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18 October 2011

BREAKING: LA Unified School District Fires Teacher Who Made Anti-Semitic Remarks at #Occupy Demonstration





Superintendent Deasy Issues Statement on Employee’s Controversial Remarks
Los Angeles – As Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), I want to emphasize that we condemn the remarks made recently by Patricia McAllister.
Her comments, made during non-work time at a recent protest rally, were her private opinions and were not made in the context of District services.  At LAUSD, we recognize that the law is very protective of the freedom of speech rights of public employees when they are speaking as private citizens during non-working time.
I further emphasize to our students, who watch us and look to us for guidance, to be role models and to represent the ideals by which LAUSD lives, that we will never stand for behavior that is disrespectful, intolerant or discriminatory.
As a day-to-day substitute teacher, Ms. McAllister was an at-will employee.  As of today, she is no longer an employee of the LAUSD.

GetOffWallStreet.com led a campaign to hold the LAUSD accountable. Kudos to them, and to the LAUSD for doing the right thing.

Will the rest of the #Occupy movement follow in repudiating the bigotry in its midst?



Ian:

ADL Calls On 'Occupy Wall Street' Organisers To Condemn Anti-Semitic Remarks Made At Rallies

New York, NY, October 17, 2011 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called on organizers, participants and supporters of the worldwide "Occupy Wall Street" movement to condemn anti-Semitic signs and comments that have appeared at some of the protest rallies across the country and around the world.

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement: 
We are seeing some individuals holding anti-Semitic signs at the "Occupy Wall Street" rallies, and some videos posted on YouTube from the rallies have shown individuals expressing classic anti-Semitic beliefs such as "Jews control the banks" and "Jews control Wall Street."  While we believe that these expressions are not representative of the larger views of the OWS movement, it is still critical for organizers, participants and supporters of these rallies to condemn such bigoted statements clearly and forcefully.

There is no evidence that these anti-Semitic conspiracy theories are representative of the larger movement or that they are gaining traction with other participants.  However, history demonstrates time and again how economic downturns can embolden anti-Semites to spread malicious conspiracy theories and promote stereotypes about Jews and money. As a consequence, these statements must not be left unchallenged.    
The League continues to monitor the tenor and messages at the demonstrations to ensure that they do not get hijacked by extremists or anti-Semitic elements.




  

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