{"id":69441,"date":"2025-12-13T01:22:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T01:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/69441\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T01:22:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T01:22:11","slug":"local-leaders-intervene-to-secure-holocaust-survivors-invitation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/69441\/","title":{"rendered":"Local leaders intervene to secure Holocaust survivor\u2019s invitation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bridge Multicultural Project\u2019s president Mark Appel, pictured receiving a recognition certificate from Congressmember Yvette D. Clarke, has recently denounced a fall 2025 decision by a school principal to deny a speaking invitation to Holocaust survivor Sami Steigmann. Appel\u2019s plea was among many voices that convinced the school to change its mind.
\nPhoto credit: Francesca N. Tate\/Brooklyn Eagle, \u00a9 2017\n<\/p>\n

BOERUM HILL \u2014 AN 85-YEAR-OLD HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR\u2019S INVITATION TO SPEAK AT A BROOKLYN MIDDLE SCHOOL has finally been granted, CBS News<\/a> and other sources reported. Sami Steigmann will speak about his experiences during the Holocaust at M.S. 447, also known as The Math & Science Exploratory School, in February, the United Jewish Teachers told reporters.<\/p>\n

\u00a0M.S. 447 Principal Arin Rusch last month declined a parent\u2019s request to invite Mr. Steigmann as a speaker after she read Steigmann\u2019s website, deciding that his viewpoints and statements on Israel and Palestine would be inappropriate for her students. However, city officials, including Mayor Eric Adams and City Councilmember Inna Vernikov<\/a>, R-48, denounced her move.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Likewise, Mark Appel, president of the Flatbush-based Bridge Multicultural Project, also condemned Principal Rusch\u2019s refusal. \u201cSteigmann does not speak about current Middle East politics in his formal presentations. His lectures focus solely on the Holocaust, the dangers of hatred, and the moral responsibility of young people to stand against bigotry. His personal story transcends politics; it is a testament to survival, dignity, and historical truth,\u201d Appel wrote.<\/p>\n

Moshe Stern of the United Jewish Teachers and Department of Education Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos are also credited with rectifying the situation.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t9\/11 memorial events in Brooklyn<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSeptember 11 |
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAmericans mark the 24th anniversary of the 9\/11 attacks with emotional ceremonies<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSeptember 11 |
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVolunteers prep millions of meals for fellow New Yorkers on 24th anniversary of 9\/11<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSeptember 10 |
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u2730PREMIUM
Canarsie Park holds 9\/11 vigil, other ceremonies hosted throughout Brooklyn<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSeptember 11 |
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\t\tLeave a Comment\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Bridge Multicultural Project\u2019s president Mark Appel, pictured receiving a recognition certificate from Congressmember Yvette D. Clarke, has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69442,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[3302,98,100,99,15075,9,24,63,5271],"class_list":["post-69441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-breaking","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-jewish-community-jewish-culture","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-schools"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}