm sure well know the bounds of privacy of personnel of attorney client privilege of pending and or anticipate litigation I'm sure you would agree that none of this can be commented or responded by this board of education in public tonight or Bo no I don't agree with that fully than you sir for for example if you vote the tenure charges you must do that in public actually you're wrong um but this is not a back and forth 10year charges pursuing to title 18a or voted on in closed session let's turn your time is up thank you you can announce that and I know it and you [Applause] [Music] know good evening my name is Lind nner I live in Fort Le about a month and a half ago and I I'm living in Fort Le just about a month and a half you know but I feel that I need to speak up tonight as a former teacher I'm proud to say that I was a teacher at Livingston high school one of the top high schools in this state and I retired in 2020 everyone spoke tonight very eloquently about the type of History lesson that should or should not be taught I want to say something about how a teacher should treat all of their students in the classroom as a teacher of a diversified Community I never singled out a single student I didn't point out religion race or color everyone was equal to me I overheard in this situation that students were singled out that's a terrible traumatic event to happen to a child exactly my mother my parents are Holocaust Survivors the beginning of the murderous life that my parents went through my mother was thrown out of high school because she was recognized as a Jewish student Jewish students in Nazi Germany they were recognized and pulled to the front of the classroom and had their features measure this is very scary we don't want to reenactment of what happened not Germany students should not be recognized or pulled aside because they are different we should all embrace all of the students together and this is an aspect that wasn't spoken about tonight but having been in the classroom and tried all of my professional life to embrace all of my students this was definitely a wrong that should be recognized this in itself is a case for fire ing teachers for letting teachers go and I think this should be recognized even more than the state level it should go to the National level thank [Applause] you Bergen County alikum Shalom peace to everyone here today uh it's been a very rough 8 months um I feel a lot of hate in the room yes I feel like yes there's a lot of hate and I feel We're All Creatures created by pleas stop your time for one [Music] second everyone could just sit and stay where they are until the firefighters tell us what to do [Music] if everyone put quiet down so that the firefighters can tell us what we need to do thank [Music] you here just with the recort come right back let me know when you're ready for a report of emergency Pro and build immedi [Music] [Applause] not [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] to [Applause] hey Mike [Applause] Mike you know what [Applause] out everything okay with you okay please sit down everybody everything is okay everything all right with the fire Lo there's no fire please sit down and calm down everything is okay there's no fire members of I have everyone's attention I just announ your time um the we had a brief uh recess due to the fire alarm that was pulled I would respect the Board of Education ask that everyone maintain your composure your Civility and respect for everyone in attendance this evening we want to not meeting want to allow everyone who is assembled here this evening as well as online to be able to participate with their three minutes of public comment I want to remind everyone that if there are disruptions in the meeting the board May suspend the public comment and continue with its business under the open public meetings act the board is required to set as a portion of a meeting simply a portion um so it doesn't have to set aside three or four hours Etc so if everyone can maintain their composure respect everyone who's speaking whether you agree or disagree so we can get through this evening this meeting and the board can take its action in accordance with [Music] this okay members of the public we are reconvening the meeting can you please be quiet thank you it's great to be here I think uh in life in general We're All Creatures of God we are all equal there's no difference between any human being whether you're Jewish Muslim Christian agnostic we are all human beings of God and we should all be seeking the truth of what's going on in the Middle East and that's what these teachers were trying to do is shed [Applause] some Comics to want to get attack in the back so I your enemy is what you are ignorant towards seek knowledge seek the truth of what's going on in Palestine and Israel seek the truth this is not being on a Palestinian team or Israeli team it's about getting to the bottom of the truth everybody is warning here there is a genocide going on in Gaza with over 35,000 people [Applause] 15,000 [Applause] children listen we can talk let's have a dialogue and talk about the facts what's going on Jews have lived in Arabian Muslim land for centuries we can live in peace together Israel was founded in 19 1948 my dad is older than the state of Israel is we can all talk and have dialogue and get educated nobody wants to kill the Jews you don't want to kill me because I'm Muslim and I'm Palestinian look at how you act look at you're acting I can't even speak give a second MERS of thees [Applause] black have a seat have a seat everyone please have a seat and be quiet everyone please have a seat and be quiet everyone has an opportunity to speak please stop interrupting this meeting thank my time went uh I don't know if I'm to get through this spee but he took a minute away it's just getting educated that's your enemy we are all equal in God's eyes nobody wants to kill the Jews there's a lot of Jews that stand with Palestine lot of people are standing with palestin the younger generation 30 and younger are starting to be more sympathetic I urge the council to give people the freedom of speech that's why we're in the United States because if I was an occupied Palestine right now Israeli soldier would throw me in jail for speaking the truth he would shoot me and kill me we are in the land of the free where protected for speaking the truth there's a genocide going on in Gaza and you are supporting it and you're being complicit in it let's have an understanding and a dialogue and that's what they're trying to do in the school great dialogue and love thank you you ha am is the you like to [Applause] K ma'am there's a line ma'am there's a line you are not in line you just [Applause] excuse me members of the public there is a line to your left our right excuse me ma you please have a seat there is a line to our right your left thank you please wait in line be respect everyone else that have waited thank members of the public in the back can you please have a seat and or be quiet so as not to disrupt this meeting thank you the board is trying to be respectful and mindful of everyone who is assembled and wants to speak if the meeting keeps on being interrupted the bo will suspend public comment and continue with this business even thank you excuse me man sir she was not in front of the line you put her in the back of line good evening thank you for having me thank you for being here uh I know it's been a long night and you guys a lot from one we have the speakers Christen identifi name am excuse me sir so members of the public when you come up to the podium pursuing to board policy please state your name and your address now many speakers before have not stated their address so let's be clear let's be fair for everyone in attendance please state your name and your address many speakers before did not state their address and no one said anything about that so going forward everyone please state your name and your address you have 3 minutes and that being said May everyone else whether you agree or disagree please be quiet thank you my name is B 340 West F pleas thank you so much everybody for being here I just want to say one thing I did not intend to go parents be but since the whole audience is voed on Turn One Direction I want you to have the courage to differentiate between intimidation free speech and anti-semitic this is not anti-semitic this is free speech and if anybody says anything Pro Palestinian it becomes anti-semitic this is what we have to stop right now so please have the courage to to stand up for the teachers and stand up for what right thank [Applause] you hi my name is [Applause] I I I live here in and I want to say that the lies that the person the Palestinian person said was too much for me to listen to there was never a Palestinian State they name Pakistan was invented by the Roman 2000 years ago when they threw the Jews from Judea and they didn't want them to remember where they can where they have to come back to then so there was then there was a Palestinian mandate by the British it was never a country the Palestinian the UN gave the Palestinian the possibility to create a country several times the Jews always the Jews always agreed to the partian and the Palestinian never agree to the position everything when they sh from the Liv to the Sea they say that Palestine will be free it means that they will not be a Jewish State they are calling to kill all the Jews and this is unacceptable yes unacceptable there was never when when they there was never a Palestinian State they they have to show me the the B it never existed they invented invented them as Palestinians in 1960 something at the time of the six days he invented the n Palestinian and from since then they called themselves a Palestinian where did they come from I tell you in the 1860s Jews were had public problems in Russia and in Europe so some young Jews came to Israel to start building the Land There was a lot of work and then end it was at that time it was the Ottoman Empire and the Ottoman Empire didn't allow any migration into it so the baron Hill and the baron all child bought land in the Empire and because they had land which they gave to the people from Russia that came the Jews that had to escape Russia they could come to the ottoman Republic and start Ving up man excuse me [Applause] up are what are the lies those you and told the children because you don't understand time is upk I understand okay you have minutes I understand I will not let you to stop me thank you you have minutes know I know I minut I don't I don't one more minute please pass the microphone to the gentl to your thank you so much thank you man please pass the mic St thee you are disrupting this meeting you please give up the microp thank more than 3 minutes thank you you were given more than 3 minutes please everyone respect the Board of Education good evening everyone my name is I'm a resident of Fort Le lwood Avenue R in the community it's been 8 years and I'm proud to be part a member of this community I moved here with my family because I found this place peaceful where everyone gets along and I was shocked when I heard what what happened the fact is I'm also a teacher and ra is a teacher and I teach in different schools and I would like to take also second to say kudos to the students who stood up with courage to say the truth I looked at the these 29 pages that were presented all false information from beginning till the end something has to be done about it someone has to go to the class to educate them of the right information but besides that there's something else I would like to share with you I'm extremely pained by what happened what was written about Hamas there and I'll tell you why because I lost Beni at 22 years old someone who was there in the Nova Festival who was like my son to wake up and see what lies and hate they spread in class here in for is unacceptable and we will not stand for that if it means to come back again and again and again as Jews and NWS doesn't make any difference for standing for whatever is right for our we will do so and I hope and pray I hope and pray that you at the board of education of this town will make the right decision and fire those two teachers they should not be Educators I will add on one one thing Divine president as I was sitting one of my congreg sent me a text about a presentation that was made in one of the schools here and one student whatever he wrote there was really mortifying for me mortifying for me free Palestine Palestine does not exist never existed look at your facts and make the right decision either tonight or God willing very soon because I could tell you that all of this crowd here will be looking very carefully at what you will be doing thank you very much hello my name is Rabbi mle I'm a local Rabbi I'm here for life so I look forward to get getting to know you well um I'm not moving so uh as sorry can you just say your address for the record yes palad Avenue 900 palet Avenue so I'm a local of Fort Lee um I think everyone is saying very powerful points here um one point that I wanted to add and it may have been said but I want to reiterate it which is that this is not a political fight this is not a that Israel this is not about anyone else this is very simple this is our school where we send our kids this is a safe haven politics is great there are a lot of protest it's a free country you can have anything you want but we have one safe haven for our children and that is the schools it's called a public school no matter what your faith no matter what your persuasion no matter what your politics Republican Democrat Trump Obama Biden Israel Palestine it's irrelevant you come together you learn 1+ 1 equal 2 you learn algebra you learn math you learn history you don't learn politics and propaganda if a if a student if a teacher came and said and started pushing political agendas what if if we don't stop this right now what's stopping the teacher from coming in and telling our students who they should vote for vote for Trump vote for Biden vote where's the end school is a safe haven we teach history we teach math we teach about wholesome beautiful generic things that everyone can learn from as soon as school becomes a place of politics we have no country left we have no America left so that's what this is about it's not about if this if the CRI is true or not true it's a violation of the code We Trust our teachers we put money and emphasis and tax dollars into our teachers we trust them with our children and we have to respect that trust and when a teacher violates that trust they do not have a place in our schools they have to lose their LIC they have to do nothing to do they can go get a job somewhere else but they cannot have the you can't be a banker if if you steal money you can be a teacher if you indoctrinate children thank you if you have Flags if you have banners you have other large items can you please go to the back of the room or to the side so you're not blocking other members of the public irrespective of what flag it is irrespective of what Banner it is please do not block other members of the public so go to the back go to the side so you're not disrupting the meeting were in the way if you have a large camera just like that news camera was over there we made so please go to the side for the back so you're not block anyone thank you gentlemen gentlemen I'm talking to you gentlemen can you please go to the side of the room with the back with your flag thank you thank you sir please have a seat [Music] seat back know to make it if the public can sit down so that this woman can begin her comments please be seated good evening my name is I live oniv I have three school children um although they're not using the forly public system they're all in private school but I'm a tax a and I urge you put politics aside put any pressure aside and consider and I urge you to consider the children in that class home do not educate them stuff don't they they don't need to be educated leave it to the parents parents should be able to educate their children whatever politically wherever they stand it doesn't matter please I urge you think about the children in those classrooms and what they're learning and what they're hearing so we don't have October 7th in this country don't [Applause] bring good evening everyone my name is no G and I am a Curr resident in Fort Lee and a former student at Fort Le public school I went to school number one in Le uple Middle School the first thing I want to say is there's a fine line between public opinion and indoctrination of children especially those who are disabled over the course of the past few years I felt this divide in our community which was one of the main factors that led me to leaving the forly public education system and moving to a Jewish Day School for my high school education my concern is for future Generations not the people that are in this room because we all have our own stance on the situation I already have my stance which is I believe Israel is a home of the Jewish people and the Jewish people are entitled to that land it's the students in elementary schools and middle schools who haven't had a fair chance to get their education yet an indoctrination and false education can lead to divide our community and riots and God forbid casualties instead of trying to push for peace and try to unite everybody we're all entitled to our own opinions but where this is presented is the problem as a public school orle has a right to present accurate information from an unbiased source to the students as I mentioned before they deserve the right to a fair education and for all the Palestinians in the building I'm not here to fault you for exercising your right to free speech everyone has a right to their own opinion but I will what I will say is with the US government acknowledging Hamas as a terrorist organization this is a service to the children of our community to teach them otherwise all I want and on behalf of the Jewish Community all we want is peace thank you hello everybody um Jean uh forley forley res you know there's a lot here going back and forth and I know that the Board of Education works very hard their curriculum there are presentations that I've sat through and I've watched I've seen that there are debates about what curriculum goes into the classrooms I know that there are board meetings that I've attended and other forly residents attended and debated you guys about what curriculum gets presented to the schools to the to the teachers uh that they teach so the curriculum has to be divided to you guys drop it down to the teachers to teach when you go off curriculum this is what happens y this is what happens when you go off curriculum you have to enforce your curriculum and ask yourself how did this slip through I'm so happy that it got stopped when it did how did this get through hold it accountable of how it got through and furthermore make sure you put oversight in place to make sure this and this doesn't happen again you have to enforce what you guys put forth we may disagree and we've disagreed many times on many issues in terms of curriculum I remember when Miss Baker was presenting the entire curriculum there was a PowerPoint presentation I'm sitting here looking at it there was people saying one way people saying another way and you guys voted put it together and said this is our curriculum that we're teaching and the teachers have to abide by your curriculum that you guys put forward when you Veer off of your curriculum what happened not good things happen okay everybody's entitled to their views opinions we are a very Multicultural Community here in Fort Lee and we are peaceful neighbor to neighbor I have the United Nations down my street and we all say hi and we all worry about the kids crossing the street and we worry about the cars driving by if they're going too fast or not too fast but this off the curriculum causes this what's happening here this is not Fort Le I love this town guys enforce the curriculum find out how this got through keep it accountable and please over sight to make sure this doesn't happen again that that's it I mean there there there's so much technology you can put an AI uh just go through Google classroom and flag it and then it goes to your committee saying hey something flagged us let's look into it no this is okay I understand teachers teach I love teachers I was part of the PTA board all the way through school for and I'm sorry I guess my time is up but it's just it's just the teachers uh do Veer off reasonably and then you have to say this an unreasonable here thank thank [Applause] you hello board um I'm uh coming here as a all right public please um I can give my address but I just saw three people coming in front of me and but then s it I will still say my [Music] you pleas not disrup please stop disrupting the meeting members of the public please stop disrupting the meeting you may disagree with the speaker but they have a right to speak this is you did too thank you sir name again please uh Jad har and um I would like to start by saying I'm not please stop my address thank you um I would like to start by saying I do not you know wish harm on anybody I am for peace Al together as many people here have said I am also here to say though I do feel as if Palestinians are Mis um they are not represented in our communities and it's important to educate students as well on current situations that they are [Music] [Applause] School us on current situations apply their Liv they will see the as far as I know the teachers were very unbiased with it they did have side which we should do as well as giving Israeli sign now all I've heard here tonight were saying that Palestine is not a state it's not a place and just getting rid of you know Palestine all together and I would like to ask you how that would make a Palestinian student feel having I I know that in our you know we had a thing at first where on the um they after October 7th they released a uh thing saying that they are sorry about all the Israeli victims wellday shut up but we were not included in it as well Palestinians so I am asking I tell these teachers that these teachers should have the right to educate their students in Middle School who are going to be exposed to okay great public school on situations that they're going to see on TV real situations that will concern them and one day they will have to be ready for and ready to go into the world and make the point taught things that they will you know students have on their phones and could see so I think it's better coming from a educated person a teacher to educate them than coming from propaganda on the phones either side that may be so what I'm asking is to take into consider Asian Palestinian students Arab students bulim students everybody as well everybody to have form their own decisions through being educated as they're supposed to what they are going to your school for this is what you know their taxes pay forever to be educated not to be given one side of a conflict that is clearly happening in the world and will come to their attention at one point or another so in my opinion these teachers were just doing their Duty as a teacher oh my thank you thank you all for listening I love you all you're my I love you [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank matter he's allowed to talk allowed to talk too okay please quiet down hi everybody my name is H I live on Horizon Road Fort Lee I don't want to give my actual numberous because of the vitral in the toxicity so I could provide it afterwards um I actually have I want to focus on why we're all here today which is the lesson plan um I am Palestinian American um and what I've heard today is people deny Palestinians I've heard people just be dismissive of our lives and our and our right to live so I just want to focus on why we're all here I actually have two cousins who go to fortly high school I also won't say the grade that they're in but this is something that I'm telling you has been deeply disturbing and hurtful for them to witness and just to see out here and I just want to say if you notice everybody here the people who are speaking are only when it's a Palestinian voice and I think we need to acknowledge that both groups should have their opportunity to speak and not one is more important than the other so going quick to a history class we all know a history class is probably one of the most important classes we take it's where we learn our current events our history and we're unbiasing teaching our students about current events in the past history because they will be the leaders of the future we should not underestimate our teachers who go through years and years of education to educate our students they do so unbiasedly and I know these two teachers in this case did go through many different people to get this lesson plan approved it showed both un let her talk doesn't matter stop it truth is the truth people can call it a lie but at the end of the day you guys know it's true at the end of the day I agree that politics shouldn't be in the classroom but what should be in the classroom is current events is human rights issues like this our students need to learn about what's going on in the world so when they come out of school they're better because of it history class is important it's where we Foster academic Integrity informed citizenship we want our kids to come out and be participating citizens in our democracy cultural sensitivity oh my gosh people here need cultural sensitivity and a balanced perspective Palestinian voices matter history matters there are palestini American students at that school who feel un safe there are Muslim Students who feel unsafe there are Arab students who feel unsafe and honestly I feel unsafe I feel unsafe in this room I felt unsafe on that line as somebody who's lived my life the majority of my life in Fort Lee I will never I have never felt this way before so when we're talking about what we want to do next it's important that we consider all perspectives it's important that we educate our students who are going to be the leaders of tomorrow and I know directly from students there that the that the teachers who have this approved lesson plans we're so conscious and meticulous about making sure that the students in that room were comfortable then multiple times before they had this lesson plan told the students to let them know they feel uncomfortable and most of all I hope you listen to Palestinians I hope you listen to all perspective and free [Music] [Applause] Palestine my is louder please into the microphone thank you hi my name is I I'm from the fortly area lived here most of my life went through the school system is this working okay um I live on avue C side park if you back to dress I'll give it to you afterwards I'm here just to respond to the last two speakers um I'd like to just say in summary not just about this conflict but in general we are all product we all products of our environment the information we take in and I had some conversations with people that are pro Palestinian just earlier and clearly some are caring peaceful peac loving some are agitators you know they asked me if I cared about the death of the Palestinians and denied it and I said I do care and just cut off just agitators either way