A Jewish teen was injured after a fight broke out following a soccer game between students from a Miami Jewish day school and a local Catholic school. There are allegations that some of the Catholic students made antisemitic statements.
Miami’s archdiocese, which sponsors Archbishop Coleman Carroll High School, and the Scheck Hillel Community School issued a joint statement about the “physical altercation” on Wednesday evening, stating that there was an allegation of “racially insensitive comments or gestures” and that “both schools are completing their investigation.”
Both have “zero tolerance for any kind of aggressive language and behavior, antisemitism or hate of any kind,” per the statement, and will take “appropriate action with the students involved.”
News of the fight, which took place at the Scheck Hillel school, first garnered attention on Thursday when a video went viral. It seemed to show players and spectators fighting on the field, with yelling in the background. Some reported that Catholic students were yelling antisemitic, profanity-laden words.
“Antisemitism is seeping into young and impressionable minds, and it is completely unacceptable for a Jewish teen to be referred to as a ‘dirty Jew,’” Liora Rez, executive director of StopAntisemitism, told JNS.
Rez applauded the joint statement, saying “this clearly points to a bigger problem that needs to be addressed.”
The Greater Miami Jewish Federation praised the school’s handling of the situation.
“The rising tide of antisemitism in South Florida and around the world is a serious issue, and we deplore any and all expressions of antisemitism and hatred,” it stated. “It is never acceptable.”
