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Former councilor says East Hampton school district failed Jewish students; calls for state investigation and clearer reporting pathways

3730669 · June 9, 2025
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Former East Hampton city councilor Owen Zarratt testified that repeated antisemitic incidents — swastika graffiti, Nazi salutes and taunts — were minimized or concealed by local officials and called on the attorney general's office, DESE and the Legislature to require independent investigation and clearer reporting mechanisms.

Owen Zarratt, a former East Hampton city councilor and Jewish community organizer, told the Massachusetts Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism that his repeated efforts to escalate local school‑district antisemitic incidents were met with minimization, concealment and, he said, retaliation.

Zarratt described multiple incidents reported to him over more than a year: swastika graffiti at elementary, middle and high schools; a high school student’s notebook containing "I hate Jews"; and a Jewish child who received Nazi salutes and taunts…

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