information is not agreed upon history facts are not agreed upon and that's critical so you know the woman just here feels strongly that Palestinians are are not given their true voice we feel what the presentation said was very warp very out of context um some of it just factually not true so that's the key here the key is who's going to decide what is the TR history who's going to decide what's critical information to put in context okay because I I do believe the Palestinians okay the the feel very strongly based on what they know to be the truth and a lot of the people here feel the exact opposite and you know she feels unsafe do you know how many um pro-israeli Jewish people feel unsafe to the point that they're not earing P dring class in their own town because there's a stereotype that most Pro Palestinians are not peaceful just based on recent protests and action so we're not insensitive we want everyone but right now the balance is tilted against the Jewish because the the protesters don't have a reputation for attacking people who don't agree with them and that's all I want to say think the core issue here is what is the truth [Applause] I feel stupid uh Keith gosin uh 2185 Le Mo Avenue I feel stupid even getting up here to talk about this subject but uh I'm here every month uh I'm like everybody here tonight um but we have a cpag meeting coming up that's the special education parents advis group um we're meeting on June 12th at 7:30 and we're electing our leaders for the first time in Fort least Public School District that I know of so I just wanted to announce that as I do almost every month I'm trying to raise awareness trying to get all the special education parents in town involved um in the cpag so their voice can be heard um and uh that's it for the cpag stuff so if you you know anybody who has a special need Student in the year they have voting power in this election but anybody has the right to attend the cpag meeting with us um with that being said I feel sad for what's going on and I feel sorry for everybody I want to thank the Fort Lee [Applause] PD and uh they're always here keeping the safe not just at these events but at all our community events so thank you [Applause] okay uh we are going to our online virtual commenters now Mr G yes iPhone you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have 3 minutes all right moving on uh Kash Kesha you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes a Kesha you're muted yes good evening um thank you my name is t or Sarah I'm 484 Main Street do you hear me all very well okay thank you 484 Main Street Fort Lee New Jersey um I am a Muslim woman and um I am proud of it I'm Pro Palestinian and I'm proud of standing on the right side of the history um all I hear tonight is here say from different people what happened to that class um I think we should let the investigation do their investigations and figure out what really was said to those children or to those students I think that we should uh ask the parents beforehand of we're having a to topic of Geno genocide we should have been emailed stuff and we should have given our suggestions and we should have had discussions before um these teachers came to the conclusion to give these children students whatever they were given but that's what happens when we are not asked and they take over now I don't know what to say because it's a bubble of air and I don't know what happened to that class but if it was said the what it's suppos they allting then the teachers should not be fired but they should be suspended temporarily and undergo corrective therapy by unbiased professionals and they should be allowed unless to teach again if the therapist approve that now as far as for the other stuff I think how did we get to Hamas and it's because we have allowed things to go so far what as a with Muslims we want peace we are in this war against this massive genocide human destructions ethnic cleansing side by side with Christians and the Jews who are saying not in our name so so this entire Zionist Elite came up and they're pretending they are Jew they are from everywhere of the world they are the most aggressive devil worshipping society that is trying to unfairly take over this planet they are the ones who brought communism who destroyed three quarters of the planet they are the ones who came up with aack a the am the American Israeli public affairs commit with contr I can you please be the speaker thank you so in accordance with board policy that was cited earlier the board will not entertain this board policy for those who are interested 0167 uh subsection three the board will not entertain any comments from persons who communicate obsene material make statements which are considered Vias intimidation which a person intends to intimidate any individual or group because of race fell religion gender handicap sexual orientation or ethnicity cour makes comments intending to will speak any offensive language person who makes these statements will relinquish they're live three minutes for public discussion ma'am your time is relish move next speak please Lisa Hassan you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Lisa Hassan he line to be promoted Erin's iPhone eron's iPhone you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes eron's iPhone Aaron you have to unmute yourself all right moving on Aon if you still want to speak just raise your hand again Mike ASO you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address to the record you have three minutes Mike alsoo Mike alsoo you're muted hi everyone it's uh watching this whole night it's it's kind of sad and I just want to say something to everybody can everybody hear me yeah just say your name and address for the record uh Mike also 230 Warren Avenue forly it's um you know there's moments in time when a community like ours that's a Melting Pot of diversity has these kind of moments and it's comes particularly from Outsiders teachers that have intentions that have motives and create actions so we have to look at the what happened if it's all what says is true that this subject was not approved curriculum well that's a problem two taking the phones away problem telling children or students to leave the room where would they go so these two teachers acted Rogue in reality and in the concept of what's going on in this town this is the reaction to their actions that separates a very loving and caring community of well diverse people understand one thing I'm going to keep it very very short we can all talk about anti-Semitism and everything else but one thing is factually true Hamas and you can watch all the protests that goes on in these college universities in the streets of New York Michigan California all these Hamas Pro Hamas protest with death to America that alone should just send you all up into a position to fire these two teachers we cannot be teaching this kind of propaganda because in actuality Hamas protesters are preaching death to our country I leave it all up to you and you guys got a tough spot and I just want to say to everybody in there these of Ed members are listening and they're very in tune to this community so put take it easy on them and our superintendent same thing and I hope the only thing that we can all now look at is the reaction to these actions and the reaction will be the decision of our board members what the fate of these two teachers are and if there's anyone outside the two teachers that were involved that's all we have peace but just remember Hamas protesters wish death to this country peace Lisa Hassan you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Lisa good evening all I just understand all the frustration in that room by the Zion parents my name is Lisa I'm a Bergen County resident um for over 30 years and Bergen County has been known for its diversity and peacefulness but over the years it's been changing and there's been a rise of I am a granddaughter of an Nea Survivor and we learned about the Holocaust in our public and these are world history teachers and they're just teaching the children facts and you Bo that of Education people the fact are laid out in front these parents are here because they are angry that their children are asking them questions because they've been brainwashed and now that they're at the age to understand facts the websites that were used tell these facts to these children were web reliable website every time a pro Palestinian talk this is pro Humanity how dare you say we don't exist we are Palestinian we are all Palestinian there is a genocide happening and shame on every single person in that room that denies this ongoing gen how dare you you fed about beheaded babies and rape and your iOS soldiers are doing that way but we're not talking about that in the classro that would be bringing in unnecessary information to the children and shame on those people in the front row and the lady with the flag in the that's waving it what are those two line me that means death and demolition all Palestinians okay not from the river to the sea from the river to the sea is a cry for freedom and justice for all what America stands for what America pride and the Americans are in the streets saying no more tax dollars for genocide enough killing to support our people here in America and for you who said that Palestine didn't exist I remind you those on my ear look her up she had a Palestinian pass as much as all your survivors that made it to Palestine when we opened our doors for you when you were massacred and now you're committing it again these teachers did nothing wrong but help educate your children in a world history class so stop with the fearmongering stoping this of Education of directors here with we're watching we're we are all eyes on Russ and where our tax dollars are going and these children need to know and and shame on every one of you we attacking the two came up to speak for pro Humanity Pro [Music] Palestinian Vicky matx you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your font microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes I think we lost Vicki um iPhone 13 you've been promoted to panelists please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes hi my name is nma I'm a Bergen County resident um and I just wanted to come here today to talk about how multiple people have been talking about how Jewish students are feeling singled out but I have multiple cousins in the fortly school system who are Palestinian who are experiencing extreme harassment and bullying and feel unrepresented in the system I've also seen multiple people talking about the definition explained of Hamas and this inaccuracy in the presentation but by the UN Hamas is referred to as a militant organization um in a terrorist organization and since when should we be taught in history classes biases especially in a world history class but do you know who else was seen as a terrorist organization by British mandate as well as the United States the aun organization which was part of a group of zionists who founded Israel and if we learn about one we should learn about both furthermore let's um since I've seen many people discussing their bias of Palestinian history um and constantly bringing up October the 7th let's dive deeper there was the ha Massacre y Massacre Kaza Massacre bis Massacre kafa Gan massacre giia massacre AA massacre thura massacre theam massacre famously known for the way Zionist militias killed children by fracturing their skulls and so much more which all took place before Hamas before the sixth day war and before any land was offered to Palestinians this my friends is Palestinian history the story of colonialism and valuing profit over people excuse by using atrocity propaganda the same history that you are trying to cover it up but we as their children won't forget and as the previous speaker stated fortly Board of Education eyes are on you and this meeting will be in history books along with how you have the choice to censor the starvation and mization of the gazen population as well as multiple views on Middle Eastern history I think instead of firing me teachers we should learn more than one perspective and we should applaud them for giving more than one type of demographic of fortly high school students a voice which is a reality constantly unavailable we should remember that America is a land for all not just for people who go who stand for Israel thank you all right um just bear with me theal lavari you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Lal lavari Lal you have to accept uh being promoted to panelist okay um Jennifer reuter you've been promoted to panelist please please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Jennifer reuter you're muted please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video yes can you hear us yes okay great uh this is Nick uh with 501 linu Drive um so ladies and gentlemen I want you to know today we all talk about uh the future of the students and everything everyone is is is thinking and debating of what what is wrong and right but we are forgetting the future of the Jewish people um lately us is one of the very few countries when you can see really Jewish people walking around outside wearing yamaka uh heads and not been bothered that's unfortunately not happening in most of the countries um in Europe countries and other countries the reason for that is is because the other side is not training them to be like us normal human being what you seen today you're not going to see in the other side few Palestinian um coming over in a bunch of group of Jewish and speak stand for their rights it's unlikely to happen the other way around I doubt if