An Oakland high school is in the spotlight over the appearance of a Palestinian flag atop the school’s flagpole.
The flag over Fremont High School was first publicized on Nov. 14 when Zack Haber, a freelance journalist and substitute teacher, posted it to X.
“I thought it was a good thing that it was there. I took the photo and I uploaded it,” Haber told the Jewish News of Northern California
Fremont High School in Oakland… pic.twitter.com/cXhgZ5H960
— Zack Haber (@ZZZZZZZZZZZack) November 14, 2023
apparently it was up for weeks! and with the tweet the students organizing efforts have now been seen by tens of thousands
— rene (@renepakmorrison) November 16, 2023
Two days later, Fremont High went big time when the X account Libs of TikTok posted Haber’s photo.
“They removed the American Flag and replaced it with a Palestinian one,” the post said.
This is reportedly outside Fremont High School (@FremontTigers) in Oakland, CA @OUSDNews. They removed the American Flag and replaced it with a Palestinian one. pic.twitter.com/aEph2TeeYy
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 16, 2023
In the time between those two posts, the flag had disappeared, according to KTVU-TV.
The station quoted a woman it named only as Shira, who she said was of Israeli and Arab ethnicity and has a seventh-grader in Oakland schools.
“Our students are struggling to keep up after Covid with their math and their reading and I don’t understand why this is such an issue here. And, if it was about peace, there would have been an Israeli flag and a peace sign as well,” Shira said.
“It causes real damage on the ground to the students, and it causes more divisiveness and puts our children in harm’s way. We already have to deal with violence on school grounds and now we’re going to have to deal with geopolitical conflict,” she said.
The Palestinian flag flying at Fremont High School in Oakland.
California law requires the flags of the United States and of the State of California to be “prominently installed, displayed, and maintained” at every school. pic.twitter.com/dmPEuovBtm
— Laura Powell (@LauraPowellEsq) November 16, 2023
The Oakland Unified School District has been mum on the whole thing, according to the Post Millennial. There is no official documentation of who put up the flag or how long it was there, according to Newsweek.
The Gateway Pundit supplied some context, noting that Fremont High School was among those Bay Area schools in which students walked out on Oct. 18 in support of Hamas.
More context comes from a resolution passed last month by the Oakland Educators Association, according to KGO-TV.
The outlet reported that the resolution “appears to support Palestinian liberation, calls for an immediate end to the occupation of Gaza by the Israeli military and calls on all elected officials to call for an immediate cease-fire.”
The teacher union resolution “also mentions giving support to any teachers reprimanded for teaching about Palestinian liberation in their classrooms,” KGO reported.
Marc Levine, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, did not take kindly to the union effectively endorsing Hamas.
“This was terrorism that Hamas engaged in and terrorism that OEA is endorsing. And what’s happened since here in our own community. Anti-Semitic incidents have increased by nearly 400 percent since Oct. 7 and engaging in the type of political activity that OEA is engaging in is encouraging anti-Semitism against our own Jewish community. It is wrong.”
A school in @OUSDNews removed it American flag today and raised the Palestinian flag.
And people wonder why Jewish families don’t feel safe in OUSD right now. pic.twitter.com/ZhYnbtUVFM
— Megan Bacigalupi (@meganbaci) November 15, 2023
Heather Eisner, who has children in the Oakland Unified School District, said Jewish families are under siege.
“We are afraid to send our kids to school. We are afraid to wear a Jewish star. We are removing mezuzahs from our doors,” she said.
“I have a hard time understanding why a teachers union or school board thinks they should be creating resolutions around one of the most complex international conflicts, when even global leaders currently cannot agree on a resolution,” she said.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
