JCRC Statement
October 27, 2025
The following is a statement from Guila Franklin Siegel, chief operating officer of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington.
“Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) has a long history of struggling with school-based antisemitism. We appreciate Superintendent Michelle Reid’s sincere commitment to making FCPS a more welcoming and inclusive environment for Jewish students and families. However, the school system’s slow and nontransparent response to several recent incidents demonstrates that FCPS must do more to properly address such behavior.
“In particular, we are appalled that some FCPS high school students used unauthorized social media accounts bearing FCPS school names to imitate hostage-taking and violent deaths. It is never appropriate to make light of such horrific acts, but it is especially callous and cruel to do so when Hamas continues to hold the bodies of deceased Israeli hostages more than two years after committing the worst mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust. The trauma that all families impacted by the Israel-Hamas war have experienced over the past two years remains fresh. Making light of violence during a time of war is beyond the pale.
“JCRC has been in close contact with the highest levels of FCPS leadership to ensure that school officials understand the gravity of this situation and to demand accountability. FCPS must determine whether students have violated school conduct codes with this behavior, and if so, discipline them accordingly. The district should take any steps necessary, including legal action if needed, to ensure that school names, images, and logos do not appear on unauthorized social media accounts. School officials must communicate transparently and with moral clarity to the entire school system about these incidents. All people of goodwill should be horrified by this.
“These videos show why schools must do more to incorporate empathy and understanding into every student’s learning experience. As one of the largest and most diverse school systems in the country, FCPS should be a leader in this effort.”