Maps of the Middle East before World War I approximate an area called Palestine bisected by the Jordan River. The 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica describes a Western Palestine and an Eastern Palestine.
The River Jordan, it is true, marks a line of delimitation between Western and Eastern Palestine
Today, Western Palestine is the home to Israel and large Hamas enclaves, and Eastern Palestine is home to a Palestinian state called the Kingdom of Jordan.
(Mark Twain wrote about his 1869 journey to the Holy Land in Innocents Abroad. It’s mandatory reading for anyone interested in the area’s history.)
When our pampered MCPS students, teachers, administrators, and union leaders say they want to “Free Palestine” or “Nuke Palestine,” at a minimum they should specify on which part of the area, West or East, they want to inflict violence from the comfort of their suburban living rooms.
Our county executive candidates issued statements denouncing the recent anti-Moslem graffiti at Whitman High School. Mr. Jawando: “Hate has no place in Montgomery County.” Mr. Friedson: “It is on each of us in Montgomery County to ensure that hate has no place here.” Mr. Glass: “Montgomery County is a community built on respect and inclusion, and hatred toward any group has no place here.”
That’s what we all want to believe, but reality is different. Montgomery County’s public schools actually foster hate. Here is a gallery spotlighting some recent memorable moments in our schools’ hate culture.
I fear that much more is to come, and I fear that the hatred may go beyond vandalism. If you are a Moslem student attending Whitman, chances are you’re experiencing rage or fear. If you are a Jewish student attending Whitman, you’ve been experiencing that since October 7, 2023. Why are we forcing young people into these situations?
The root cause of this tension is the insistence on “public education” owned by our county government and operated by a barely legitimate school board. Those seven BoE progressives force children and parents into schools they don’t necessarily want to attend, then force those children and parents into curricula they don’t necessarily want to study, then hire administrators of varying capability to enforce the curricula, and then force the bill onto the taxpayers. The BoE never takes disciplinary action against bigoted teachers or administrators. Friedson, Jawando, and Glass never punish the school district for its bigotry or sexual harassment. The only demographic who benefits from all of this are a) the teachers’ union and b) the seven school board members who are scheduled to receive pay raises of over $100,000/year. They are hardly incentivized to work for the students’ benefit. I doubt they feel any contributory responsibility for the school district’s redlining or hate culture.
We can, and we must, go beyond statements. We’ve written before about the balkanized student body and the many other reasons to ditch the failed public school paradigm. The opt-out coalition showed that it is possible to force the hand of the school board and the teachers’ union to work for the students’ benefit. Another coalition is necessary to demand school vouchers so students can attend a school where, at a minimum, the teachers and administrators foster tolerance instead of hate.
