DV Journal

Controversial Upper Dublin School Board Member Tricia Ebarvia’s career didn’t last through a single board meeting.

Facing a backlash over her connection to materials many believe are antisemitic, Ebarvia, elected on Nov. 7, announced her resignation at Wednesday’s board finance committee meeting. She was just sworn in at the district office the day before, Ebarvia said.

Ebarvia came under fire after she posted a link to a webinar purporting to teach the history of Israel and the Palestinians, but is filled with inaccurate and antisemitic tropes. Among them are descriptions of Israel as a colonial power and references to “ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.”

Last week, parents and residents called for her resignation. More than 2,500 people signed an online petition asking the board to remove Ebarvia.

Some 75 people came to the board’s Dec. 6 reorganization meeting, many of them demanding Ebarvia’s ouster. Several residents told the board they were hurt and outraged that a board member would allegedly espouse antisemitic views after the violent and brutal Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 Israeli citizens, most of them civilians.

“For the last five weeks since becoming the center of our current firestorm, I have been in deep reflection, introspection, and conversation with others who are also trying to best to navigate this moment,” Ebarvia said at Wednesday’s meeting. “First and foremost, there are people who are sincerely hurt by the pain my post caused. That pain is something I regret deeply, and I am sorry.

“One life skills lesson that we teach at my school is when we make a mistake, we do our best to make it right,” Ebarvia continued. “The challenge, of course, is discerning what ‘right’ is.

“For many, the only right path forward is for me to resign my seat,” said Ebarvia. “They have one story about me. They have searched and scrutinized my social media and elsewhere for evidence to support this single story of me, selectively highlighting details that make me ‘guilty by association.’”

“They have called my place of work, spoken to the press, and sent emails to universities where I’ve been invited to speak,” said Ebarvia. “All in an effort to discredit me or worse.”

Ebarvia claimed “many people” had asked her to remain on the board.

“It is clear to me that however willing I am to listen and learn and dialogue, I will not be able to serve in the capacity I had hoped,” she said. “The work the board has ahead is too great and important, and I do not want to derail from that work.

“Although the voices at the last two meetings have been largely one-sided, these are not the only voices in the community,” she said.  She had spoken to numerous people in the community, including those who are Jewish. Many asked her to continue as a board member, she said.

But some are against diversity, equity and inclusion, and a parent told her it was about “woke cancel culture.”

“My fear is there are those in the community who will use what’s happened to me to derail the very work of equity and inclusion that our community needs now more than ever for all kids,” Ebarvia said.

In a similar incident in the Colonial School District, a school board member also resigned last month after she posted to Facebook calling the Israeli Defense Force a terrorist group, sparking outrage in that community.

Just two months after Hamas carried out brutal and horrific attacks on Israeli men, women, and children, former University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill told Congress that Penn students can call for genocide against Jews depending on “the context.”

Although she released a video walking back that statement, a controversy has ensued with the Ivy League school’s board of trustees considering whether to remove her.   Congress is now investigating Penn, as is the civil rights division of the Department of Education. The campus has been rocked by antisemitic incidents and pro-Hamas protests, leaving Jewish students fearful.

Friday, three Republican representatives began circulating sponsoring memos for bills that would fight antisemitism in the state.

One bill, sponsored by Rep. Robert Mercuri (R-Allegheny), would ensure that any institution of higher education in the state that receives direct funding from the state must acknowledge antisemitism as harassment and bullying.

A second bill sponsored by Reps. Kristin Marcell (R-Richboro) and Joe Hogan (R-Penndel) would require the Department of Education to write curriculum guidelines for schools offering Holocaust and genocide instruction. It would also require transparency for parents so they know what their children are learning.

In addition, Hogan sponsored a resolution declaring November 9, 2024, as Antisemitism Awareness and Education Day in Pennsylvania.

The lawmakers noted that The Economist recently released a poll result that showed 1 in 5 young Americans think the Holocaust is a myth. And that disinformation about Hamas’ barbarity toward the Israelis is spreading online.

Marcell, a former Council Rock School Board member, said students in that district learn about the Holocaust and genocide, but not every district teaches it.

