rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/letter/urgent-plea-no-celebration-of-israel-on-hpsd-grounds?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-letter-area-urgent-plea-no-celebration-of-israel-on-hpsd-grounds' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> Hoboken Justice https://actionnetwork.org/groups/hoboken-justice https://actionnetwork.org//images/generic_facebook.jpg Dear Superintendent Johnson and Members of the Board of Education: At its March 11, 2025 meeting, the Hoboken Board of Education approved a “community event” sponsored by the Israeli Action Committee to use Taglieri Stadium (the Hoboken High School football field). This event has been advertised as “Celebrate Israel: Independence Day Festival” to take place on Sunday, May 11. According to District Policy 7510 – Use of School Facilities, district facilities may be used by, among others, “Community organizations formed for charitable, civic or educational purposes.” However, the policy also states: The Board of Education may refuse to grant the use of a school building whenever, in the reasonable exercise of its judgment, there is good reason why permission should be refused in light of safety or scheduling concerns, or other factors having legitimate bearing on the operation of the school district. We urge you to exercise your judgment to cancel this approval. A celebration of Israel, especially in the midst of its ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, has no place on our school grounds: It calls into question the safety and wellbeing of the Palestinian students and families in our district and in our community. The Israeli American Council’s “civil or educational” purposes are not in line with the values of our school district, and its support for Israel flouts international law and humanitarian values. The district would hopefully, for the same reasons, reject a facilities request from an openly white supremacist group. Events celebrating Israel in the past eighteen months of the genocide in Gaza have routinely been met with intense protests from pro-Palestine groups, and there is no doubt that this one would be met with the same. This will call into question the safety and wellbeing of participants and protesters, and invites tension into the school district that may prove to have ripple effects beyond this event. We urge you to cancel the agreement with all due haste. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/urgent-plea-no-celebration-of-israel-on-hpsd-grounds