The introduction into the sixth-grade reading curriculum in Newark schools of a book depicting the daily life of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy living in Ramallah under the oppression of Israeli occupation has drawn alarm in the Jewish community that it could promote antisemitism.

The book, “A Little Piece of Ground” by Elizabeth Laird, has drawn a call for its removal by the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), which has sent two letters to the district, and concern from the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest, which has reached out to school officials.

A September 23 letter to Superintendent of Schools Roger Leon from ZOA President Morton Klein and the director of its Center for Law and Justice Susan Tuchman, noted: “The book is filled with misleading anti-Israel statements and outright lies. Instead of building understanding of a complex subject, fighting prejudice and encouraging tolerance, this book will poison impressionable children—with little if any knowledge about the complicated Middle East conflict—to hate Jews, Israelis, and the state of Israel.”

In a phone interview with The Jewish Link, Tuchman said that she couldn’t understand its inclusion when there was “deep concern” among district staff about the book and there is “soaring” antisemitism both statewide and nationwide.

“Why in the world would you pick a book like this, demonizing Jews and Israelis?” she asked. “Why not pick a book that promotes tolerance and understanding?”

Linda Scherzer, the director of MetroWest’s Jewish Community Relations Committee, said the federation has reached out to Newark school officials and would like to have a conversation with the superintendent.

“Obviously it’s a compelling piece of fiction told through the eyes of a young boy that would be relatable to any sixth-grade student who reads about a boy not being able to get to his soccer field or whose father is humiliated at an Israeli checkpoint by an oppressive regime, but we would also like to see a fictional account from the Israeli side about a kid fleeing from rockets from Gaza,” she said, adding it is doubtful the complexities of the Middle East situation could be grasped by children of this age and is skeptical whether teachers have a firm understanding of the day-to-day realities driving actions in the region.

“We would like a conversation with the superintendent, but we’re not getting our foot in the door,” she added. “We are really questioning the content and how this falls on the ears of impressionable young children. We understand this could be in as many as 100 classrooms and a reasonable resolution for us would be to introduce a piece of fiction from the Israeli side.”

Scherzer said she was optimistic the deep and continuing ties between the federation and Newark, once home to 60,000 Jews and 40 synagogues, would enable such a resolution. The federation is active in Big Brothers/Big Sisters and many city cultural institutions such as the Newark Museum; is involved with Rutgers-Newark Hillel; and sponsors Black-Jewish dialogue between students from the federation catchment area and Newark students, among other initiatives.

“We feel we should have the chance to explain why this book is a skewed portrayal of what is happening that could affect many young minds for years to come,” she explained.

The ZOA had followed its first letter with another on September 28 after learning that in addition to reading the book sixth graders would watch a video painting Israel as an “evil occupier and oppressor” while portraying Palestinians as innocent victims. The video was produced by the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), which the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) describes as a “radical anti-Israel activist group that advocates for a complete economic, cultural and academic boycott of the State of Israel.”

The ADL noted: “JVP uses its Jewish identity to shield the anti-Israel movement from allegations of antisemitism and provide it with a greater degree of legitimacy and credibility” while promoting ”that Israel and its U.S. supporters are fundamentally racist oppressors of non-Jews,” which “has the effect of perpetuating the classic anti-Jewish stereotype of Jews as self-centered elitists, disdainful of non-Jews, who are focused on their own interests, sometimes at others’ expense.”

The ADL’s latest audit of antisemitic incidents found that in 2021 there was a sharp spike nationally with New Jersey having the second-highest number in the nation with a record 370 incidents, including a 35% increase from the previous year in incidents relating to Israel or Zionism.

Tuchman said she spoke to Dr. Mary Ann Reilly, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, who told her the video link had been pulled, but the book would stay. However, Tuchman said she is concerned teachers may have already viewed the offending video and it may influence their lessons surrounding the book, which she said were downplayed. Reilly did not return an e-mail message to The Jewish Link.

In a phone call with the paper, Acting Newark Schools Communication Director Nancy Deering said the district had received a lot of comment about the book choice but did not return a subsequent call or respond to an email request for a statement.

In the letter about the book, Klein and Tuchman pointed out that on the surface it was a tale about a boy named Karim and his experiences in his West Bank town. “But Laird is clever, repeatedly sending the false and outrageous message to her young readers that Israelis are heartless and cruel, that their goal is to humiliate Palestinian Arabs and make their lives a misery, and that Jews are stealing other people’s land,” they wrote.

Among the misleading points made are: Israelis being described as “the enemy,” as “occupiers” and as “animals”; “Israelis won’t be happy until they’ve driven us all out and grabbed every inch of Palestine for themselves”; and with regard to Israeli settlers, “Some of us [Karim’s family] lay down on the road… the settlers wouldn’t stop for that. After they’d run over Abu Ali and broken both his legs, we knew they wouldn’t care what they did to us.”

Tuchman said throughout the book Palestinians, including those who engage in terrorism and murder Israeli civilians, are referred to as heroes and martyrs.

“After reading this book, your students will be misled into believing that Jews and Israelis are monsters, that they are interlopers, stealing the land of others when, in fact, Jews are indigenous to the Land of Israel,” read the letter. “Your students will also come away thinking that terrorism and violence against innocent Jews and Israelis are legitimate and even desirable.”

Adding to the ZOA’s dismay is the removal of the book “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” a novel about a Jewish boy in the Holocaust, where 1.5 million children were among the 6 million Jews murdered.

However, Scherzer said she also had communication with Reilly who said the two actions are not connected and cautioned against conflating the two. The district would be fully in compliance with the state’s mandated Holocaust curriculum and is replacing “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”—which even Holocaust scholars have said contains historical inaccuracies—with “The Diary of Anne Frank,” and the lessons would concentrate on being an upstander, not a bystander and conclude with a research essay.