you're going to see any Jewish people going in a group of Palestine and trying to do the same without being hurt this other side is only training their kids to hate not to love not to respect I'm I'm talking the majority of them and the future can be a bad environment not only for Jews but for Christian and the good Muslims among them just going to be a bad environment just keep that in mind it's not about education only let's not forget how Hitler start everything by brainwash by Propaganda by Hate by fear that's how we started and we don't want that to happen by brainwash kids on things that they're not supposed to hear and know that's all Abu Ali you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes hi this is Mike Abu Ali I'm um I'm really Disturbed what I'm hearing from the folks in the room that have made comments so far you please just state your name and address record Mike aali from I don't want to give my full address but from Anderson Road in Fort Le I'm very disturbed by um some of the comments that uh I'm hearing there there's so much uh racism on display especially directed at the pro Palestinian people and then simply denying an entire people's um existence simply saying that Palestine never existed there's there's no such thing as Palestine when it's clear evidence that Palestine existed it was on the map it became erased and replaced with something called Israel and that is a fact and people there uh don't want you to believe that this is just an effort to bully the Board of Education to silence any criticism of Israel and to pain as some sort of anti-Semitism this is not about anti-Semitism this is about Justice it's about a people's right to exist and right now open up any map you'll find Israel what you don't find is Palestine which was there before Israel Israel as a nation did not exist until 1948 that's a fact um they just celebrated their 75th fth year they did not exist before that and the people that established it were white European Jewish people that came from Europe they were not indigenous to the land they came and replaced the people that were there they created something called the neba which was a catastrophe that pushed out 750,000 ethnic Arabs and Palestinians and pushed them into places like what is Gaza now and the people that are in Gaza that are all trapped in an open air prison are now being bombarded by one of the most powerful uh armies in the world and a genocide is taking place the people that are there that are cheerleading this they're cheerleading genocide ethnic cleansing and shame that every time a Palestinian stands up or an Arab stands up to speak out that they try to boo him they try to shut him down drown them out and to say that the protesters and uh in the streets Pro Palestinian protesters or at college campuses are somehow chanting Pro Hames and death to America those are lies do not cave in the fear-mongering respect freedom of speech and don't allow parents who are completely biased and racist acting and behaving as if they're the klex clan if the klex clan came there and said what black people should not exist do not exist do not let them teach you would not entertain that don't let hate when the hate that's on display in this room today is coming from the pro-israel side do not cave into it and allow teachers to be able to have these conversations with students teaching history and what happened especially genocide is not political it's history thank [Music] you Julie cardanic you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Julie cardanic hi Julie cardanic tneck New Jersey um I just want to say for the record that um there is the the United States considers Hamas a terrorist organization it absolutely should not be in question as to how Hamas should be protrayed and I believe that that is really the Crux of the issue uh with the presentation by the social studies teachers so I I I'm not sure why there's any kind of discussion about anything beyond that that is the Crux of the issue it needs to be changed I don't know what punishment should be should be you know given out to these teachers I don't know if they should be um if they if they should have a suspension if they should be fired that's not up to me that's up to the you know the school board and um you know I'm sure in their Infinite Wisdom they all decide the right thing I also just want to say that um you know the the pramas voices tonight did not disappoint um they will lie cheat and steal in furtherance of jihad um they will come on here and make up allegations about uh Jewish students bullying Palestinian students they will make up allegations about uh that there was never or any uh country called Israel that Palestinians are are uh you know native to the land and and gold deayer was a Palestinian that's ridiculous she's on video herself saying of course she had a Palestinian passport the country was called Palestine but the Palestinians or the ones who call themselves Palestinians today are not the same Palestinians from when the uh Palestine of yester year which was the British mandate uh was the name of the country so yes there was the you know the Palestinian citizenship that golden Mayer had um however it is not at all what um previous callers are are you know claiming that it was um so just you know if you're prepared to completely ignore history distort facts etc etc you can absolutely say whatever you want and you know unfortunately uh that we see that again and again at all of these local uh Town meetings whenever there's an issue with anti-Semitism with um with violent marches with calls from the river to the sea with um blatant anti-Semitism we see this again and again so just you know this is what we're dealing with to anybody who's listening who wants to take anything at face value that Pro Hamas uh supporters are saying you know you might want to uh think twice about that and instead look to your own government which uh classifies Hamas as a terrorist organization again that's really the Crux of the issue it shouldn't even go beyond that there shouldn't even be a discussion um everything else is meaningless in the context of what's happened at at Fort Lee and hopefully um you know that that will be um you know the the basis on which the any decision steming from you know any decision that is you know um about you know what what's going to happen to these teachers any decision will be made based on that you know that specific um lesson plan and not based on how a bunch of uh proas students feel about whether is Israel should exist or should not exist thank you very much M you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes M um hi uh Mel uh Tom Hunter Ro for Le so on my end I didn't really know what the meeting was about today I only looked over the notes that were published and one thing that I noticed was that uh one of the things that got approved was the new manuals for um math right so one of the things that I'd like to share the screen but I see that's not possible so guess it doesn't work so the company that you guys purchase the manuals from is a company called savs Learning Company right and the name stuck to me because it popped up in New York Times one of the band companies in Florida and they New York Times They have a lengthy article written about chapters that are not okay with other states Board of Education curriculums and they plainly you know illustrate the lessons where you have pure ideology inserted into maths something like uh he is doing this and he is a certain type of character and um what do you think about the the situation in in question so my thought would be would we as parents expect this from being in our kids curriculum going forward especially for first G grade second of all would we be notified and I mean if math is politically injected with ideology I mean Small Wonder that we have the mess that we have with what's happening in social sciences nowadays right I mean I'm expecting there to be even more conversation on topics that people might not agree with or they might have opinions about it so I mean you know the question is how would we be notified about this kind of issues and the second thing is probably we're going to have more conversations of more of the same in the future by the looks of it cuz everything has to be political including m that's all milock you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes hi everyone can you hear me yes um I just I think the everyone that has spoken has really summarized the Palestinian experience in fortly also just want to emphasize um I live on Kingsland don't want to don't feel comfortable giving my full address um anyways I think the person that spoke previously labeling the pro Palestinian speakers or just people sharing their experience in tck as pramas sympathizers really speaks to the anti-arab sentiment in fortly I think it really highlights the struggle that a lot of people of color particularly face in fortly it's and and she's from T neck right so that there's no surprise there tck and fortly are notorious for um just really perpetrating harmful stereotypes towards people of color and I would really advise the Board of Education of Fort Lee other Fort Le residents to stand with Palestine stand on the right side of History you know it's not too long ago that segregation was acceptable that the Holocaust was acceptable that all these things were normal and you don't want to be on the wrong side of that genocide is wrong doesn't matter who's dying doesn't matter what religion what race it's children and women and men dying by the thousands and the fact that anyone could sit there and excuse that is just beyond me and I would really advise everyone to check their Islam phobia because that is obviously very rampant in that room and I would really advise everyone to check their unche biases um their undertones of just racism and islamophobia the propaganda apparently goes very hard over there um but it's not going to work and I think that's what everyone kind of needs to realize is in this generation this generation is awake we are here we see with our own eyes it's not like it was 30 years ago where you'll see the pictures later we see those videos we see those pictures now and you don't want to be on the wrong side of that because when this generation wakes up you will see the change that comes about and we will look to our parents we will look to our teachers and ask where were you what did you say what did you try to make us believe and I think that's what the parents in fortly feel so threatened about especially those zionists they don't want their children to learn or hear anything outside of the propaganda that they want to share with them so shame on all those zionists I hope you have a change of heart I hope you can have some empathy in your heart for the women and the children children and the men that are dying by the thousands because you want to spread your propaganda that's all I have to say free Palestine s you've been promoted to panelists please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes s hi can can everyone hear me yes please state your name and address for the record um my name is Lynn and I live on 12th Street Fort Lee I I'm a student at Fort Lee High School and I know people who were in the classroom that this lesson was taught at taught in I think that this is rampant islamophobia because the people in that room right now it's I'm seriously appalled at the lack of empathy that is being shown towards the Palestinian people and I don't think that they should be labeled as anti-semitic or against the Jewish people for speaking the truth thank you Barry montalto you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes G montalto do you want the video hello yeah hi yes please state your name an address for the record my name is David I'm on 12 Street in Fort Lee thank you so all all I gotta say is um to me it is illegal in the state of New Jersey to promote your political views to any of the students so therefore these teachers are violating the law by stating their political views to the students of this of New Jersey I feel it I feel it necessary that you should fire these students these teachers immediately because they are promoting their political views to the students which is illegal in the state of New Jersey that's all I have to say thank you very much Alma you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Elma 19 there's 19 Alma you're muted please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Alma hello can you guys hear me now yes all right um my name is Leslie I am a fortly resident I am currently a student at fortly high school me myself do not feel safe with you guys screaming and threatening our teachers and counselors the guy who got hated on and who spoke up did not feel safe and you guys are talking about not feeling safe you guys are provoking this you should not be talking about safety I was in the class when Miss balum presented the lesson plan on the Israel Palestinian conflict and I have to disagree with the article's portrayal of the situation because there's two articles in like online that you guys like people have posted while I understand that some people may have concerns about the content I think Miss bom did a good job of presenting both sides of the issues and encouraging us to think critically about the topic she emphasized that even though she personally identifies as Muslim she would make sure that both sides are represented equally which I appreciate I don't think the article accurately captures the tone of the classroom discussion and I think it's unfair to CR criticize Miss bahum without fully understanding the context of the lesson um overall I found the lesson to be informative and thought-provoking and I appreciate it you guys are misleading this information and twisting up Miss bom's words before she started the class she said if at any moment moment you feel uncomfortable you have the right to leave the room she said that to everyone and this is not the first time she said it she said it to other topics she's taught before um along with her saying that if you make any negative comments about other size you will be sent down to the principal's office this is um not the first time is be has confiscated phones like she does this just like any other teacher would because it's a school policy um no phones in class or walking with cell phones um in the hallways um everything on the two articles that were just posted um are misleading none of you guys were in the class when the lesson happened you guys only know what the articles are feeding you um shame on you guys for commenting on every post um Deport them file them and then calling her bad things um Justice for my teachers the most disgusting comment I saw was a comment where it says shamon forlee for hiring a Muslim to teach our American children they said that no teacher with the scarf around their head should be teaching our American students not everyone in forley high school is American you guys are um you guys aren't standing up for what you think is right instead you are using this as an excuse to fuel your racism and predators towards Muslim um shame on all of you guys for not being mature enough and taking this serious matter as grownups grown adults and the fact that you guys are booing and screaming at Palestinians is proving me more that you guys are immature to handle the situation the correct way that's it thank you Zoom user you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes hi can you hear me yes okay um eron McCoy 555 North Avenue for um 22h I want to thank the uh student who just spoke I appreciate hearing uh what happened in the classroom as a parent I've been trying to find out that information I also want to thank the board tonight for giving us their time and their um concern this is a long meeting they volunteers I hope everybody remembers that and um personally I felt that the presentation the part of it that I saw posted did contain a lot of um misinformation and material omission but I appreciate the student in the classroom suggesting that other view points were presented um I also say I don't think that um we're here tonight to debate the curriculum and I think that's the problem that's being lost Fort Lee has I would assume we have a partnership between parents I have children in the system so it's a part partnership between parents the administration the teachers and the student and we have means of communicating with each other there's back to school night there are forums when you're going to do a hot button topic where parents give permission and while I appreciate that maybe collecting phones is part of the policy and allowing students to leave is also part of the policy I would hope that there are systems in place on how we deal with hot button topics especially the current panel of the board was elected with transparency and communication at the center of their campaign and so again I want to say it's not about whether you're Pro or for because this could have been Gaza pal and Palestine Israel it could have been Ukraine and Russia it could be sex ed it could be Christianity and gay rights it could be pro-choice or anti-abortion but we have to have a system we're agreeing and we're not going to agree on everything that's taught to our kids we're going to debate it we're gonna we're going to discuss it but there's a forum for doing that I have to imagine and I have to imagine that there are procedures for this and we wouldn't be here tonight I feel very strongly we would not be here tonight having this kind of disagreement in our community if these teachers had followed proper proper procedure because by virtue of the fact that the parents are outraged it means there wasn't the right communication and parents do have a voice in this stuff it's not just about teachers in AUM presenting their own opinions or even what they think should be taught there's there's a process and I just think I hope the board takes it um seriously because I that's way to keep ourselves is if we follow Fair rules for everybody and debate it together thank you thank you for iPhone 141 you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Hi how are you um my name is Rada can you hear me yes okay I'm from Edgewater and I'm a Jewish mom to three kids the three boys um from Bergen County and the concerns here that were're all not meeting and not addressing is the fact that every mom whether you're Palestinian you're Jewish Christian it doesn't matter who we are we all care about our kids and even though this is a very high energy topic and everyone there is upset I think we need to get back to the reality of the representation for our children are we discussing it with the parents are we making sure that the people that were hiring in schools know protocol and follow that protocol um I don't want to speak about politics because I don't think that really is the core of this discussion the core of this discussion is the safety of all children in our school system whether the Palestinian or they're from any anywhere else it doesn't apply to just Jewish students but safety should be Port ley's utmost priority um I think that you guys have a really hard decision to make but you should consider really ensuring that lesson plans are well reviewed and that children are safe in your schools good luck you Christian Ramirez youve been promoted to panelists please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Christian Ramirez hello can you guys hear me yes please state your name and address uh my name is Christian Ramirez I live in uh Westgate I don't want to give my full address as I feel uncomfortable but um I want to say as a as a former student in forley high school I find it kind of insulting how these adults right everyone in that room was mostly over 21 at least the Israeli side they were acting very immaturely me as a former forley high school student in Miss B's classroom in Miss B's classroom I can testify to her character she is a good woman she's kind she's always fair and I find it very disrespectful how there there was even a woman in the in the in the audience screaming screaming at the Palestinians standing up there that is not correct I don't think any adult should conduct themselves that way I feel like that was very misconduct and it says it anti- um resilience group armed resilience group if you search up the definition of resilience it's a group that is unsettling the government which is exactly what Hamas is doing but that's not the point the point is that this was very misconduct it was very it was very disrespectful as a former fortly high school student I'm not here to say what side is right and what side is wrong it's just the way we handle oursel America was born on democracy and freedom of opinion and it feels like everybody that is against the Israeli side is being silenced they're being silenced and I am not against Israel or Palestine it doesn't matter it's just the fact that it doesn't seem that we can handle a conversation as adults it seems that it's immaturely there's this woman screaming not handing the mic it's just come on now I understand everyone has emotions and everyone feels the need to represent their side but it's like how can we not handle this maturely it's like Leslie said it's not it's not correct everyone is giving opinion on taking away the phone I can name multiple teachers that take away the phone on The Daily every history teacher there's some history teachers in that school that have days dedicated to what's going on in the news there's other things going on in the high school that is more important than Miss beat in her slides how there are security guards scanning your children's thing to go into the public bathroom if you don't appreciate what your kid is learning in public education then you can kindly take them out and if you can't take them out then again vote for your board of education this this is incorrect that's all I have to say thank you thank you Sano you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Sano Sano you're muted unmute can you hear me now yes okay um I just wanted to um speak please state your name and address for the record I'm sorry it's Mary Sano in Mount Olive thank you and I wanted to speak as an educator that as an educator I feel it's very important never to allow students to know what political side you are on because you want the students to develop their own critical thinking but it's also very important to present to students accurate information and both sides of the information and use verifiable sources that are available to view and it's very important in as well in order to teach the children how to decipher between verifiable sources especially in this day and age with a lot of uh propaganda and false information presented on the internet and social media so my objection to what had occurred and I did read through the slides is um some of the information that's presented and to those that are stating that people don't care about the Palestinians or the Arabs I think it's very clear by stating that Hamas is a terrorist organization it is showing that people do care about the gazen people in which Hamas has been also oppressing and abusing their own citizens and I'd like to leave it like that and um since people are mentioning some loaded words that have been stated by different panelists um presented I've heard various different accusations of calling people um racists calling them uh White racists and I would also like to remind people as well that someone else is here identifying the Jewish people as also white people and many people don't identify as that as well so when we want to speak about inclusivity it's very important not for others to accuse people of racism and such not by at the same time using those loaded words as well I think that the Board of Education needs to preview uh such lessons and I do think that um other presentations need to be presented to the students in a more non-biased fashion with verifiable sources so that they can identify the accuracy of them as well that's all thank you Eli Catz you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Eli cats hi my name is Ellie Katz I live here in TK New Jersey good evening and thank you board members Fort Le PD Jason and thank you for spending your evening with us um the discussion this evening shouldn't be around the Israel Palestine conflict shouldn't be around ethnic cleansing versus genocide any propaganda the Middle Eastern conflict or anything else nor will I address my own personal stance on the matter the discussion at hand should simply be based on the merits of what is or isn't allowed in the classroom lesson plans are more than just daily guides for classroom instruction they reflect the educational standards and objectives set forth by educational authorities when teachers create lesson plans without board approval there is a risk of deviating from these standards potentially leading to inconsistencies in the quality and content of Education provided to students this can negatively impact the trust and relationship built in the classroom and between a student and teacher and more important only can result in legal complications if the educational outcomes do not meet state or national requirements in addition in today's diverse educational environment it is essential that lesson plans are free from bias and discrimination failing to do so can lead to Legal actions from parents who may feel that their child's right to an equitable education has been compromised is the confiscation and stealing of a student's phone allowable behavior is it the decision of this board to set precedent by allowing a teacher to change the lesson plan based on their own personal bias without board oversight were the were the students told to leave class and according to a student on multiple occasions the te the teachers knowingly act in bad faith and go Rogue liability risk that is the discussion you this board should be having this evening those are the facts that you should be weighing thank you and good evening Angelique you've been promoted the panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Angelique all right we lost Angelique she declined the promoted promotion to panelist Daniel Martino you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes hi my name is Daniel I live in Med north um a lot of people um have spoken in this meeting today and the main concern that I have heard repeatedly is that there was an extreme case of omission in this presentation and honestly I agree a lot was admitted it would be impossible in one lesson to explore the depth of the innumerable war crimes Decades of Oppression infrastructural and political sabotage and ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people the leniency in this presentation in showcasing the extreme racism violence and Terror that Zionism has brought upon Palestine showed immense Grace and fairness with regards to both Israel and America's continued expansive support of Israel I hope you all keep this in mind when continuing with the ongoing investigation and bias nuanced and extremely skating critiques of Israel and its Allied nations are readly available for those willing to learn and this presentation was not one of those it is concerning that this mundane retelling in light of the atrocities committed has