A rally is planned Sunday to show support for Fair Lawn school administrators amid an uproar over a student's claim that she was called to the principal's office and reprimanded over her anti-Israel tweets.
Bethany Koval
The free speech and censorship debate erupted after Fair Lawn High School student Bethany Koval, a 16-year-old Israeli Jew, posted on Twitter that she was questioned by school officials because of her tweets, including one about a student who supports Israel having "unfollowed" her on the social media site.
"i'm sooooo glad that pro-Israel girl from my school unfollowed me! I'm so FREE now like," Koval's tweet said, according to the Washington Post. "[expletive] ISRAEL"
Koval tweeted with a friend that she would share the student's name in a private message Dec. 27. She also posted an audio recording that reportedly captured an administrator saying she could face disciplinary action under the state's strict anti-bullying laws.
Koval's Twitter account was private Saturday, making her tweets available only to her followers.
Dueling online campaigns have formed in response to Koval's case. The rally Sunday will be a "peaceful and quiet demonstration, showing that the residents and parents of Fair Lawn support the school and appreciate their efforts," according to an announcement on Facebook. It is scheduled for 2 p.m. outside the borough high school.
Organizer Adi Vaxman, a Fair Lawn resident, said the issue was not about taking sides over Israel or free speech.
"The rally is not about supporting any side of the political debate and not about supporting Israel. It's about one thing and one thing only - supporting the administration in the actions they took to prevent bullying in the school," Vaxman posted on Facebook. "All parents should be able to feel their children are safe and protected from cyber bullying."
Fair Lawn school officials said they "received a complaint alleging potential harassment, intimidation, or bullying by one student against another," and required to investigate such allegations under state law.
"While pupil confidentiality laws prevent us from identifying or discussing individual pupils, we stress at the outset that at no time have District officials sought to censor or reprimand any pupils for their online speech," Fair Lawn Superintendent Bruce Watson said in a statement.
The state's anti-bullying law is among the strictest in the nation and came in response to the suicide of Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi. School officials face penalties for not responding to bullying cases.
Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