In middle school, the students read Elie Weisel’s Holocaust memoir “Night,” then do a project about it, whether that is a poem, making a model, or something on the internet game Minecraft, she said.

“Unfortunately, not every school district uses that type of curriculum,” said Marcell. “It’s time for us to take action and ensure our youth understand,” said Marcell.

She was also struck by a recent antisemitic incident in her district. On November 1, a group of masked men yelling “Free Palestine” ripped down an Israeli flag from a wall of the Café Ole in Upper Southampton, took it outside the restaurant, and trashed it, terrifying staff and patrons.

Marcell hopes these bills will get bipartisan support. She noted the Pennsylvania House came together on October 17 and passed a resolution urging Congress to provide the State of Israel with the support necessary to ensure its safety and security and condemn the terrorist attack in Israel by Hamas.

Mercuri said, “We thought it was the right thing to do to pass this so everyone on campus feels safe. What occurred in the United States Congress this week was both heartbreaking and abhorrent.”

Mercuri said he called for Penn’s board of trustees to take immediate action right after he found out about Magill’s statements. For the leader of “an elite university” to condone antisemitism “made us shudder,” he said.

“People contacted me about the testimony of the Penn president,” said Marcell. “And they are very concerned. So, when you combine some of the things that have happened over the last couple of weeks, I believe we have to take action to help educate and create awareness about antisemitism, making sure that people know about the Holocaust and that it isn’t a myth. It’s time for us to take action and make sure our youth understand. This is a history lesson they need to know about and that we don’t want to repeat.”

“I really do hope by early next week we will have a bipartisan group of members supporting it,” said Marcell.

(This article first appeared in Broad + Liberty.)

Although the 2024 elections are a full eleven months away, candidates — incumbent Democrats in particular — are having to navigate the current Israeli-Hamas war with voters in mind. And just as incumbent U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D) was trying to maneuver against his likely Republican opponent on the issue as it heated to new levels, he may have been outflanked by a member of his own party.

The entire debate intensified earlier this week after Penn President Elizabeth “Liz” Magill’s testimony Tuesday to a Congressional committee, testimony that has drawn widespread criticism.

At the hearing, Magill and other university presidents were pressed by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) as to whether a student calling for Jewish genocide would be a violation of each university’s code of conduct.

More than once, Magill answered, “If the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment, yes.”

Stefanik was incredulous. “Conduct, meaning committing the act of genocide?” Stefanik asked.

At 5:15 Wednesday evening, Casey posted on X, “President Magill’s comments yesterday were offensive, but equally offensive was what she didn’t say. The right to free speech is fundamental, but calling for the genocide of Jews is antisemitic and harassment, full stop.”

By 5:30, however, Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick called for Magill to step down.

Even before McCormick’s statement — and just one minute after Casey condemned Magill but stopped short of calling for her removal — State Senator Steve Santarsiero significantly raised the stakes. A Bucks County Democrat, Santarsiero also called for Magill’s resignation while adding, “I will not vote for any state funding for the university until she does so.”

Charlie Gerow, a longtime GOP consultant and pundit, said Santarsiero’s stance aligned more with McCormick, thereby painting Casey into a corner.

“At a time when strength is required and demanded, Casey has again been weak,” Gerow said.

“He hasn’t called out [U.S. Representative] Summer Lee, he’s taken a hesitant stand on Magill, and a member of his own party’s strong statement and strong position on the Penn president makes Casey’s position look even weaker,” Gerow summarized.

When contacted for comment, a spokesperson for Sen. Casey pointed to a FOX News article she said represented his position.

“Like Governor Shapiro, Senator Casey wants UPenn’s board to meet and determine whether President Magill’s comments align with the university’s values,” the story noted, attributing the quote to a Casey spokesperson.

Magill’s testimony was so problematic that Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and the White House have both condemned her testimony. Shapiro called the testimony “failed leadership.”

The political shockwaves were so heavy that Magill posted online a walk back of her testimony, and a day later Penn’s board hastily called an emergency meeting.

Santarsiero’s district makes his stance all the more important — purple-ish Bucks County, which has widely come to be viewed as a crucial swing county. And if Magill does in fact get removed or resigns, Santarsiero’s impact on the debate diminishes Casey’s role as the commonwealth’s senior Senator.

At the Congressional hearing, members of both parties demonstrated support for the protection of Jews; yet some representatives did break down along typical party lines with calls for more funding to solve the problem.

Some candidates are offering more public support than others, all of which will inevitably come to be weighed in future elections.

Rep. Summer Lee, a Pittsburgh Democrat whose district includes the Tree of Life Synagogue which was attacked five years ago, has faced substantial criticism at home. Lee was one of ten representatives (nine of them Democrats) who voted against a bipartisan resolution “standing with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists.”

A local rabbi expressed his frustration.

“I am a little disappointed that she has not been more proactive in finding the right language and forum in which to speak to and support her Jewish constituents on Israel,” Rabbi Seth Adelson told the New York Times.

The paper said Adleson’s son “has been called to active duty in the Israel Defense Forces, and he added that the division in Ms. Lee’s district — racial, religious, ethnic — over Israel and Palestine ‘is not helpful.’”

Even before Magill testified on Capitol Hill, her management of the war’s politics had come under heavy criticism from wealthy alumni who were stopping or putting on hold their donations to the university.

Those alumni were upset that Penn’s administration failed to condemn a “Palestine Writes Literature Festival” that many said crossed the lines into overt antisemitism.

Just days after the Nov. 7 election, Democrat Tricia Ebarvia posted to Facebook promoting a seminar that purports to teach the history of Israel and the Palestinians but is filled with inaccurate and antisemitic tropes. Among them are descriptions of Israel as a colonial power and references to “ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.”

She invited members of the community to attend the webinar.

Instead, about 75 residents showed up at an Upper Dublin School Board meeting on Wednesday. Most urged the board to remove Ebarvia before she is even sworn in.

Although she apologized later, Ebarvia did not attend the meeting Wednesday to be sworn in with the other new members. In a statement read before public comment, Ebarvia said she was traveling for business and would be sworn in later.

The board as a whole had previously issued a statement saying it was against antisemitism and any other hatred against “any community.”

Resident Anita Brister, who noted she is Catholic, said, “I felt the apology from Ms. Ebarvia at the other meeting raised some questions. Basically, sharing an anti-Israel webinar, I think it’s safe to say, is one-sided. It could be considered antisemitic. It could be considered propaganda. It was incredibly offensive and hurtful to many in the community.

“The especially troubling part to me was it wasn’t entirely honest, the apology,” said Brister. “Because originally, she told people she was tagged. Someone put it on her page…I know the difference between tagging and when you share something, which is actually what she did.”

A woman in a hijab and her husband, who both refused to give their last names, defended Ebarvia and lashed out at Israel and the war in Gaza.

Members of the audience called out while they spoke, one person saying, “Am Yisrael Chai,” a popular chant meaning “The people of Israel live.” Later, there were calls of “Jewish lives matter.”

An argument ensued after they told an audience member to delete pictures he had taken of the wife.

Resident Andy Kessler told the board the petition he had given on Nov. 15 asking Ebarvia to step down over the posting to the webinar hosted by “several notable antisemites” now has more than 2,500.

“While Ms. Ebarvia offered an apology at that board meeting, it fell far short,” said former board member Kessler. While Ebarvia said she shared the post out of what she called “‘compassion for people I know who are also suffering,’” Kessler said, “Hamas’ terrorist attack on Oct. 7 was the worst terrorist attack in Israel’s history and the single deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. Women were raped and mutilated. Babies were placed into ovens to die. Sen. Jacky Rosen was in a group of 40 U.S. senators who screened footage from Oct. 7 in a closed-door session.”

He quoted Rosen (D-Nev.) as saying, “‘Given the effort by some individuals and organizations around the world to deny what happened that day, it was important that as policymakers, we bear witness to the full extent of atrocities committed by Hamas.’

