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Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Anti-Semitism Alive and Well in Lawrence? - UPDATED

I posted a few weeks back about the brave words of a Lawrence High School student, Ilana Yurkiewicz, who bemoaned her experiences with teachers in her school who she claimed tolerated anti-Semitic and anti-Orthodox sentiments expressed by her fellow students in the wake of the recent divisive school board elections. Outrageously, she was called a liar by a teacher in her school in the pages of the very same local paper a week later, even as he spent the rest of his statement excusing and being an apologist for the very sentiments he claimed to "know" had never happened.

Now, apparently, this courageous young woman has suffered yet again for her choice to speak out against what she perceived as an injustice. From a source who attended the Lawrence High School graduation ceremonies:
That young lady from LHS, Ilana Yurkiewicz, was valedictorian and spoke all about speaking out in the face of injustice and "if you see something, say something"

She was booed and jeered.
No word from the operative on who, exactly, did the jeering and booing, but any further information on the incident would be greatly appreciated.

Update: Here is a comment from a commenter who claims to be Ilana's sister:
I'm Ilana's sister, so if anyone was especially attuned to possible jeering, it was me. My family and I were sitting directly next to the teachers' section, and we have Ilana's entire speech (including the interruption) on videotape. During her speech, I did not notice any movement or shuffling or hissing in the teachers' section or onstage. Everyone, at least from my vantage point, seemed to give my sister utmost respect during the speech. She mentioned that when she first read Martin Niemöller's quote, she heard a little bit of rustling, but nothing major. The speech went on fine after that, until the last four lines. While she paused for dramatic effect, someone in the audience screamed out, "and then they came for the Palestinians!" He was shushed, and Ilana ignored him and eloquently finished her speech. She was cheered and sat down.

Then principal Touretz got up on stage to warn the audience about decorum while many people booed as the heckler left the auditorium. It seemed clear to me that they were jeering him and not Ilana. Of course, I cannot speak for the entire audience, but from my experience and from the videotape, I believe that account is accurate. Ilana was congratulated for her speech by many people after the ceremony.

Our family really appreciates the support you all have been giving Ilana. From someone who usually only hears the public school side, it is nice to hear kind words for Ilana from others. Thanks again, and I hope my account clears things up.
If this version is true (again, to me, it just hearsay - just like the first version, and all of the others left ion the comments), then it is a newsworthy event in and of itself. It's shocking that someone would get up and scream a pro-Palestinian comment in the middle of a speech given by someone that he obviously considers a pro-Jewish "collaborator" - simply because she spoke out in a way that defended the rights of Jews not to be openly denigrated, with the tacit support of teachers, in our schools. If that's how it hapened, that's pretty sick as well.

56 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

absolutely true. the jeerers were fellow students. not a mojority, but a vocal enough minority.

9:53 PM  
Blogger Orthonomics said...

This is really, really sad and outrageous.

10:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

actually, not true, the incident as I saw it was an unknown guest who shouted out something from the audience in response to something Ilana said in her speech. It was NOT a student, It was NOT a parent. A parent did attempt to quell the rudeness of the guest but teachers intervened and attempted to remove the guest.

Perhaps before you try to inflame the situation once again you should find out EXACTLY what was said.

Now, on another note...where were all the school board members...once again, Mansdorf, Forman, the lame ducks and Kopilow were Not in attendance. Long gone are the days where all the board members attended the MAJOR EVENTS. The Sussman and Greenbaum attended b/c their children graduated. Is that the last we will see of them. Shame Shame Shame. FOR ALL CHILDREN MY BUTTOCKS! Every One of them should have been there.

11:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ilana is a lovely young woman who doesn't like to be the center of attention or controversy. I wouldn't be surprised if she gave it up herself.

11:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh COME on. dont blame om for what hapened at graduation. and dont claim it didnt hapen. i was there. there was head shaking and hissing from some guests, not sure if they were students or not. One person got really out of hand. someone in my row claimed she knew the person was a family memeber of a teacher, not sure if thats true.

11:43 PM  
Blogger orthomom said...


Perhaps before you try to inflame the situation once again you should find out EXACTLY what was said.


Oh please. I received TWO e-mails on this topic, one from an eye witness. That's enough for me to put up this post, where if you note, I ask for commenters to flesh out the story by adding any further information.

