Instagram by advocacy group NYC Public School Alliance<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe student wasn\u2019t removed from the ceremony after displaying the flag and school staff continued reading off the names of graduates amid the commotion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere needs to be a true and meaningful consequence for unruly and disruptive behavior at any graduation ceremony,\u201d said Borough President Vito Fossella.<\/p>\n
School officials sent notices to parents before the ceremony that political displays of any kind are forbidden. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems that his parents encouraged the boy to do it,\u201d Fossella said. The Post has reached out to the boy\u2019s parents.<\/p>\n
Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella made a statement to his Facebook page about the incident. Brigitte Stelzer<\/p>\n
Critics across the city slammed the school for letting the student, whose name is being withheld because he\u2019s a minor, get away with it. <\/p>\n
\u201cToo late should have been handled with right on the spot !!\u201d one woman wrote online.<\/p>\n
Others emphasized that a graduation is not the time to make a \u201cpolitical statement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere should be only one flag flying at a graduation ceremony,\u201d another commenter wrote with an American flag emoji.<\/p>\n
Moshe Spern, the president of the United Jewish Teachers, said the silence from the Department of Education is deafening.<\/p>\n
The student\u2019s actions led to a debate on Facebook. FaceBook \/\u00a0 SaveNyc25<\/p>\n
\u201cGraduations should celebrate achievement and not push divisive political statements, especially in a city still healing from antisemitic violence,\u201d he wrote on X. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is the accountability from @NYCSchools Chancellor & @DOEChancellor? This directly violates guidance for neutral, inclusive ceremonies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The DOE did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
Still, some sided with the student, saying he was merely exercising his freedom of speech.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess freedom of speech doesn\u2019t count when it isn\u2019t speech that you agree with, does it,\u201d one man wrote on Facebook. <\/p>\n
Dr. Carole Lieberman, a psychiatrist who wrote two books on terrorism, said the incident was hardly a youthful prank.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents using graduation ceremonies as opportunities to intimidate others by waving Palestinian flags, or carrying antisemitic and anti-Israel signs, or changing their pre-approved graduation speeches to promote their Islamic beliefs, are doing no less than waging jihad,\u201d she told The Post. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese rebellious acts have continued \u2013 and will continue \u2013 as long as teachers and principals do nothing out of belief in the antisemitic\/anti-Israel cause, or because they\u2019re cowards.\u201d<\/p>\n
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