Los Angeles, CA – An antisemitic incident occurred Saturday night at a girl’s high school basketball game between the Shalhevet Firehawks and the Buena Park Coyotes, according to several Shalhevet students who were in attendance.
“The scores were really neck and neck, and it was just overall a very intense game,” a Shalhevet student, who preferred to remain anonymous, told the Journal. “My friend was standing across the gym by the other team when she texted me and told me they were chanting Kanye West at her the entire game. They were shouting at her and yelling that they would fight after the game.”
The student added, “One mom from the other side was standing with a group of students screaming, ‘where is the security guard’? When she found him, she approached him and accused him of pushing her daughter.”
Another Shalhevet student, who also asked to remain anonymous, said that some Buena Park students pulled the Palestinian flag up on their cell phones and held it in the faces of Shalhevet students.
“I started to feel really unsafe,” the first student said. “The game got very hectic. When our girls were shooting foul shots, some Buena Park students held up pictures of Swastikas on their phones to distract them.”
A student said the verbal confrontations continued after the game outside in front of the school. “People were yelling and screaming at one another, and again, some kept showing the Palestinian flag on their phones.”
Although there were no physical altercations at the game or outside, one student said she felt threatened.
“At one point, three guys approached my friend standing next to me. They were coming towards us, and I did feel really scared.”
The final score was Shalhevet 55 and Buena Park 59.
Despite the emotions in the gym, Rabbi David Block, Shalhevet head of school, said high school basketball games tend to get emotional and sometimes out of hand.
Rabbi Block also said that antisemitism is a larger issue that goes beyond one basketball game. “We hope in the coming weeks to have a special assembly where students can express their feelings with our faculty, staff, and guidance counselors,” Block said.