11:51 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The person who made the comment was booed out of the auditorium and everyone cheered for Ilana when she finished her speech.

1:07 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The person who made the comment was a students step-father.

1:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...


The person who made the comment was booed out of the auditorium and everyone cheered for Ilana when she finished her speech.


C'mon, I was there too, and this is a total mischaracterization of the circumstances. There was clearly a significant group of people in the audience who booed during Ilana's speech, and they were booing in unison about her speech - not about any person who left the auditorium. As a family member of a graduate, I was appalled that there were a significant number of people who booed her and that there was very little response from other people in the audience or faculty members.

Anyone who attended the graduation and is in denial about this issue, has obviously slammed the door on any reconciliation in the community.

1:44 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

First, Pamela Greenbaum attended last year's graduation ceremony, despite the fact that neither one of her children were graduating that year. Additionally, she has attended graduations at the elementary schools, too. She deserves credit for that.

Second, one random person screamed "And then there's Palestine," a random comment that had nothing to do with the speech. That was the only interruption. She received applause just like every other speaker. To say that she was "booed and jeered" is a TREMENDOUS mischaracterization.

Then again, who comes to OrthoMom to get the facts?

2:10 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was there. She was not booed. Any negative sound effects were in response to the individual that yelled, 'Then they came for the Palestinians!'.

That individual was booed out of the auditorium.

Once again, Orthomom trying to stir some sh*t in the community with false innuendos and accusations.

7:32 AM  
Blogger orthomom said...


Once again, Orthomom trying to stir some sh*t in the community with false innuendos and accusations.



Listen, there are two sets of conflicting assertions from eye witnesses here. It isn't like I am making this up out of whole cloth. I received a very clear eyewitness account from a student's parent who was there via e-mail, and there are more accounts of it happening that way above in the comments. Let's not pretend that that version has somehow ben shot down - I have enough people confirming it for me.

And as I said, I am happy to hear any versions.

8:10 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello? The comment "and then theres Palestine" that the man screamed? That was about as anti-semitic as you get. the comment wasnt out of nowhere like someone said in a comment, the words had everything to do with ilanas speech and him saying that not only are the jews responsible for everything bad in the district, but they are responsible
for the plight of palestine.

the teachers who hang out here are really in denial.

for the record, i am no fan of what has happened in the community, and i think that the budget failures are a terrible thing to do to a district and to the children.

but what has happened to ilana this month has been shameful. shameful. the treatment she has received fromsome students and even teachers, acording to my son, and YES even at the graduation has been shameful.

there is room for criticism of thecampaign against the public school without turning it into an attack on one of our dear students.

8:16 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Shame Shame Shame. FOR ALL CHILDREN MY BUTTOCKS! Every One of them should have been there. "


The board represents all the children in the district. should they be expected to attend every graduation in the district?

8:27 AM  
Blogger orthomom said...


Second, one random person screamed "And then there's Palestine," a random comment that had nothing to do with the speech. That was the only interruption. She received applause just like every other speaker. To say that she was "booed and jeered" is a TREMENDOUS mischaracterization.


"And then there's Palestine"? You characterize that as a "random comment having nothing to do with the speech" that was given by a girl who stood up against anti-Semitism? I would have to beg to differ. Seems like he had an unfortunate point he was trying to make.

8:32 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Oh COME on. dont blame om for what hapened at graduation. and dont claim it didnt hapen. i was there. there was head shaking and hissing from some guests, not sure if they were students or not. One person got really out of hand. someone in my row claimed she knew the person was a family memeber of a teacher, not sure if thats true."



Is there anything else this "Blog" would like to blame the teachers for? Let's see ... no one has accused the teachers for the endless rain ... now there's a new attack ..."Lawrence teachers (And now apparently their parents)cause catastrophic deluge of rain!"

8:51 AM  
Blogger orthomom said...

Is there anything else this "Blog" would like to blame the teachers for? Let's see ... no one has accused the teachers for the endless rain ... now there's a new attack ..."Lawrence teachers (And now apparently their parents)cause catastrophic deluge of rain!"

LOL.

9:09 AM  
Blogger Just Passing Through said...

Mom, Seems you've developed quite the pulpit!

10:58 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

For the future can you please edit out any election speeches!! Please take her post down it is wholly inappropriate for the forum. Why dont i just put up advertisements for my business.