“It does not seem that bearing witness to those atrocities, and the effect it had and continues to have on this community, is on Ms. Ebarvia’s radar. Ms. Ebarbvia is hosting a conference in Boston on Jan. 5, 2024, and at the conference, she is hosting a woman named Autumn Allen. Ms. Allen also (allegedly) has a history of posting and promoting antisemitic information…which parrots language used by Hamas.”

“It is an incredibly sad commentary that this information about this official came to light only after the ballots were cast,” he added. “We should demand more of our local party leaders, Chris Pastore and the Upper Dublin Democratic Committee.”

Some parents were concerned about antisemitic graffiti recently written in an Upper Dublin High School restroom and the slow reaction by school administrators. One mother said she had previously pulled her son out of the Upper Dublin School District and sent him to the Barrack Hebrew Academy because of antisemitic bullying by other students.

Dr. Melissa Barenbaum said her family joined others to donate copies of “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl” to the district after they were assured the books would be taught to students. Later, they found out they were not being taught in a meaningful way and asked for them back.

Resident Tamir Kuznits, who emigrated from Israel and still has family there, said, “I will not be silent about this.” Ebarvia asked people to sign into a webinar involving Israel “that depicted them as oppressors, ethnic cleansers and apartheid rulers and genocide creators.” She “did not lead the discussion but invited people to join in and listen. This tells me that Mrs. Ebarvia shares these views. She’s also friends with proven antisemites on Facebook. If I knew one of my Facebook friends was racist, antisemitic, or anti-American, I would drop them in a heartbeat, yet this was not the case here.”

“Ms. Ebarvia joins the same woke movement of uneducated pro-Hamas student protestors scattered across this nation,” Kuznits said. “Anyone who utters the words ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘From the river to the sea’ is 100 percent OK with the idea that innocent civilians must live every second with being blown apart with rockets launched with reckless abandon. Your child in the park playing with neighborhood friends may never come home. Free Palestine chanters agree with innocent people being killed in their homes. Women and children being gang raped, babies being disemboweled, burned alive, and people taken hostage to an undisclosed hell, especially if you are female.”

Hamas is “anti-gay, anti-women’s rights” and on a mission to “rid the world of all Jews, all Americans and control and destroy the western world.”

He asked the board to use “whatever means” to remove Ebarvia from office.

As residents requested, board President Jeffrey Wallack refrained from appointing Ebarvia to the policy, education, or curriculum committees. Vice President Mark Sirota said the board cannot oust her because “almost nothing is more sacred than the will of the voters.” Board members also said they are open to anti-bias training from the Anti-Defamation League or a similar group.

Ebarvia, a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) administrator at the Greene Street Friends School in Philadelphia, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

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The latest TikTok dustup made me realize that the newest iteration of an alphabet generation–I think it’s now up to Z, although given the acronym for sexual minorities and how that expanded beyond LGBT, we could be out of Aramaic characters–are not serious people. They are ignorant of history, preoccupied with irrelevant things like pronouns and however many “spirits” they have, and are just incredibly annoying.

Before I really get into it, a caveat: I am four decades removed from those halcyon years when you don’t need to pay for your rent, your food, your tuition, or the consequences of your actions. I myself was a rather tame young woman who could run for political office without worrying that some scandal of her past would frustrate those efforts. The worst thing I ever did was kick a horse after bucking and throwing me onto the very hard soil of northern Montgomery County. Believe me, Bluebell deserved it.

So perhaps I am not objective when I say that the vast majority of these kids are pampered and pretentious little darlings who play at human rights activism in the same way they used to play with their Barbie dolls: It’s a diversion, more than anything else. And when they are actually presented with a true human rights crisis, they can’t understand why anyone would disagree with their take on the topic.

Which brings me back to TikTok. The intrepid independent journalist Yashar Ali shed light on a bizarre phenomenon that started in the past few days, only weeks after a group of bloodthirsty Palestinian terrorists massacred 1,200 innocent Jews in cold blood. We’ve already seen how some of these Gen Z darlings have screamed out their antisemitism through the streets of large cities, showing solidarity with Hamas when they weren’t ripping down the posters of missing, kidnapped Israeli babies.

We’ve read the letters that they have signed onto, pledging support for the erasure of Israel and the annihilation of its inhabitants “from the river to the sea.” We have even seen them suggest that Israel is lying about how many people were killed and that this was just some psyops to allow it to commit a “genocide” against the Palestinians in Gaza.

But what Yashar Ali uncovered is even worse than these repellent displays of inhumanity. There is now a trend on TikTok of American youth urging their comrades to read Osama Bin Laden’s “Letter to America” because they find it both elucidating and wise. We are talking about the same Bin Laden who orchestrated the massacre of 3,000 Americans on 9/11. It is true that most of these kids were either infants or weren’t even born when the Twin Towers came down almost a quarter century ago.

But that is absolutely irrelevant. I was born exactly 20 years, minus three days after Pearl Harbor, and I understand everything that happened, every aspect of the attack by Japan, every reason why we were pulled into World War II, and even why it was necessary to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I know all of this because I studied history, a history that is apparently no longer taught in some schools.

These children, who find value in Bin Laden’s words, would be laughable if this weren’t such a horrific commentary on the quality of those who will lead us into the future. They absorb the hateful rhetoric of an Islamist who despised the United States because it somehow validates their hatred of Israel, their innate antisemitism, and their disgust with their native land.

And instead of understanding that Bin Laden would have strangled the breath out of anyone who actually used “pronouns” and raised that increasingly mottled rainbow flag, they think he has lessons to teach and accomplishments to emulate.

To say that I am disgusted with these children is an understatement. I passed “bemusement” a long time ago, well before 1,200 Jews were assassinated simply because of who they were. I mocked the trans activists who whimpered and whined about the cruelty of a world that didn’t understand their viscous form of “gender fluidity.” I laughed.

But I’m not laughing now. I am repelled and disgusted, and I truly hope that him/his and she/her figure out what the hell is going on before they find themselves on the wrong side of a genocide.

At a recent congressional hearing on antisemitism at elite U.S. colleges, terrorism expert Dr. Jonathan Schanzer called the University of Pennsylvania “probably the worst campus I’ve seen.”

In response to questions from U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Bucks), Schanzer said, “It is embarrassing to me, as a son of Philadelphia and as a Jew, to see this happening. It is unbelievable that it’s happening in America, for that matter.”

And now the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is opening an investigation into the University of Pennsylvania’s handling of antisemitic and Islamophobic occurrences on its campus.

Jewish organizations were worried by UPenn’s decision to welcome the Palestine Writes Festival just before Yom Kippur and near a building where Jewish students were going to pray. Among the speakers at the Palestine Writes Festival was noted antisemite Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame.

The Hillel building was then vandalized by a person yelling antisemitic slurs.

In the wake of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists, the situation has gotten worse, Schanzer said.

“You have a speaker at Penn against the occupation, a rally praising Hamas for a job well done on 10/7. We have at Penn’s AEPi house, someone scribbled the message ‘Jews are Nazis.’ The Hillel was broken into. The Chabad was vandalized. A swastika was drawn on an academic building. We’re watching protests where they’re calling for Palestine from the river to the sea. This is calling for the destruction of the State of Israel. They’re calling for an intifada, a violent uprising. There’s a vigil and a walkout to honor the Palestinian martyrs, those who are killed fighting against Israel. And then, finally, a faculty Senate statement was published that was really, I think, the end message was that the university should not cave to Jewish donors who are demanding change. This is unbelievable that it’s taking place at Penn. It’s unbelievable that it’s taking place in America, and it’s just a microcosm of what we’re watching across the country.”

Several prominent donors withdrew their funding from the university, and alumni wrote letters protesting the university’s lack of action to stop the antisemitic hate speech.

On Nov. 1, Penn President Liz Magill announced a task force to work on the problem, with increased security and education. She said steps would be taken to stop antisemitism.

On Nov.  8, holographic images with antisemitic slurs were projected on Penn buildings. Last week, signs appeared on benches around the Penn campus, similar to the signs with Israeli hostages, except the pictures were of cows.

