Setting the Record Straight
A Response to ‘Update on the Crisis in Palestine’
By Ethan Cantus
“Fighting ignorance can be just as important as fighting violence. Educating yourself and staying informed is always the first step to meaningful change.” These are the words that Brie Samaniego left us with in her article, “Update on the Crisis in Palestine,” in the March edition of the OCSA Evolution. I do not believe that Samaniego intended to promote anti-Semitic ideas, but the biased and misleading narrative in her article exemplifies the insidious nature of misinformation. Unfortunately, this poorly researched article was full of misinformation and misrepresented “facts” that fail to tell the whole story about what is going on in that area.
Samaniego states, “Oftentimes, anti-Zionism is conflated with anti-Semitism.” However, this statement ignores the fact that anti-Zionism, which denies Jews their right to a homeland, is anti-Semitic. In fact, on May 1st, 2024, The House of Representatives voted to expand the definition of anti-Semitism to include anti-Zionism.
The article also presented misleading maps of Palestine, credited to the University of Richmond. You need to know that the University was using these maps to show how information can be misrepresented using maps! The original map came from an anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) organization, the Palestine Awareness Coalition. These maps oversimplify the complex political tensions and human experiences of the time and their use as a form of propaganda.
Samaniego claimed that “Both violent and non-violent resistance ensued, from both sides.” This quote is in the context of the period between 1922 and 1947 when many Jews returned to Palestine, their homeland—Israel. However, the Arabs who were already there tried to get rid of the Jews through violence. The violence between Arab Palestinians and Jewish Palestinians was nearly one-sided from 1920 until 1937. Only in 1936 did a Jewish extremist organization, Irgun, start employing violent tactics, which were heavily criticized by the Jewish governing body.
It is only recently that Arabs have started to employ non-violent resistance in the form of propaganda, misinformation, and “help us ads” that fail to mention the celebrations in Gaza after brutally slaughtering innocent Jewish children and babies. Before the present day, it has only been violence.
Samaniego mentioned the Nakba, or “The Catastrophe,” in 1948, stating that “The partition resulted in violent militant attacks against Palestinians living in the newly established Israel, forcing around 750,000 Palestinians to flee with thousands killed.” However, this account ignores the fact that the war started the day after Resolution 181 was passed. (November 30, 1947). On May 14, 1948, almost immediately after Israel gained its independence, five Arab countries attacked Israel. This war just happened to end with an Israeli victory. All wars result in deaths and refugees. Unlike the Palestinians, Jews do not celebrate this. After this war, Jews decided they would never again allow themselves to be slaughtered and started fighting back from their oppressors. Those included the Arabs who attacked them and any other person who directly backed their attackers. After the war, Arab nations refused to absorb Arab Palestinian refugees into their lands. However, it is important to note that the 150,000–160,000 Arabs who did not attack their Jewish neighbors were able to remain in Israel after the war and become Israeli citizens.
Samaniego’s article also perpetuated misinformation about the Israeli government’s actions, stating that they “employed tactics such as psychological and biological warfare, increased land seizure, expulsion of Palestinians, and destruction.” This is full of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories; there were no land seizures before 1948, when Israel started seizing the land from which they were being attacked. The claims of psychological and biological warfare are made without providing any evidence.
The article also mentioned Hamas, an armed resistance group founded in 1987, stating that they call for the “dismantlement of Israel.” However, this is a euphemism, as Hamas’ goals, as stated in their 1988 Covenant, include the complete obliteration of Israel and the killing of all Jews. Article 11 states, “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.” Article 7 states, “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: ‘O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him.’”
Finally, the article’s account of recent events, including the October 7th breach of the Gaza-Israel fence, is complete Hamas/Palestinian propaganda. The article used “violently” to describe Israel’s response to being attacked but failed to describe the actions of the Hamas terrorist attacks in the same way. Hamas deliberately targeted small children, over 350 young people at a music festival, and civilians; Israel does not deliberately target civilians. The statement that more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, as well as “94 hospitals and healthcare facilities” bombed, cannot be verified by independent third-party sources and is a Hamas narrative. Though the exact number of casualties is disputed, a great number of civilians, women, and children have been tragically killed or injured. Any innocent life lost is a tragedy. Hamas’s actions have worsened the situation, and their refusal to release hostages and protect civilians has caused further suffering. We mourn all the innocent lives lost and urge the Palestinian people to demand a new government that prioritizes their well-being and safety.
This piece serves as a crucial reminder that even seemingly harmless articles can harbor hidden biases and perpetuate harmful stereotypes. Although I can’t possibly cover all the incorrect facts, it is important to know that the danger of misinformation lies in its ability to subtly sow seeds of hatred, which can germinate and grow if left unchallenged. By scrutinizing such narratives and promoting balanced perspectives, we can cultivate a more informed and empathetic understanding of complex issues, ultimately combating anti-Semitism and hate. As Samaniego said, “Educating yourself and staying informed is always the first step to meaningful change.” Meaningful change requires not only education and information but also a commitment to balanced and nuanced perspectives. Recognizing the complexities of conflict and avoiding the perpetuation of harmful biases and misinformation is crucial to achieving this goal.
