Stevenson High promises policy changes after Palestinian display draws objections

Stevenson High School District 125 officials said Tuesday they will institute policy changes after a pro-Palestinian student group was required to cover up and remove “false and inaccurate information” in their school cultural fair display over the weekend.

The students’ poster board identified “Palestine located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River,” and an image depicting colors of a watermelon — which has been used in protests and artwork as its colors match the Palestinian flag — overlaying the borders of Israel.

The display sparked outrage among some parents and a complaint from a Chicago-based advocacy group for the Jewish community.

“We acknowledge and understand the pain that the poster content caused,” district spokeswoman Jaimie Oh wrote in an email. “We are now collaborating with the appropriate individuals and departments in the school to ensure a prior review of posters and materials to ensure similar incidents do not occur in the future.”

The controversy erupted at Stevenson’s annual World’s Fair, which took place Saturday and Sunday and was organized by the Lincolnshire school’s Diversity Council. More than 30 student groups had tables and held cultural performances.

Oh said school officials were notified about the Palestine booth and its contents during the event, and took action to remove the information in question.

Oh’s statement mirrors correspondence from Wendy Custable, the district’s assistant superintendent of leadership and organizational development, sent to parents who contacted district officials and the school board. A letter from Custable, who will become Stevenson’s superintendent on July 1, was shared on social media by the Chicago Jewish Alliance, an advocacy group that led a letter-writing campaign.

Daniel Schwartz, president and co-founder of the organization, said the group’s social media accounts were inundated with messages from Jewish attendees of the cultural fair over the weekend. He sent the group’s marketing director to the event to take photos and video, then posted the images online.

Schwartz said the Palestinian display “politicized” an event meant to be safe for all students.

“I have my politics, and so would a Palestinian, and that’s fine, and we can have that argument, but it doesn’t belong indoctrinating our students,” he said.

Schwartz criticized the display’s imagery and a posted QR code for donations to a group he characterized as having nefarious ties.

After Custable announced plans for a prior review process, the alliance put out a statement saying the change “demonstrates an intent to foster a more inclusive and neutral educational environment,” but that the issue is far from resolved.

Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, sent a letter to district officials Tuesday asking that Stevenson be a “sacred space” for the free expression of conscience and that differences be negotiated through debate.

Whatever review processes are put in place going forward, Rehab said they should be equitable for all groups.

“Here we have a situation where it is attempting to silence and confiscate people’s freedom of expression,” Rehab said.

He questioned if there would be the same reaction if a Russian group objected to a Ukrainian student putting up a map that included Crimea as part of Ukraine.

“That map means what they mean it to mean … the legacy of Palestinians is throughout this whole land,” Rehab said. “Their stories are throughout this whole land, their ancestry throughout this whole land. This isn’t even a political statement. This is a cultural reality and historical reality.”

Both sides are expected to be at the next school board meeting Feb. 10.