Steve Silverman, a spokesman for Penn, sent this statement: “We have received the letter from the Department of Education and look forward to cooperating fully with the department. The university is taking clear and comprehensive action to prevent, address, and respond to antisemitism, with an action plan anchored in the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. President Magill has made clear antisemitism is vile and pernicious and has no place at Penn;  the university will continue to vigilantly combat antisemitism and all forms of hate.”

Penn is one of several universities around the country that the OCR is investigating for antisemitism, including Cornell University and Columbia University, after receiving complaints about alleged incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia.

The investigations include five antisemitism cases and two Islamophobia cases.

As blowback from the Israeli/Hamas war continues to affect the U.S. some elected officials revealed their thoughts on social media, leading to controversy. State Sen. Nikil Saval (D-Philadelphia) protested with pro-Palestinian groups at 30th Street Station recently. And one of Saval’s staffers posted anti-Israel, pro-Hamas messages to social media.

Now a Colonial School Board member and a newly elected but unsworn Upper Dublin School Board member have both been called out for alleged antisemitic incidents.

After she said in a Facebook post that the Israeli Defense Force was a terrorist group and that their campaign against Hamas was genocide, Colonial School District residents were outraged. School Board Member Jamina Clay Ph.D. submitted her resignation and the board heard comments from an outraged public at a Thursday night meeting.

Although she has resigned from her elected suburban post, Clay remains an assistant superintendent in the Philadelphia School District, which released a statement saying that while they disagree with her comments, she has a First Amendment right to speak.

Clay posted an apology to Facebook: “Because of the pain that my post has caused, I have resigned from my seat on the Colonial School Board effective immediately. I understand that the district needs to heal from the painful words that I chose, and it is best to do that in my absence. The board is prepared to move forward and I hope that with me no longer occupying the seat, the community is able to do so as well…I apologize for the post that I made and I hope to learn from this situation. I will continue to pray for peace in the Middle East.”

The  board will vote on whether to accept Clay’s resignation next month.

The district issued a statement, that said in part, “Colonial School District prides itself on cultivating a sense of belonging. All our schools work hard each year to maintain their designations as No Place for Hate Schools as part of our partnership with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and take part in many other initiatives and programs meant to encourage equity, inclusion, and belonging. We condemn all forms of hatred and violence and remind all that we have counseling services available for anyone who may be struggling.”

“The work to cultivate a sense of belonging in our schools is ever-evolving and never truly complete. We continue this work in a spirit of kindness, empathy, and in the hopes of moving our district forward in a positive direction,” the sdistrict said.

Jamina Clay Ph.D.

A change.org petition with more than 2,000 signatures has been launched about Tricia Ebarvia, a newly elected Upper Dublin School Board member who ran as a Democrat.

Ebarvia posted to Facebook promoting a seminar that purports to teach the history of Israel and the Palestinians but is filled with inaccurate and antisemitic tropes. Among them are descriptions of Israel as a colonial power and references to  “ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.”

Community members then launched  a change.org petition with more than 1,500 signatures, asking her to refuse to be sworn in and apologize to the Upper Dublin community.

Ebarvia’s post, made shortly after her election, encouraged Upper Dublin residents, students, and teachers to participate in the webinar entitled “Getting to the Root: Sharing Stories and Humanizing Palestine-Part 1”.

One of the speakers on the webinar (who Ebarvia follows on Instagram) is Sawsan Jaber. Jaber recently posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) referring to President Joseph Biden as “Genocide Joe.”

In another X post, Jaber, a teacher in the Chicago area, wrote, “Teaching Palestine is dismantling single story narratives that serve the purpose of justifying genocide and displacement funded by our American $$. You can’t be a social justice advocate and not advocate for Palestinians.”

The petition says, “In the Upper Dublin School District, we have a relatively large number of Jewish students, parents, teachers, staff, and administration members. The District is also home to a number of Israelis. The language identified in the webinar’s description and Ms. Ebarvia’s close association with those who are supporting the same is very concerning. The language is not only inaccurate and extremely hurtful to Jewish and Israeli people, but her associates’ comments about the United States should be distressing to all Americans.”

