Brazilian School Apologizes for Test Question Comparing Israelis to Nazis
A school in Rio de Janeiro published a public apology for an exam question that compared Israelis to Nazis.
The geography exam for eighth-graders at Colégio Andrews included a question that said Jews were once chased by Hitler and today another people is victimized by the Israelis, who compel them to live under their rule after invading, seizing land and killing.
The question was illustrated by a Nazi soldier wearing a swastika oppressing a Jewish boy, and an Israeli soldier with a Star of David oppressing an Arab boy.
“Who is worse: Nazis or Jews?” the question asks.
The Rio Jewish Federation quickly demanded a public apology and further action. The school published a note on its website this week and emailed the apology to all parents. The exam’s question was voided and the teacher who created the question was fired.
“This was an isolated case that does not reflect our school’s educational project goals, which have always favored peace and the good coexistence among the people,” the apology read. “This is our formal apology.”
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO