A Houston-area high school’s yearbook drew outrage for publishing a one-sided account of the Israel-Hamas War that downplays the brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israeli civilians, saying that “what happened happened.”
Michael Niggli, principal of Bellaire High School, responded to the criticism by agreeing to provide a revised yearbook to any student who requests one, acknowledging that “some in our community were deeply distressed by the yearbook article.”
He didn’t say whether any students would be punished. He also indicated that the pro-Palestinian page may not have been viewed by a faculty member before it was published last week.
“Many in our community were disappointed to see that it included content that reflected only one perspective of a very complex issue,” Mr. Niggli said in a statement.
“As Principal, I was surprised and disappointed as well. It has been typical practice for the content of the yearbook and other student publications to be reviewed by their staff sponsor, but moving forward, we will expand the review protocols for these publications,” he said.
The yearbook page entitled “Times of Palestine,” with the sub-headline “Arab student gives account of the Israel-Gaza conflict,” focused on the student and her family’s distress after “war broke out on Oct. 7.”
The student glossed over the terrorist massacre and described the Israel-Hamas War as a “humanitarian crisis,” saying that it motivated her and her friends to “take a stand” and “show the world that we wouldn’t stop fighting for our freedom.”
As for the Hamas terrorists who killed 1,200 Israeli civilians and others, then took 240 people hostage, the student concluded that “everybody would want to change the past, but what happened happened.”
The “what happened happened” comment was reminiscent of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s 2019 description of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which the Minnesota Democrat summed up as “some people did something.”
Bellaire is a wealthy enclave surrounded by the city of Houston and long known for having a significant Jewish population.
Raising alarm over the page was Yafit Bar, a Houston resident whose brother was killed in the Oct. 7 attack. She posted an image of the yearbook page on Facebook with the name and photo of the student redacted.
“This!!!!!! In Bellaire High School year book. Really? How did they approve this? Freedom of speech??? Where are we going???” asked Ms. Bar on Facebook. “If this is not a wake up call, I’m not sure what is.”
There was no corresponding page providing the account of a Jewish or Israeli student.
Mr. Niggli called it “important that as a staff we provide guidance to students to include multiple perspectives on issues that impact different communities in such dramatic ways.”
It didn’t appear as though he planned to throw the book at the yearbook editors, but even so, an Instagram account called “protest.bellaire.now.2024” announced a May 10 student walkout to “Keep Bellaire a School of Free Speech!”
The organizers said in a second post that the walkout would be postponed until after the Advanced Placement exams, but insisted the “protest is not canceled.”
The account also said that Mr. Niggli told students he would enforce “new editorial protocols for all student publications” in preparation for the 2024-25 academic year.
One commenter pointed out that high school yearbooks are routinely reviewed by the administration before publication, including in the Houston Independent School District, of which Bellaire High School is part despite its being its own city.
“It’s very common practice across HISD schools for admin to review the yearbook,” said Hayden Cohen on Instagram. “And no, you don’t have the right to free speech or free press through the yearbook, it’s not legally protected.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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