A Massachusetts middle school principal apologized to Arab, Lebanese, Muslim and Palestinian students who he claimed “felt unseen” during a lesson on antisemitism. 

The Lexington Observer, a local outlet, reported Thursday that Diamond Middle School Principal Johnny Cole was referring to a lesson on antisemitism and his apology was not about a lesson on the Holocaust, as originally interpreted by some Jewish leaders and parents. 

Instead, Cole was referencing a lesson on modern antisemitism taught by a third-party Jewish group called TribeTalk. According to the outlet, a dozen families objected to the group using materials from the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate — an advocacy group founded by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who is a supporter of Israel — prompting Cole’s letter. In a message sent to seventh graders via a school portal, a screenshot of which was obtained by Jewish Insider, Cole said the lesson was aimed at teaching the students to recognize hate and to speak out against it, something he called “an important goal.” Cole then apologized after he said some students’ families had expressed that the lesson left them feeling “unseen.”

“Some of you felt like your own history, your identity, or your community was left out or erased. Some of you left that session feeling less safe, not more. We have heard this from families, and we believe you,” Cole wrote.

“We are sorry. Not because the topic was too hard; hard conversations are part of growing up and part of what we do here at Diamond. We are sorry because every one of you deserves to walk into this school and feel that who you are matters — Arab students; Jewish students; Lebanese students; Muslim students; Palestinian students — every student. And in this case, we missed the mark and did not achieve what we hoped to do,” he added.

Cole said that the school was working with teachers and families to “build something better” that “includes all of our communities and all of our histories.” 

Local Jewish organizations — some of which also initially thought the letter was referring to a Holocaust lesson — condemned the letter and sought dialogue with school leadership to address the community’s concerns. “We now understand that the letter itself — which, as written, was deeply disturbing and offensive to many members of our Jewish community — was in fact poorly worded and not reflective of the facts and context,” the JCRC said in a statement. 

Scott Gladstone, associate director of the American Jewish Committee New England region, told JI he sent an email to Cole on Wednesday morning, offering to talk, and had not received a response as of Wednesday afternoon. 

Samantha Joseph, Anti-Defamation League New England regional director told JI,  “We’re aware of reports of a concerning response to a Holocaust education program in Lexington, and we’re in contact with community members about the situation.” The Lexington Public School District, which serves roughly 7,000 students across its nine schools, did not respond to requests for comment from JI. 

A similar incident occurred earlier this month, according to Teagan Murtagh, an 8th grader at Diamond Middle School, who wrote in a letter to the editor in the Lexington Observer that he was stopped in the hallway by Cole and told not to wear a black sweatshirt printed with a four-line poem: “Save the bees.  Plant more trees. Clean the seas. Punch Nazis.” Cole reportedly said some students had complained and felt “threatened” by the sweatshirt. 

Last year, Jewish leaders in Massachusetts praised a new report and set of recommendations by The Massachusetts Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism that called for K-12 schools to implement the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism.

This story was updated on June 29 to reflect the lesson’s contents on antisemitism, per The Lexington Observer‘s report.

The report noted a sharp rise of antisemitism in the state’s K-12 schools since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel and acknowledges that there has been significant harm to the mental health of Jewish and Israeli students and families caused by antisemitic incidents. It also noted inconsistencies in how districts respond to concerns around antisemitism, with some responding inadequately and others failing to respond at all.