11:41 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Odelia Goldberg said...
I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Odelia Goldberg and I’m running for New York State Senate in this district. I’m a resident of North Lawrence and belong to Young Israel of Lawrence Cedarhurst. I think this blog is a wonderful forum bringing diverging and competing ideas and thoughts to light. After all, isn’t that what makes this country great?


Blah blah blah. This idiot thinks she has uncovered the DARK SECRET but had she read a single newspaper for the past 10 years or read a school budget book, she would know that's been the argument for a long time.

What's Odelia's next soapbox topic? Running water piped underground to our houses?

Yeesh. Last thing we need is a political wannabee with a little knowledge and a bunch of babble

1:18 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

You’re not going to believe me when I tell you that the formula that Albany uses actually takes our tax money that we pay in and allocates it to other districts - districts that don’t have as high property values as we do.

Isn't that the point of taxes? Why should the state allocate tax revenue based on property values? Do children in districts with high property values have greater need for education?

2:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

With all due respect to Ms. Goldberg, Mr. Skelos is the Al Damato of the NYS Senate, bringing home the programs to this district like no one has before. Chnage is good when the old is broken. Dean Skelos is right on and we need more representatives like him.

On the topic of anti semites in our midst, ready this weeks Jewish Star about a local RE Estate brokers office that is both anti Jewish and Racist.

2:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was at graduation. And the only person who was out of line was the adult who screamed out the line about the Palestinans are next. And that my friend, is what is screamed out at every Israel Day Parade also. It is in reference to the quote the student who was speaking said about who will be next. It is well known that this is the repsonse by Palestian sympathizers to the quote about the Holocaust at every event this quote is used. Everyone at graduation booed this adult and cheered the student. To the "pot-stirrer" who alerted OM, shame on you for stirring an already simmering pot. And to try to make such a nice graduation into anything but a nice event is a shame. One should question the motives of such a person to make such a beautiful event into something that may be tarnished forever - I am not only speaking of the person who called out during the speech of the student but of the person who alerted OM so inaccurately about the events in the first place.

3:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...


I am not only speaking of the person who called out during the speech of the student but of the person who alerted OM so inaccurately about the events in the first place.


And what about the numerous people (above) who were present at the graduation and who are virtuous enough to admit the inappropriateness of the reaction from more than one person in the audience, despite the fact that it may reflect poorly on some parents, teachers, etc?

Are we to disregard their statements solely because you appear to be from the Clements' camp of bury the issue and defend intolerance?

5:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"There was clearly a significant group of people in the audience who booed during Ilana's speech, "and they were booing in unison about her speech - not about any person who left the auditorium. As a family member of a graduate, I was appalled that there were a significant number of people who booed her and that there was very little response from other people in the audience or faculty members.



Perhaps there were two graduations. I know the one I attended did not resemble the one attended by the person who reported to OM. It was exactly like the report of "Anonymous" who was just accused of being in Clements' camp!
The motive of the person who inacurately reported really seems to be to stir the pot. They need to stop because the pot is alaready boiling!

5:34 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...


It was exactly like the report of "Anonymous" who was just accused of being in Clements' camp!


At lease someone concedes that Clements is out of line
(What does that say about all of the children's role models who have supported him for the last decade or so?)

5:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

no! no! no!
you got the Anonymous commenter wrong This is the Anonymous comment I was quoting ...


Anonymous said...
"I was at graduation. And the only person who was out of line was the adult who screamed out the line about the Palestinans are next. And that my friend, is what is screamed out at every Israel Day Parade also. It is in reference to the quote the student who was speaking said about who will be next. It is well known that this is the repsonse by Palestian sympathizers to the quote about the Holocaust at every event this quote is used. Everyone at graduation booed this adult and cheered the student. To the "pot-stirrer" who alerted OM, shame on you for stirring an already simmering pot. And to try to make such a nice graduation into anything but a nice event is a shame. One should question the motives of such a person to make such a beautiful event into something that may be tarnished forever - I am not only speaking of the person who called out during the speech of the student but of the person who alerted OM so inaccurately about the events in the first place."

I sincerely hope that you just misunderstood which Anonymous I was referring to and NOT PUTTING WORDS IN MY MOUTH!

6:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

no! no! no!
you got the Anonymous commenter wrong This is the Anonymous comment I was quoting ...


