An anti-Israel booth at an Oregon elementary school International Extravaganza event handed out flyers that featured pictures of body bags, cited false statistics provided by the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas, and accused the Jewish state of committing genocide in its war against Hamas.
The event was held at Findley Elementary School in Portland on April 10. The purpose of the event was for the elementary students and families to display their cultural heritage with many of the booths sharing food, music, and child-friendly activities, according to parent Lisa Bradford.
Bradford and other parents, who requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation toward their children, shared with the Washington Examiner photos of the anti-Israel booth which displayed a Palestinian flag. It included Hamas-provided casualty statistics in a section labeled “Israel’s War on Gaza” — which were labeled as “falsified” in a March report. It also included a historically inaccurate map alleging to show Palestine’s loss of territory at the hands of Israel, and a poster board displaying family members lost in the war.
“I could not believe my eyes,” Bradford, parent to a third grader, told the Washington Examiner. “This is a cultural night for five to eleven year olds.”
Bradford said she approached Findley Principal Sherry Marsh, who another parent described as “manning the booth like a bouncer,” to express her concerns of the content of the booth.
“Principal Marsh defended the content as representing “lived experience,” Bradford recounted in an email. “When I noted the event was intended for cultural education, she responded, ‘This is their culture!’ Crucially, Principal Marsh stated that she agreed with the ideas presented. She had personally ‘vetted’ and approved each table prior to the event.”
A Public Communications Officer with the Beaverton School District told with the Washington Examiner that Marsh denied Bradford’s claims and that she was not part of the process of vetting the booths.
In an April 14 email to the Jewish families in the elementary school, Marsh apologized for the offensive display, said she has spoken with BSD officials including administrators in the district’s Office of Equity and Inclusion about the matter. Marsh noted in her email that there was an issue with a similar booth during last year’s International Extravaganza event as well.
“Throughout this year, I have spoken with many of you about your fear and worry that it would happen again,” Marsh wrote in the email shared with the Washington Examiner. “You have provided suggestions and thoughts on how it could be avoided. Although I felt I had done enough to ensure it wouldn’t happen again, I fell short.”
“I know that an apology doesn’t fix, or change what happened, or mitigate any of the lasting impact you might be feeling, but please know I know we need to do better. I am so sorry I let you down,” she added.
But parents within the Jewish community are dissatisfied with Marsh’s response, with one parent telling the Washington Examiner that Marsh was in discussions with parents about the event months before the festival, sharing that she would personally vet each booth.
“She blatantly stood in front of it, supportive of it, that the community, the children, should be seeing this material,” the parent said. “This is a kid’s event. These are her elementary school children, and she thinks that this is appropriate for them to be exposed to it?”
Bradford filed a bias report regarding the incident that was submitted to the Office of Equity and Inclusion, which was then handed off to the school principal. As a result, she says, Marsh was responsible for resolving the complaint filed against her.
Marsh told the Jewish families that due to the incident, the district’s “Equity Advisory Committee, made up of BSD staff members and BSD families, will be convening and developing guidelines for all schools to follow during events such as these that allow for the celebration of culture without the potential for harm of another culture.”
She also signaled that would be attending an event for BSD faculty next month in which staffers will hear from speakers from both the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland and Islamic community.
Meanwhile, the Beaverton Education Association, the district’s union for faculty and staff which has promoted left-leaning politicians, and is hosting an optional “Teaching Palestine” from Rethinking Schools event. However, it is not a Beaverton School District-sponsored event.
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The anti-Israel booth at Findley elementary comes at a moment in American history in which anti-Semitism is at a 45-year high, according to an audit conducted by the Anti-Defamation League. Verbal and physical antisemitic attacks have skyrocketed since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack, especially at educational institutions.
“We don’t feel safe,” a Jewish parent told the Washington Examiner. “My wife and I don’t feel safe with her [Marsh] at the school.”
