A girls’ high school basketball coach was fired and one of the team’s players suspended after antisemitic rhetoric was spewed at players from a Jewish school they were playing.
A statement from the Yonkers school system and the mayor of the town said that the investigation into the incident is ongoing and there could be more actions taken.
The incident took place Thursday night at Yonkers HIgh School Early College Studies, a public school, in a game with The Leffell School, a private Jewish school in Hartsdale, WABC reported.
During the third quarter of the game, after several Leffell players were injured, the Leffell team decided to leave the court, according to player Robin Bosworth, writing in an op-ed for the Leffell student newspaper. Bosworth said the Roosevelt players hurled “antisemitic slurs and curses at us.”
“I support Hamas, you f–king Jew,” one Roosevelt player told an opponent, according to the New York City Public Schools Alliance, a group of parents and teachers fighting antisemitism, The New York Post reported.
The Leffell coach called his team to the sidelines, and they decided to leave the court. Later, the Roosevelt team forfeited the game.
Yonkers Public Schools Interim Superintendent Luis Rodriguez and Mayor Mike Spano condemned the incident in a statement issued on Sunday, WABC reported.
“The Yonkers Public Schools along with the City of Yonkers sincerely apologize to the students and community of The Leffell School for the painful and offensive comments made to their women’s basketball team during a recent game with Roosevelt High School- Early College Studies,” the statement said.
“Collectively, we do not and will not tolerate hate speech of any kind from our students and community. The antisemitic rhetoric reportedly made against the student athletes of The Leffell School are abhorrent, inappropriate and not in line with the values we set forth for our young people.”
The officials said their initial investigation, including interviews with game officials, coaches, students, and school officials and “a thorough review of videos take at the game” resulted in the firing of the Roosevelt coach and the dismissal of one player.
“The investigation is ongoing,” the statment said. “Should the District determine other students were involved in the incident, further action would be taken by the school District where appropriate.”
The statement also said that the mayor was convening a meeting of “religious, educational, and civic leaders” and that the school system “will administer further counseling and guided training sessions amongst the school community so to prevent this from happening again.”
The Post reported that Roosevelt principal Edward DeChent apologized to Michael Kay, the head of the Leffel School.
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[Featured image: Roosevelt High School/Google Maps]