garnered this amount of backlash and I fear for what the centers would consider to be an appropriate presentation thank you Ma shazo you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes yo hi can you guys hear me yes please state your name and address for the record hi I'm aor I'm from fortly New Jersey raised my entire life in fortly I just want to say one thing I just want to say one thing all the people who coming over here and spreading their propaganda their pro-islamist pro- Marxist propaganda I just want to State one thing the Jews were never accepted in the region the Jews were murdered in 1929 at the Kon Massacre the a husseini the so-called leader of the Arabs in the region went to Iraq to spread Nazi islamist propaganda and caused the for Hood he went to meet Hitler he went to do all those little things that you guys love now besides that besides all this stuff that has begun since the seventh century where they murdered Jews in Medina and they took their women as sex slaves where they went and they killed Jews in other other Villages and took their women as sex slaves besides all this stuff besides the expulsion of the Jews from the Arabian Pula and the force Demi Hood in every country that they lived in and the murder of 4,000 Jews in Granada I just want to say one thing this rical ideology that you guys allowed in our schools this Unholy matrimony of Marxism of islamism has gotten into a point where we had enough the entire country is facing this problem children are being radicalized in their institutions unamerican ideologies are being spread you want to know what I think I think you guys should fire them and you should show the entire country not only the residents of fortly but the entire country that we don't stand for radical islamism we do not stand for Marxism and we don't we do not stand for using schools as indoctrination camps and one more thing and one more thing and I I'll end off with this this is pure anti-Semitism to call Hamas a resistance movement is to give them a very very light name they they promote the ideas that Jews are the worst of creatures that you shouldn't take Christians and Jews as allies because they're allies of one another they promote ideas of that Jews would one day hide behind rocks and trees and then the trees will yell oh Muslim oh Muslim there's a Jew behind me come and kill him that's not a resistance movement that's a genocide movement and this is what this teacher wants to call a resistance movement to trick kids into thinking that these aren't bad people show the world that America does not stand with this extremism that's it God bless America and am Michael you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Michael can you hear me now yes please state your name and address for the record Michael and uh I live on Edgewood Lane cly um I just want to say that I I didn't obviously I wasn't in the classroom I looked through the presentation and it seemed a bit one-sided this is a highly debated topic and should not be presented in such a way where for example just give you an example the presentation mentioned that 1948 was a knock buffer Palestinians which is understandable and then Independence Day for the Jews but then it talks about how 750,000 Palestinians were displaced but no mention of three countries attacking Israel on the day of independence Syria Jordan in Egypt and I'm in agreement with that teacher Miss Sano that said that it should be taught you should give both sides because it's a highly contested subject but the presentation was a little one-sided and I'm also against you know I mean I understand one one group's Freedom Fighter is another group's terrorist but you should mention that your country United States considers Hamas a terrorist organization I think students should know this the problem also is that these are 15 year old students they don't really know anything about this and they cannot debate the teacher about this they have to sit there and listen it's not like in college where you can debate your professor you know what I mean so um that's pretty much so I thought and when you even though I'm not completely in agreement with what Israel does but I think that um you know you have to be very careful very careful when you when you talk badly about Jewish people because of the history behind the Thousand Years of hatred against Jews for just being Jews okay and yes some people will understand that this is criticism of Israel but others will not understand they would just they would just be you know it's all Jews and let's let's you know let's go to s in them so um that's why I think that's was a little bit Reckless what the teachers did probably should have been brought up and should have been maybe presented in both ways or maybe have a debate about it when I was in high school I didn't go to Fort Lee High School I went to Richfield Park we had a debate about atomic bomb and what who was right and who was wrong these are the things um that should probably be done anyway that's all I have to say about them thank you Miss Assan you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes missan hi good evening I've been waiting I just wanted to say a few things um I'm in Fort Lee um there's just so many things that I've heard um it's really sad we all really want the best for our children I want a few of these people to know that um that we the parents especially we need to be neutral and we need to truly treat the children in the schools as if they're our own children I have my kids in elementary school they have their their peers ask them who side are you on of course they're gonna ask whose side are you on because they hear their parents at home say whatever they're saying and um they bring it to the the classroom I know that the teachers in question they went over the lesson with the students they went over the lesson with other teachers and the principal I've seen the lesson plan it's not biased that's not fair all of you who are talking about it's one-sided it's not one-sided and you know it I'm gonna have my daughter who was actually in the class speak hi I'm a student at Fort Lee High School I keep hearing people who are not part of Fort Lee and who aren't part of the school or have kids speak about the lesson plan I'm here to tell you my experience as a student who supposedly everybody is uh prioriti prioritizing our thoughts feeling our thoughts and feelings should be the focus it shouldn't be what everybody else is saying the best place I can learn about current event current events in my classroom is by trained Educators people keep blindly talking about it not being in the curriculum or approved by other staff members but I distinctly remember Miss B who mentioning that she got it approved by numerous staff members including ones that are higher up and or that are more higher up than she is I've seen the PowerPoint and it's unbiased and to the point it leaves it leaves me room to make my own opinions while offering me multip multiple P perspectives everything they are arguing about and everything that they are mad about is not valid she did everything she they she did everything that you guys are arguing that she didn't do she made it clear that um she made it clear both sides of story um I just want to also interrupt that um the the parents uh have are the most responsible the parents that are talking and the actual Mr steinbuck bike and the rabbi I'm so embarrassed for you the only people that should have spoken were the students in the class those are the only people that should have showed up and spoken about their experience and then you could have taken it from there everyone else is there for their own reasons and you all know it so sit down and let the students who are our future tell you what their experience was in the classroom that's what you should do thank you Jay Parada you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes can you hear me yes great hi everyone this is J paret freed from one Wall Street a parent of the student at school number three as a member of the LGBT Comm Community I wanted to wish everyone on the line and those who listen in later a happy Pride I wanted to congratulate the district music teachers and art teachers for putting on such a wonderful circle of the Arts event for the entire District last Friday it was really beautiful seeing how art matters to our community and how important it is for the courtly uh curriculum to have Arts it really does matter um I also wanted to congratulate the fort Le High School prism club for organizing their second annual CommunityWide Fort Le Pride event on Sunday June the 9th from 11:00 am to 2m at the Fort Le Rec Center uh for those of you who don't know June is pride month and having supporters and allies present uh present to show up and show their solidarity and love for the lgbtqia community is so very important for all uh I truly feel like showing not just your support but your physical support proves that we matter to you and not just for the month of June so thank you to the board of ed for supporting platforms and making a commitment to the inclusiveness of our children and lastly I wanted to give a special shout out to seag for having their Board election soon you all are doing amazing work for the new diverse community and your work is moving so Bravo to you have a great night Sarah you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have 3 minutes [Music] Sara Sarah you've been promoted to panelist you need to click accept declined okay Margarita vigodner you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes uh hello uh good evening my name is Margarita voder I leave uh at Victoria Place in for me um so there are there were many lies about uh um students at our High School uh there is no bullying of Muslim Students or black students that's just pure lie our kids don't care about nationality about religions my daughter went through the forly school system she had friends Muslim friends African-American Friends Christian friends and my son uh Nathan uh you know parents probably know him like no he has friends of all nationalities Muslims African-Americans they don't care what these teachers did they infused the community and the students with hate and that's what's happening now now they they will start thinking about it okay after this presentation second of all uh someone said you have to listen to the student in the class they had an interview on the news this the student in with the Jewish student in that class first of all it's not it's a lie that sales phones were always collected second of all he described through which emotional distress he went during this presentation just because they said you know you can leave doesn't make it right you know I'm going to teach you how great Hamas is or how good Hitler is but if you don't feel comfortable you can leave that's not how portly school work okay uh second of all 95% of Jews are Zionist Zionism is the idea that Jewish people has the right for the land and so 95 98 % of Jews are zunist when you talk about this the hate about Zionism you are being anti-semitic okay because many of our speakers hateful comments about zis and you know Israel you can criticize policies you can criticize Israel but you cannot support Hamas if you care about Palestinian people you cannot support Hamas Hamas is hiding behind Palestinian people they are launching their rockets on the hospital from the hospital from the schools they use millions of dollars that went to Gaza could be a Dubai for the money that it went there they used all the money to build their tunnels they were stealing from Palestinian people and now they are among them so yes Israel has to be more careful it's not a genocide okay there are mistakes that happen and they always and feel for the you know for innocent lines of both on both sides they put leaflet from the from the plane they send text messages when they going to attack they ask people to move Hamas is between them they don't let them to evacuate they are under underground they want more people to die so more pressure to be put on on Israel and the leadership of Hamas surv they committed genocide us so that us doesn't recognize genocide you know so if you us considers Hamas as a terrorist organization if you don't agree move to the country and you know maybe in the school day you will be T about genocide united states recognizes Hamas is a terrorist organization if you care about Palestinian people you should man your time is up thank you Sarah you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Sarah you're muted Sarah I'm sorry please state your name and Sarah you're muted you're muted please state your name and address hi my name is Sarah I live in Tac um but I grew up in Fort Lee I grew up on Center Avenue um and I actually I took art classes in the building that you guys are in right now um as a child and um as an young adult I served as a volunteer EMT for the fortly volunteer Ambulance Corp and also my mother was a teacher in fortlee high school for many many years so I feel very connected to Fort Lee and I wasn't really planning to speak tonight but after hearing everything I I felt that I had to um Hamas is a terrorist organization and I think that there's a lot of moral confusion in in trying to make sense of everything that's going on in the world but you shouldn't let that cloud your views it's it's not fair to to the students to portray them as anything else and it's not fair to the future of the town to portray them as anything else and you know when I was when I lived in fortly it felt like an inclusive place to live it felt like it was welcome for everybody I can't imagine this place being a