Saving the “A” in OCSA
Adrienne Espinoza - August 18th, 2024
Just four years ago in 2020, the future of OCSA stood on shaky ground with their renewal under Santa Ana Unified standing on the edge of a knife. Without a secured authorizer for its charter, the school as we know it would cease to exist. That was when OCSA’s community of students, parents, and administrators came together to rally for its future. Together, they appealed to the Orange County Board of Education to take over as their new charter authorizer, and everything was all right.
Now here we are four years later. OCSA is thriving, and student academic performance is through the roof. According to USnews.com’s 2024 ranking of top schools in the state, OCSA earned 27th place. This year alone, as can be seen on an infographic released by the school, the graduating class of 2024 had an average GPA of 3.9 with 86% of students having taken an AP course and a whopping 98% of them being accepted to a higher institution of education.
With academic statistics like these, parents will find any possible way to get their child into OCSA. Especially since unlike a college prep school, which typically has high tuition fees, there is no money needed for admission at OCSA—but that’s where the problems arise.
With academic performance being so incredibly high, what could possibly be the problem? Well, notice that it is academics that are in the spotlight. With all the attention and limelight being placed on that area, we neglect the true identity of the school—the arts.
Funding for all seventeen of OCSA’s arts conservatories is down again. According to the most recent parent funding meeting in May, the 2023-2024 year has been the worst on record with only 39% of all parents actually following through and fully funding their CFA (Conservatory Funding Agreement), and 3.3% of parents exceeding the needed amount. This means that over half of all OCSA parents did not fulfill the amount of money needed to fund their child’s conservatory program and its staff. Parent conservatory donations are vital funds to not only run conservatory, but fund things like teacher and director salaries, OCSA facilities, and administration, to name a few.
“Maybe people forget that we exist because of the arts,” says Dr. Maria Lazarova, the Dean of Arts at OCSA. “It’s important for people to know that a lack of contribution to the arts endangers the existence of the entire school.”
Image by Adrienne Espinoza
This is absolutely true, as the only reason OCSA has a charter in the first place is because it is an art school. “Parents negatively impact conservatory when the emphasis is on academics,” said one of the school’s administrators during the Parent Funding Meeting.
Even the majority of 200 students polled randomly on campus find their conservatory enjoyable and feel that the academics are a bit excessive, with an overwhelming 80.5% of them claiming that academics are more stressful than conservatory. The data collected shows various reasons as to why this is the case.
Most students find the large amount of homework/assignments and such little time to complete them stressful. Some feel that OCSA has an “above average” standard that students are expected to meet. Another factor is the pressure to get into a top college. Lastly, some students do find conservatory to be stressful, but since it is their passion, they generally find it more enjoyable than academics. Many students also agree their conservatory is more understanding and accommodating when it comes to handling large amounts of work.
Now we must face the consequence of this neglect: conservatory time, yet again, will be cut short. The new bell schedule for the 2024-2025 school year shows a reduction of 20 minutes in daily conservatory hours. While this does not seem like a lot, it all adds up to 80 minutes of conservatory time being lost each week. That is 80 minutes less each week of instruction time, rehearsal time, work time, and less money earned by our amazing conservatory teachers. Additionally, conservatory will also be ending a few weeks earlier. Overall, the impact is less conservatory.
When asked how they feel about the reduced amount of conservatory hours, most of the directors interviewed (not all of them were) said more or less the same thing: that it creates a major challenge when trying to give the students enough instruction or work time.
“I wish that we could keep the conservatory schedule the same, because there’s a lot of things that we teach that require time,” replied Mr. Orullian, director of FTV. “I understand the reason behind it and of course there are changes that happen; we’ll have to adapt to that.”
It is quite likely right now that some students are probably happy with this reduction of time, as it now allows them to go home and complete their homework earlier, but think about it—if OCSA did not try so hard to appeal to the academic demands of parents, perhaps there wouldn’t be so much homework and academic pressure. Students should be academically motivated because they themselves want it and not because they feel that they have to.
This now brings us back to our main conflict: the parents who either know they can pledge the full amount of money, but choose not to, and the parents who send their kids to OCSA as a free alternative to a college prep school.
“I think the desire, this overwhelming desire to get into top universities….it’s more academically motivated. OSCA has become this vehicle to get into these top colleges,” said Dr. Lazarova. “Maybe because OCSA is big and successful, people have the mindset, ‘Well I don’t need to contribute because someone else will.’”
So now the question is, what can we do? Well, we do what we did four years ago—we come together and fight for OCSA’s future. Students, it is time to go and talk to your parents; to ask them how much they are contributing and if they can afford to fully pledge their CFA. It is time to tell them that we are an academic AND arts school, and that one cannot exist without the other.
For OCSA Administration, please rethink your messaging when it comes to how you would like to present OCSA to parents and the community at large. Tailoring OCSA to be an academic first school disrespects OCSA’s roots and appeals to parents who are only interested in the academics. The messaging needs to reflect OCSA as an arts AND academics school. Also, working with parents in developing more programs to offer more solutions on how they can fund their CFA would greatly help.
For parents reading this, please understand the severity of OCSA’s situation and understand that we cannot do this without you. Thank you so much to all of you who support and fund your child’s conservatory. To all of the parents who put their time and effort in being involved in making OCSA a better school, we need more of you!
We now bring this to a close with another powerful quote from Dr. Lazarova: “Without parent donations, conservatory doesn’t exist. Without conservatory, OCSA doesn’t exist…it’s who we are; it’s our identity.”