The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights said this week it’s investigating a complaint of antisemitism at Central Bucks West High School.
The “shared ancestry investigation” is based on an alleged Title IV violation of the Civil Rights Act, which bans discrimination based on “race, color, or national origin” for programs receiving federal funding.
At the center of the complaint is CB West Spanish teacher Youssef Abdelwahab and the school’s Muslim Student Association, according to news accounts from The Philadelphia Inquirer and other news outlets. Abdelwahab is the club’s advisor.
During two school board meetings earlier this spring, several angry parents accused Mr. A, as he’s known by students, of “brainwashing” students with social media posts supporting Palestinians and a video on his business account where he sells traditional Arab headdresses, that said Israel is “ethnically cleansing Christianity from Gaza,” according to the complaint.
Another MSA club posting included a prayer for Ramadan saying, “Oh Allah, deal with the usurping Jews and the treacherous Zionists,” reported The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The group removed the post and apologized the following day, saying it was “accidentally” posted. However, the content was reposted the following day, which was Easter, according to news reports.
Before news of the federal complaint, a district-planned “Compassionate Listening Night” was scheduled for May 16 at 7 p.m. at Tohickon Middle School. At the time, James Scanlon, Central Bucks interim superintendent, said, “We must learn to listen, process information and recognize various perspectives, emotions and anger that this war has resurrected.”
Scanlon was not available for comment Tuesday.
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