New Jersey high school student reprimanded for criticizing Israel

Benny Koval, an Israeli Jewish student at Fair Lawn High School in New Jersey, was threatened and harassed by her school’s administration for speaking out against Israeli apartheid, according to her tweets.

“Threatened to file a bullying case against me. It’s against state law to express unpopular political views on the Internet, now,” Benny tweeted.

Benny explained why Israel was an Apartheid state with a series of tweets. She even provided sources to back up her statements.

“‘Apartheid’ can be defined as segregation on grounds other than race. Some say this term doesn’t apply to Israel due to fair voting rights. But ‘segregation’ can be defined as ‘the enforced separation of different racial groups in a country, community, or establishment,’” Benny tweeted.

Benny was not only reprimanded for her tweets, but her phone was searched and was “warned that she could face legal action,” The New York Times reported.

Valerie Cudworth, the school secretary, directed Palestine in America to the superintendent for comment, but Bruce Watson would not answer questions about the matter.

According to The New York Times, “ Koval said she was ‘beyond grateful’ for the online support but said the response offline had been less warm.”

Koval did not respond to Palestine in America for comment.