There is growing backlash in a New Jersey community over a page in the yearbook at East Brunswick High School. It’s supposed to feature the Jewish Student Union, but instead does not include any of the names of those in the group, and shows what appears to be a group of Muslim students. NBC New York’s Adam Harding reports.
Students at a New Jersey high school are getting their yearbooks updated after some of the original pages sparked a controversy that some have said was antisemitic.
The yearbook photo firestorm started after the names of those in a Jewish student group were omitted from the pages — and their group photo was replaced with one showing Muslim students.
In the section of the East Brunswick High School yearbook where each student group was listed, the Jewish Student Union's section had no names listed. And as for the group's photo that went alongside it, officials said it appeared to show Muslim students who had no affiliation with the group.
The district said that starting Monday, students can have corrected pages professionally inserted into their yearbooks. Superintendent Victor Valeski told People Magazine that an initial investigation found it was a mistake, and that the yearbook staff never received a photo or roster from the club.
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"It sparked a lot of outrage in the community because it’s hard for most people to fathom how this happened 'by accident,'" said Mayor Brad Cohen, who had also demanded answers.
There are hundreds of copies of the yearbook currently in circulation. Cohen previously had questioned if the omission should be considered a hate crime, if it was indeed done maliciously.
