Leadership at Glenbrook South High School in Glenview, Ill., has initiated an investigation following condemnation for the appearance in a yearbook of a student’s remarks celebrating Hamas’s terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, which left 1,200 people dead and more than 250 taken captive into the Gaza Strip, where 125 still remain.
“In my opinion, it isn’t a war, considering this has been going on for 75 years,” the statement attributed to sophomore Yasmeen Saleh read. “The first day, I woke up and I saw what Palestine did, and I was happy because they’re finally defending themselves.”
Saleh said, “The fact that the whole world only saw that instead of focusing on the past … makes me sad because it’s my home country. It’s important [to speak up] because … thousands of people are dying every day. Just be aware and educate yourself.”
Peter Glowacki, vice president of the District 225 school board, said at a school-board meeting on Tuesday that “these statements are hurtful to our students, staff and community, and will not be condoned or tolerated.”
During the meeting, Joseph Milburn, an attorney with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)—an organization whose executive director and co-founder, Nihad Awad, likewise described himself as “happy” in response to the Oct. 7 terror attacks—defended Saleh.
“The student has been mischaracterized for her statement, and what should be offensive is the death toll that has taken place in Gaza,” said Milburn, who claimed that Saleh’s family had denied Yasmeen’s alleged enthusiasm for atrocities perpetrated by Hamas and other Palestinians.
Paul Eisenstadt, a school parent, said he didn’t think “there’s any way that the district can apologize without terminating some individual who clearly said this was OK.”
The district plans to release the results of the investigation soon.