Anonymous said...
"I was at graduation. And the only person who was out of line was the adult who screamed out the line about the Palestinans are next. And that my friend, is what is screamed out at every Israel Day Parade also. It is in reference to the quote the student who was speaking said about who will be next. It is well known that this is the repsonse by Palestian sympathizers to the quote about the Holocaust at every event this quote is used. Everyone at graduation booed this adult and cheered the student. To the "pot-stirrer" who alerted OM, shame on you for stirring an already simmering pot. And to try to make such a nice graduation into anything but a nice event is a shame. One should question the motives of such a person to make such a beautiful event into something that may be tarnished forever - I am not only speaking of the person who called out during the speech of the student but of the person who alerted OM so inaccurately about the events in the first place."

I sincerely hope that you just misunderstood which Anonymous I was referring to and NOT PUTTING WORDS IN MY MOUTH!

6:54 PM

8:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was sitting on the stage at graduation and all of the seniors booed the man out of the auditorium and when Ilana finished her speech we all cheered for her.

8:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm Ilana's sister, so if anyone was especially attuned to possible jeering, it was me. My family and I were sitting directly next to the teachers' section, and we have Ilana's entire speech (including the interruption) on videotape. During her speech, I did not notice any movement or shuffling or hissing in the teachers' section or onstage. Everyone, at least from my vantage point, seemed to give my sister utmost respect during the speech. She mentioned that when she first read Martin Niemöller's quote, she heard a little bit of rustling, but nothing major. The speech went on fine after that, until the last four lines. While she paused for dramatic effect, someone in the audience screamed out, "and then they came for the Palestinians!" He was shushed, and Ilana ignored him and eloquently finished her speech. She was cheered and sat down.

Then principal Touretz got up on stage to warn the audience about decorum while many people booed as the heckler left the auditorium. It seemed clear to me that they were jeering him and not Ilana. Of course, I cannot speak for the entire audience, but from my experience and from the videotape, I believe that account is accurate. Ilana was congratulated for her speech by many people after the ceremony.

Our family really appreciates the support you all have been giving Ilana. From someone who usually only hears the public school side, it is nice to hear kind words for Ilana from others. Thanks again, and I hope my account clears things up.

11:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So, even Ilana's family realizes that it was only one person that was responsible for the outburst and not a group of people. Why do some people just want to make trouble in this neighborhood for the sake of being divisive? Maybe it is time to take stock and think that all this political propaganda is being presented by people for a reason? Maybe to hide the real truth in what people really want to do in the neighborhood and to the school district? I don't know, but maybe it is worth everyone starting to question peoples' motives. People should stop listening to what they hear and get the facts for themselves. If Ilana and her family do not think that people in the audience booed her, why does anyone else. What are other peoples motives? Ilana's family even have it on tape and I am sure they have replayed it.

11:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The board represents all the children in the district. should they be expected to attend every graduation in the district?


YES

1:06 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ilana's family even have it on tape and I am sure they have replayed it.

Any chance we can get the tape posted here (and clear this matter up the easy way)? I would certainly love to hear her speech regardless.

1:07 AM  
Blogger Somewhat Anonymous said...

dazed - even private school graduations? After all they represent those kids too.

1:16 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anyone else waiting for someone to apologize to the teachers?

Ilana is a well liked and well respected student at lawrence high school. to think that any teacher would boo her just shows you that anti-semitism festers here at orthomom.blogspot.com. Perhaps all you who have made these accusations which begin with "i heard that the guest was a relative of a teacher' and continue through the commentary.

obviously you all screwed up and attempted to make yourself right by repeating it over and over again.

Orthomom, do you ever admit you are wrong? In another comment section someone mentions the women at the back of the auditorium at the last board meeting and the rude comment she made about the PTA Pres. at #4 school needing to learn how to speak english. I notice that that doesn't get discussed too much. I'm wondering...were you THAT woman?

We want to accuse, let's start there!

1:16 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

somewhat anonymous

YES, and after the auditorium ceiling at the high school is fixed i would hope that all schools in the community can use it for their graduations.

It is my feeling that all the board members should be at every major event in the district, public and non-public...maybe that would be a start to mending this rift.

1:18 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Any chance we can get the tape posted here (and clear this matter up the easy way)?
*************************

I've been nice and respectful all thru this but this comment shows that even a post from Ilana's sister doesn't dispel the notion that it wasn't a teacher or a teacher's family or the other kids that did something wrong. Why can't her post be the proof?

1:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

the above is from me

1:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ilana is a well liked and well respected student at lawrence high school. to think that any teacher would boo her just shows you that anti-semitism festers here at orthomom.blogspot.com.

Funny how you selectively choose to forget how this all began. The (elected) leader of all of the teachers in Lawrence Public Schools publicly denigrated Ilana, "a well liked and well respected student," in the local newspaper.

1:58 AM  
Blogger orthomom said...

OrthomomisQueen said...

Anyone else waiting for someone to apologize to the teachers?


I assume you mean the anonymous commenters who claimed it was the teachers? Good luck with getting an aopology from them.

Ilana's Sister:

Our family really appreciates the support you all have been giving Ilana. From someone who usually only hears the public school side, it is nice to hear kind words for Ilana from others. Thanks again, and I hope my account clears things up.

Thanks for your account. As far as our suport of Ilana, she is a nextremely brave and eloquent young woman, who has impressed us all with her lack of partisanship and her objectivity.

7:54 AM  
Blogger orthomom said...

UGH. Thanks GoyGuy. I will post on it later.

8:16 AM  
Blogger Just Passing Through said...

With all the discussion above, I'm not sure if this is even relevant anymore but on the way home from work yesterday, I was sitting on the train and next to me was a recent graduate of Lawrence and what was obviously a guy who graduated from there a few years back. In between their discussion of how many girls they were able to 'get', and which ones from the class were the 'easiest', they were talking about what happened at the graduation with the speech and all. They mentioned how this guy who yelled out about palestine had to get escorted out by police (did that happen?) and they talked about the girl giving her speech. While I couln't make out exactly what they said happened to her, I DID clearly hear them say "that's what she gets for siding with the jews". Niiice.

8:50 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Way to back-peddle the issue Momof4. You tried to blow something out of proportion and when your statements (and alledged witness accounts) are verified as false; did you even apologize for publishing a fake controversy to further create tension in our community? Thanks for nothing.

9:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Glad someone else noticed! When the issue of graduation was shown to be false ... the discussion turned back on Mr. Clements in an attempt to continue to stir the pot.
My recollection is that Mr. Clements never called Ilana a liar!

The word liar came out of comments from blogger's interpretations of Mr. Clement's letter - and not from him!

So PLEASE for the sake of the community - stop! STOP! stirring the pot!

9:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...


did you even apologize for publishing a fake controversy to further create tension in our community? Thanks for nothing.


There are various commenters above who say they were present at the graduation, and have presented differing accounts of what occurred. Why should anyone apologize for presenting this issue to be discussed in an open forum? If you are intent on disproving those whose account you disagree with, then I suggest you get the video/recording and post it here so that people can make their own determination.

One thing is for certain - Every decent person in the community should be appalled at Clements' continuing behavior and should protest his future employment, wherever that may be.

10:13 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"There are various commenters above who say they were present at the graduation, and have presented differing accounts of what occurred. Why should anyone apologize for presenting this issue to be discussed in an open forum? If you are intent on disproving those whose account you disagree with, then I suggest you get the video/recording and post it here so that people can make their own determination."


Explain why you feel this is necessary? Ilana's sister herself posted a comment to dispute the reports about the graduation. Are her words not good enough for you ... that you need to have the actual video tape shown??

10:26 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Ilana's sister" is posting as an anonymous commenter. Yes, I do think we need some clear version of what happened. and om isn't stirring the pot here. there are enough comments here agreing with her anonymous tipsters. And di you notice where ilanas sister thanks the people here for their support of ilana, as opposed to what she's been getting from the public schol people?

10:52 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I didn't realiza that this site was reserved for non public school people ... oops ... guess I'd better gett off ... since I am a public school person!

11:40 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Orthomom...you need to get a life!

11:43 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm a Lawrence teacher that attended graduation, which was a beautiful event. If anyone booed during Ilana's excellent and thoughtful speech, I didn't hear it. Regarding the heckler, I actually thought he said, "and then they came for the politicians." I guess I was wrong, but I am sure that the only booing I heard was for this rude individual, not towards Ilana. Anyway, I just thought I'd share my perspective.

11:50 AM  
Blogger orthomom said...

Thanks, Adam. You'll see I updated the post with a version from Ilana Yurkiewicz's sister as well.

7:13 PM  
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