Jaclyn Ackerman signed the petition and wrote, “We thought we lived in this bubble called Upper Dublin, and this bubble is no longer a bubble. After seeing what has been going on in Jewish communities throughout the world, we need to stand up and not be silent in the face of ignorance. Never again is now!”

Another person who signed, Ryan Levinson, wrote, “It is absolutely disgusting that this is happening in UD–a place that has been very welcoming to Jews since I was born. I graduated from UD in 2019 and could not be more disappointed. It is sad knowing that an Upper Dublin school board member is stupid enough to fall for the propaganda and lies being pushed out by Hamas.”

“Ms. Ebarvia’s social media activities demonstrate a complete lack of judgment with and, worse, has essentially endorsed antisemitic propaganda that has no place in our community,” the petition states. It asks that Ebarvia not take the oath of office and apologize to the community.

Otherwise, it suggests her removal from the board will be sought.

Ebarvia, who works as a diversity, equity, and inclusion administrator at the Greene Street Friends School in Philadelphia, did not respond to requests for comment.

Upper Dublin School Board President Jeff Wallack released this statement: “It is not the Board’s position to comment on election matters or statements made by, or about, a community member recently elected to the Board, but not yet sworn in and seated. It is the Board’s position to comment that the mission of the School District is to provide the best educational opportunities and support to and for all students.  The Board and the District oppose anything contrary to that mission, including acts of hatred, bullying, and intolerance such as, without limitation, terrorism, antisemitism, and religious or cultural discrimination or intolerance of any type against members of any community.”

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick is calling out incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D) over his past support for the Iran deal and his silence on new cash the Biden administration is allowing to go to the Islamist republic.

During a podcast interview with DVJournal, McCormick reiterated his support for Israel and its military response to the Hamas terrorist attack launched from Gaza.

“The attack on Israel was evil in its purest form, absolute barbarism,” said McCormick, who served in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division during the Gulf War.

“And it’s been a test, really,” he said. “And that test, well, many have failed the test with moral ambiguity. You see that with college presidents (and) with some members of Congress. I think even Sen. Casey has been very weak on this compared to, ironically, Sen. (John) Fetterman, who has taken a much stronger stance.”

“So it’s really important that we stand tall with both the moral clarity of what happened and our support for Israel. And so we must support Israel. We support it with the intelligence, with military capability it needs, but also with moral clarity.

“In one form or another, there needs to be a path to support for Israel. And that support can’t be held up for any reason,” said McCormick.

He also assailed the ongoing protests and antisemitic incidents on college campuses around the country, including in the Delaware Valley.

“I think what’s happened on our college campuses since the horrific attack on Israel, the barbarism, (is) an eye-opener,” said McCormick. “I mean, it has been an absolute eye-opener. Because it’s been explicit antisemitism. But more than that, it’s been a reflection of the fact that American institutions of higher education, the Ivy Leagues in particular, but generally speaking, have lost their way.”

He added, “The lack of moral clarity on the difference between right and wrong, the difference between merit and not merit. The difference between America and the exceptional contribution it’s made to the world, the uniqueness of America, with all its faults, which is still undeniably the greatest country in the history of the world in terms of bringing people out of poverty.

“The lack of clarity on that, the hijacking of all that’s great about our country, I mean we saw it all. It’s not just the antisemitism. Of course, the antisemitism is horrific and indefensible. But it’s part of a broader thing where all the basic assumptions about what made our country and our society the greatest in the world are under siege,” said McCormick.

“And so I hope that this terrible turn of events, we can have some good happen,” said McCormick. “Which is, you see a lot of people, people in the finance community, people in general, a lot of Jewish Americans pulling back and saying, ‘Oh my Lord, I want no affiliation with what I’m seeing. Those are not my people.’ And I think this is showing a huge division within the Democratic party…

“What person who is a clear-thinking person could look at those people protesting and chanting ‘Death to Israel’ and say, ‘Those are the people that are in my party.’ So, this is hopefully an inflection point of a recalibration of our institutions of higher education. I’d like to see some people get fired, to be honest with you.”