welcome place for Jewish people if you allow teachers to be in your classroom who are teaching that Hamas is uh just a resistance group and I hope that you are able to rectify the situation in whatever way you see fit that's it thank you thank you Zoom user you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes hi my name is FMA Ela and I am a h student in Fort Le High School I do not want to say my address because I don't feel comfortable saying um first of all I would like to say how the teachers before the presentation told the students how if they feel uncomfortable with the pre topic they could leave and usually it's normal for teachers to take away students bones because students don't pay attention and when Miss bom asked a student she asked him if he was okay because the student said how long the presentation would be the student did not respond the two the two teachers are getting death threats from social media by people and before like they said in the presentation that Palestinian was a Muslim Christian and Jew country until the Zionist took over took people's homes and killed innocent people Israel is literally saying that they are trying to only kill Hamas so you're telling me that that these kids are part of Hamas recently they the Israel occupation burned Rafa which is the safe zone right now for Palestinians but now it's not so safe because they're burning innocent Palestinians a kid was literally watching his father get burned alive and there are videos to prove that thank you very much and goodbye attendee you've been promoted to panelists please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes attendee declined promotion Steph katso you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes be catso I was I wasn't going to speak hello guys Stephanie kuto from Port Lee I wasn't going to speak tonight but after hearing what's going on um this is something that we've been warning the town of fortly about the parents who have been concerned uh we just had a meeting a few months ago about 5756 which is allowing teachers to have private sexual conversations with students and transition students in the school from kindergarten to 12th grade without informed parental consent it is very obvious that we have a large problem in the school with Rogue teachers with people who are there to politicize Children it is very sad that it our school has become this way and I feel that you know Dr Kravitz owes an explanation to us all on how our school went downhill so quickly it was not this way prior to 2020 um many of the people who were against 5756 have spoken tonight and our PR Marxist thought when has the United States ever taken the side of a terrorist organization Hamas has been a known terrorist organization and has murdered their own people and I'm not going to get into all the specifics about what's going on but the IDE idea that any lesson plan of this nature or of sexual Natures or of any other ideology that has nothing to do with math and English and Science and History not with a political ideation pushing forward has really got to be taken out of our schools Fort Lee is a Titanic community there is love for Jews there is love for diversity there is love for Muslims there is love for people and you see it in many of the posts that I I see Mr Knight's posts that he puts up celebrating the Indian Community we have got to stop politicizing children and it is so sad to hear parents and children say well a teacher said we could leave the class that's not the job of a teacher where do the children go when they just leave a classroom we are the taxpayers and we are paying for this and the school is pushing radical Marxist ideation onto small children and it's very interesting that the Marxist leninist took the hands of the PLO and that's when all the terror began and so I think people need to study the history something has got to change thank you am aula Salomon you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes can you hear me yes hey how are you um thanks for um allowing me to speak tonight um I want to address you know the the entire Community I'm hearing a lot of talks about what Hamas is and what Hamas isn't and being listed as a terrorist organization nobody's actually focusing on the fact that this teacher was just giving a lesson of what's going on regarding current events which is something that we all did in school I remember in high school I was required in APG to read the New York Times on a daily basis and give a feedback regarding the articles that were given in it now this is something that the students can read about and do read about every single day and if we are going to argue that let's just look at the at the college campuses across the US that's the first thing so this was definitely within her scope of of of what she needs to do as a teacher to actually raise children that are informed ra children that are educated about the current events what's going on in the world what's going on in the US what's happening with our taxpayer dollars where is our money going what's our fun our government standing for what is our government funding so this is all educational you can't argue that this was not an educational lesson that's the first thing the second thing is people keep talking about hamus being a terrorist organization well what does that mean yes maybe they are listed as a terrorist organization according to the US government and that's fine but you know what so was Nelson Mandela and he was only just removed from the terrorist organization watch list by John krey in 2008 so being on an American terrorist organization doesn't really mean anything I don't know if people know about Nelson Mandela but he fought against the partide regime in South Africa for many many years until South Africa got its Liberation you can say it's the same exact thing about the resistant movement in Ireland against the UK they were also listed as a terrorist organization and look where we are now okay they are no longer a terrorist organization and they are being taught in schools as resistance movement and this is where and you can talk to any Irish person that lives in the US and they'll tell you how they feel about what the UK has done to their people and what the US has done to their people by listing them as terrorist and they're no longer on the terrorist organization list they have been removed which is again you're talking about Hames being a terrorist organization which happens to be whatever serves the government that's in place at this current current time and basically once they realize oh look we really screwed up oh they're not actually a terrorist organization they're a resistant movement then they come off because history people just keep failing to learn from history all right now let me ask you all something let me ask you something if the Holocaust was going on right now would would the Zionist have any issues with people reporting about it with designers have any issues with teachers teaching the kids about it while it's happening so maybe these students can actually stand up and say stop the genocide or is there only oneid enough you're not going to silence us your time is upk [Music] you Ste you've been promoted the panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes see hi I'm so sorry um my name is Candace and I live on West you place I actually lost my voice so I'll make this quick I just wanted to say two things one thanking the board for acting quickly and allowing the process and protocol to be followed clearly there's a lot of um big emotions big feelings rightly so on all sides and I think it's important that we follow the procedures that we have in place having said that watching this evening and the Board of Ed I mean sorry the uh participants I also do just want to make sure um I also heard that the teachers um addresses were given out I know they have families and I hope that um if there's anything the Board of Ed can do or is within your ability to make sure that these teachers mental and physical safety is also a priority but again I appreciate you uh keeping this going on all night and you as well Jason thanks so much a good night thank you Alex umansky you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Alex umansky hi how are you uh I'm Alex and Edgewater also a parent of children in the schools I think um listening to all the uh speakers and everything that's going on I'm not going to touch on the Israeli Palestinian conflict there certain students spoke up that the board should only be listening to the students because the students are at the mercy here of trained professionals I Believe Miss ass son's daughter mentioned that trained professionals trained Educators who are teaching history the issue with that is and why it's concerning for parents and why this is an issue in the first place is because it's not all students that agree with what the teacher was teaching certain students came home and were uh dissatisfied with the lesson plan were ashamed and were upset about it that's why this meeting is happening um as a trained professional if you're going to teach students for example that the Earth is flat that uh Hitler and Nazi Germany were were right in what they were doing to the Jews or certain other outlandish things that we're seeing happening in um campuses across the country parents have a right to know especially in the in the public education system and that's why students are coming home and discussing it with parents and that's why parents are raising these issues so to miss kof's uh Point trained Educators need to follow the lesson plan that needs to be reviewed by the board and that needs to be pregated to the students trained Educators should not be put putting forth their own bias their own views or interpretations of hot button topics such as the Middle Eastern conflict such as what's happening in Russia and Ukraine or all PL plenty of other conflicts in Ukraine now to the very I rate uh lady that spoke uh I believe two speakers before me about Hamas Hamas is a terrorist organization it's not Nelsa Mandela it's not all other uh uh groups that have been have since had their tag of terrorist organization removed because Hamas came into Israel murdered civilians and raped kids women women and children so when you're calling a terrorist organization that's recognized by the European Union United States UK and many other when you're calling that as a legitimate resistance movement that is a problem that is a problem that's infiltrating our schools that is a pro that is a problem that is infiltrating our uh um education those teachers should be held accountable because those teachers have no right to promote their own bias promote their own views of a hot button topic such as the Middle East conflict uh to students who don't know better they're at the mercy of the students of of the teachers and they're coming home and they're speaking to the parents that's why the parents have bought this I hope you take the right action thank you thank you David seagull you have been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes David seagull hell hello thank you for uh allowing me to speak um I did also just hear this young woman compare Nelson Mandela to Hamas I don't believe Nelson Mandela or his followers ever cut off the heads of babies and raped women she compared the Holocaust to Gaza 6 million people were killed in the Holocaust systematically while what's happening in Gaza is unfortunate Z war and it's 30,000 not six million what's interesting about America is that anyone including that woman and many of the other speakers has the right to speak for three minutes and spew lies half truths misinformation and pretty much say almost anything they want and that's the beauty of America not something they could do in Gaza because Hamas if you speak three minutes badly about them they'll kill you however while you have the right to say anything you want for your three minutes teachers don't have the right to say teach anything they want there is a curriculum they need to follow the curriculum and we need to enforce that law as well as any other laws that get violated by people who are expressing their their beliefs and their actions and their their their protests so uh I think an investigation is required it was interesting to hear the position of some of the students who uh expressed what they had heard uh but uh if in fact Hamas is not being presented as a terrorist organization which is established fact then that's a problem and teachers should not be able to have the discretion to express their beliefs in violation or or in contradiction of what the policy of the school is so I encourage the Board of Ed to do its investigation and to take whatever action is appropriate to teachers who are who are taking education of our children into their hands thank you thank you Noah ABD Del gani you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Noah abdulghani hi um my name is NOA abdulgani and I'm a junior in high school um so I just wanted to come on here and say that I'm currently taking uh US government in school right now and this is a completely normal thing that we would done in school every single day my teacher tells me go on to a news outlet that you know is neutral okay go and look at the news and can I say something every single news outlet that is known to be neutral now is talking about the genocide in Palestine this is not an issue that is two-sided anymore okay the world knows what's happening this isn't oh go on Fox News you're GNA see something Pro isual no no no even Fox News okay is talking about what's happening in paltin you can't we have the recording and these people