A presentation by student groups criticized Israel for apartheid and human rights violations
GLORIA REBECCA GOMEZ – NOVEMBER 9, 2023 10:05 AM
Arizona Mirror
Arizona’s schools chief is urging public schools to disband student clubs sponsored by UNICEF and Amnesty International after a pro-Palestine meeting at a Scottsdale high school presented content that Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne called antisemitic and despicable.
“I have no authority to tell the schools what to do on this, but I advise them to keep Amnesty International and UNICEF out of their literature, their clubs out of their schools (and) off of their campuses,” Horne said at a Nov. 8 press conference. “They generate antisemitism among impressionable young people.”
Last week, the student-led chapters of UNICEF and Amnesty International at Desert Mountain High School in Scottsdale held a joint meeting during lunch to discuss the Israel-Palestine conflict. A slideshow presentation compiled by Desert Mountain students in both clubs accused Israel of numerous human rights violations, including illegal occupation, apartheid and ethnic cleansing. It was quickly disseminated on social media by right wing activists.
UNICEF, or the United Nations International Children’s Fund, is an agency of the United Nations that focuses on providing humanitarian aid to children around the world and has a presence in as many as 190 countries. Amnesty International is an international nongovernmental organization that advocates for human rights.