Asked if that includes University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, who has been criticized as slow to act as antisemitic incidents on campus mounted, McCormick replied, “Of course. Anybody who showed in this moment of crisis that they couldn’t step up and be clear about good and bad, evil versus not evil, I think is not qualified to lead.”

The Philly Palestine Coalition is calling for a boycott of ‘Zionist’ owned businesses in the Philadelphia area. In particular, the anti-Israel organization is targeting restaurants owned by Steven Starr because a spokesperson posted a message supporting Israel after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.

The Coalition’s Instagram post targeting the Starr Restaurants mistakenly attributed a statement by a business associate of Steven Starr to the restaurant company’s spokesperson.

“This attack is not just against Israel but against all Jewish people,” it said. “Hamas is an enemy of Christians, Hindus, minorities, LGBTQ, atheists, people of color, and anyone who differs from their extremist idealist ideology that all Jews must die. We all have skin in the game and must show our support for Israel.”

However, a spokesperson for Starr Restaurants did condemn the attack: “The horrific acts carried out by Hamas against the Israeli and all Jewish people are indefensible and barbaric.”

In response, the Philly Palestine Coalition urged supporters to boycott the Starr restaurants and offered a list.

“Supporting BDS [Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions] as a personal practice is both an easy and effective way to support Palestinian Resistance, no matter where you are in the world,” the group wrote. “We are working on compiling a comprehensive list of Palestinian-owned and anti-Zionist aligned establishments in a matter that also ensures safety for business owners.”

The Coalition has also been leading protest marches in the city, including one on Oct. 8 in which participants appeared to celebrate the massacre.

“What happened yesterday was freedom fighters fighting for freedom,” one speaker said. Another added, “I salute Hamas for a job well done!”

Hams has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States government.

Michael Balaban, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Philadelphia, and Jason Holtzman, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, issued a statement responding to the targeting of the restaurants.

“The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia condemns the Philly Palestine Coalition’s antisemitic campaign encouraging the boycott of ‘Zionist’ owned businesses in the Philadelphia area. This tactic does not in any way support Palestinians – it only serves to intimidate, isolate, and scapegoat Israeli and Jewish businesses.

Targeting businesses solely because of their Israeli and Jewish ownership is blatant antisemitism and only further contributes to the alarming levels of hate against Jews nationwide. No business should be villainized for rightfully condemning Hamas, a designated terrorist organization, whose purpose is to kill Israelis and Jews with no regard for Palestinian life.”

Barri Miller with the Jewish Business Network Philadelphia said, “I’ve seen a lot of posts about the boycott. It’s horrible.”

“I think all the Jewish community, after seeing that post, is reposting that on social media and saying that we need, as a community, to support those restaurants, for sure.”

She said her family is making reservations.

A spokesperson for the Starr restaurants did not respond to requests for comment.

A leader of the Philly Palestine Coalition is Philadelphia writer Nicki Kattoura, who is also involved with the Institute for Palestine Studies and the Resist Foundation. He was also a participant in the controversial Palestine Writes Literature Festival at the University of Pennsylvania, held on the eve of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Several antisemitic incidents occurred on the Penn campus afterward, leading donors, alumni, and students to demand that Penn President Liz Magill take a stronger stance against antisemitism.

On Wednesday, the university announced a plan to counter “hate” that includes Islamophobia. She noted the first Jewish student at Penn was Moses Levy in 1772, who later became the first Jewish trustee.

Penn will work to improve safety and security, engagement, and education, she said. She acknowledged the recent antisemitic incidents on campus.

“We recognize it is our collective responsibility as a community to stand clearly and strongly against antisemitism in all its odious forms. Penn has work to do,” Magill said. An Antisemitism Task Force was also formed.

FBI Director Christopher Wray testified Tuesday to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, saying Jews make up 2.4 percent of the population but are the victims of about 60 percent of all religious-based hated crimes.

“We also cannot and do not discount the possibility that Hamas or another foreign terrorist organization may exploit the current conflict to conduct attacks here on our own soil,” Wray said.