that are saying oh look at the beheaded babies let me see the recording let me see the video of the beheaded babies in Israel because we have the video and the recordings and everything of beheaded Palestinian babies so stop talking without proof let me see which woman were raped let's see that okay because we have videos of IDF soldiers going into women's houses and touching their private clothes okay that is a recording but let me see the proof of what these people are saying again I'm a high schooler this is completely neutral what do you want teachers to do not let their students have opinions and I wanted people to stop saying oh we're kids guess what I'm about to go to college am I allowed to have an opinion are you saying I'm not allowed to have an opinion I'm allowed to choose look look at look at all the details and see what from what I can take from this um article okay and what I am seeing from literally every single news out you can go to that you can find online hey the UN is saying Israel is committ genocide are we are we only going by what the US is saying the US that killed 200,000 women and babies guess what the US isn't God my friends okay the US is not God there are other countries in this world with people US citizens are not the only humans in this world there are other humans okay and they're getting killed okay don't think that you're God because you are a US citizen there are K babies killed in Vietnam okay and they're k there African-Americans that were enslaved and guess what the same white Americans were wanting enslavement for African-Americans and that's what they're still allowing to happen to the Palestine people so guess what these teachers that are allowing truth to be shown to their students and actually teaching me something the classes that I enjoy the classes that I actually feel like I'm learning something you guys are trying to take that away I just want to let you know you guys are the people that are trying to silence us and are ruining this goddamn country okay this country that stands for our Democratic Values you are what's ruining it the one class that I enjoy that's actually trying to show me truth you are the ones that are ruining that so let me say that to all the parents that say that they're standing up for the fud no you're not because I'm a student and I can tell you that right now okay so stop telling us what I want I know what I want and I want the truth to be told to me thank you okay we're good on your opinions time is [Music] itk you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please stay did we lose BK Adam wman you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Adam Weisman hi can you see me yes okay great uh my name is Adam Weissman I am a Jewish resident of Teek my great-grandfather uncle was murdered in an act of anti-Semitic terrorism in bellarus my great-grandmother was a victim of the Holocaust in Poland my great-grandfathers Were Us infantrymen at D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge and the lead air navigator for the invasion of Normandy Jews who risked their lives to liberate their people from the Nazi final solution I have devoted my life to treating never again as a moral responsibility let us be clear the kind of mccarthyite Lynch Mob we are seeing here makes Jews less safe as a Jew I am forced to ask what if in 1944 two teachers taught a lesson about the Holocaust what if therea members of the pro-nazi German American bun packed the class school board meeting denounced the lesson as anti-g germanism and hooted and hollered when Educators trying to teach about a genocide underwear were called termites and pieces of excrement what if they insisted that the atrocities being committed in the na Nazi death camp not be taught anyone who is not clear which side of this room is preaching hate isn't denial we saw rageful screaming as people with Capas entered the room no Jewish Community member was shouted down but when a Palestinian spoke suddenly a firearm coincidentally went off as the crowd shouted him down it is not a coincidence who is in the room and who is on zoom zionists off over the last few months have weaponized the phrase I feel unsafe to silence voices opposing genocide but it is clear which Community feels unsafe in that room the board is doing nothing to make Palestinians Arabs and Muslims feel safe when it breaks its own rules by letting ignorant bigots continue speaking after hateful comments like they lie cheat and steal and Palestine doesn't exist we all know that if Palestinians had shouted down Jews in that room they would have been violently attacked and probably arrested let's be clear people are objecting to the presentation because it is propaganda they're objecting because it isn't the presentation is clear October 7 2023 this date marks the beginning of the deadliest clash between Palestinians and Israelis since early 2000s Hamas launched over 2,000 Rockets into Israel and were able to break out of Gaza into Israel undetected during this time they killed 1200 Israelis and took over 230 people as hostages if there's any Distortion here it is not acknowledging death to death from Israeli friendly fire so there's no attempt here to destroy history but the Lynch Mob in that room doesn't want objectivity they want Zionist propaganda taught as fact they believe the slogan a land without people for a people without a land Palestinians to them are not people they have no history there are no crimes that can be committed against them because they view them the same way they view these teachers as termites as pieces of excrement they don't want our schools to teach that Palestinian their indigenous people to levent they don't want our schools to teach that the Zionist project was premised on the expulsion of the Palestinian people they don't want to hear Israel's own Declassified records reveal that the kna the ethnic cleansing of Palestine was the cause of the war in 1948 not the trigger for it they don't want us to hear talk about the 750 Palestinians who were expelled how 15,000 were slaughtered how 500 Villages were destroyed by Zionist terrorists in 1948 about how the UN special reper on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 has concluded that a genocide is underway in Gaza Jews can never be safe in a world where educating on ethnic cleansing and genocide is shouted down never again means nothing if it isn't never again for anyone thank you Jason falwick you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have 3 minutes Jason oh yeah hello yes please state your name and address for the record my name is Jason and I live on H Palisade my opinion on this whole thing is uh Zionist could eat a dick and uh that  David cut off next week please BK you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes hello yes yes Ben from for um my thoughts on all of this is as a school board it's your decision to just decide what you feel is appropriate and not appropriate um I think there's going to be a lot of opinions um in regards to this matter but at the end of the day it's the education of your children and what I would take into account is how do you want your grandchildren to think this generation has passed Our Generation has passed and as Educators it's all about the future Generations and if your child came back and said grandpa so and so are creating a genocide or this is what I learned in school is that something as a grandparent that you would be proud of so that's the thought process that I think has to go through I think a lot of people are thinking very now and and and now and and right now um but as we continue to go through this process it's going to be what about for the future so no matter what you decide you're going to upset people there's never been a president elected to this United States that won a 90% of the American vote that's who we are as people whether you like it or not we complain we go back and forth um but I think at the end of the day we have to really think about what our future is going to be and when our grandpa grandchild comes to us on a Sunday July 4th and brings up a concept like this are we going to be happy with our educ educational system or we going to say that we heard thank you FJ MF you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have 3 minutes hello can you hear me yes please stay your name and address for the record thank you um I prefer not to I'm sorry but I think it's absolutely ridiculous that some people here can only speak from one View can you please state your name and place of residence hear nothing next my name is Sarah and I live in Fort Lee and I'm sorry but I think it's ridiculous that people can come on here and speak from only one point of view it's so infuriating to see such blind people anyone who has spoken so far and said that this is not a genocide or that Hamas is a terrorist group without acknowledging the absolute terrorist disgusting racist state of Israel is ignorant and disturbing and to address all the people have spoken about their fears on public schools becoming political is the most hypocritical thing I've heard because all I've heard is that you are against a political stance and yet you are still taking a political stance with Israel you do not do you not want your children to have an education because sorry to break it to you but part of an education is current event politics is part of a basic high school education if you stand against this and you are raising a group of complacent ignorant deaf and blind children allow your children to grow up and stop brainwashing them please I'm begging go learn history before speaking out someone before me mentioned that Hamas about Hamas beheading babies when this has been proved false on multiple accounts including Biden's official team meanwhile there is a real video of an actual beheaded Palestinian baby in Gaza his name was Ahmed do not deny what is right in front of your eyes thank you thank you attendee you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video pleas stay your name and address for the record you have three minutes Jason Leonid you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes hi just wanted to tell that girl that whoever claims please address the board directly yes uh I'm just letting you know that she has spoken three times on the different Nam so you should recognize the voice the one that was praising her Mass that's the same girl same high high school student she spoke three times on you please state your name in place of residence for Le uh L for Le westv Avenue so I'm just telling the board that that the girl spoke three times that's it that that's all I want to say thank your name and place of residence speak thank Lisa Hassan you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video we state in your name and address for the record you have three minutes good evening I want to thank the board for their time to take to listen to the community and I really hope you're listening I'm a Bergen County resident for a long time now and I have children that that go to Fort Lee parks and area there and the islamophobia I'm sorry you already spoke this evening correct the islamophobia that's being feed in thank you there there are no more raised hands have a second Morel all in favor any oppos orions Okay resolution we have a motion to approve items 1 B through 4B motion second motion morale second Rino roll call please Mrs bu K yes Miss colbat yes yes Mrs Curry yes Mr Knight yes Mrs kotang yes Mr Lopez yes M moral yes I stand on my name on 3 Mr Rabino yes Mrs RoR yes may I have a motion to approve item 1 s motion motion Morel second roll call please Mrs V K yes M colb yes M Curry yes Mr Knight no Mrs kotang yes Mr Lopez yes Miss Morel yes Mr Rabino yes Mrs RoR yes we have a motion to approve item one Cur motion second motion Morel second Kang roll call please Mrs buers K yes Miss colbath yes Mrs Curry yes Mr Knight yes Mrs kot yes Mr Lopez yes M Morel yes Mr Rino yes Mrs Rector yes we have a motion to approve items 1 F through 6f motion motion Morel second Curry roll call please Mrs Byers K yes Mrs colb yes Mrs Curry yes Mr Knight yes Mrs kotang yes Mr Lopez yes M Morel yes Mr Rino yes Mrs RoR yes we have a motion to approve items 1 p through walk-in resolution 11 P motion second second motion Morel second Co please Mrs Byers K yes Miss colbath yes accept no to two names on 5p and 11 P no that's 5 p and 11 P no just two names on 5p and 11p Miss Curry yes Mr knight uh 5p is an absolute no on XX 57 and xx 94 and it's an absolute no on 113 Mrs C yes Mr Lopez yes M Morel yes Mr Rino yes Mrs RoR yes may have a motion to approve item one p motion second motion Morel second Curry roll call please Mrs buers K yes M colbath yes Mrs Curry yes Mr Knight yes Mrs kotang yes Mr Lopez yes M Morel yes Mr Rino yes Mrs RoR yes is there any old business yes I would like um on the walk-in resolution we started voting um could you repeat the walkin resolution again what what do you want to know about the walk and we already voted on it I know I know I and I know how I voted on it but I wanted to know how it was stated the resolution was identified by the superintendent earlier in the meeting at his superintendent's report uh the resolution if I recall correctly was to accept the resonation of the item 11 P it was uh upon a recommendation of the superintendent to accept the resignation of teacher FB High School affected June 30 2024 thank you you said teacher what I didn't hear that I said teacher FB but just so we're clear as all board members are aware it's faia B thank you okay any new business okay motion to adjourn second second okay motion second Morel all in favor any opposed yes thank you here go