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Residents urge Hoboken Board to revisit facilities‑use policy after approval for Israel Independence Day event
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Summary
Dozens of residents criticized the board’s decision to permit an Israel Independence Day festival on Hoboken school grounds, urging changes to policy so the district can decline politically divisive events in the future. The board reaffirmed its nondiscrimination policy and said safety measures will be coordinated with Hoboken Police.
Hundreds of Hoboken residents gathered at the Hoboken Board of Education meeting on April 14 to press the board to change its facilities‑use policy after the district approved an Israel Independence Day festival on Hoboken High School grounds.
Several public commenters framed the event as political rather than cultural and urged the board to build discretion into policy 75.10 so future requests from organizations they described as partisan could be denied. “Change your policy. Don’t allow politically divisive or culturally insensitive programming to be run on school grounds,” said Jenny Lebenz, a Hoboken resident, during the public‑comment period.
Emily Wirt, representing a group calling itself Hoboken Supports Palestinians, said the approved festival is sponsored by what she described as a national Israel‑support organization and alleged ties to large donors. “This is not a small local family cultural organization… it is an event sponsored by one of the largest Israeli supporting nonprofits in the nation,” Wirt said, urging the board to exercise discretion about events held on school property.
Multiple speakers raised safety and equity concerns. Shireen Lopez, a neighbor from Union City, told the board she did not feel safe and drew parallels between tactics she described abroad and local enforcement practices. “These concentration camps are here already in our country,” she said, and urged the district to consider the broader community impact of approving events.
Other commenters, including Zachary King and Greg Rebo, described the event as inconsistent with the district’s values. King called the festival “no neutral cultural festival” and framed the question as a moral one, asking the board to consider how students should view public celebrations on school property. Rebo, who identified as Jewish, said silence in the face of alleged atrocities was dangerous and asked the board to reconsider using public fields to celebrate a government he accused of serious abuses.
The board president responded before public comment began that the district is required to apply policy 75.10 nondiscriminatorily and that the Israeli Action Committee met the criteria under that policy. “Denying use of our facilities to any group on the basis of national origin, ethnicity, or religion would itself constitute discrimination,” the president said, adding that the district would coordinate safety measures with the Hoboken Police Department for any approved event.
Speakers asked for a more transparent, community‑engaged process. Several requested that the board convene a subcommittee to draft clearer guidance so future facilities‑use requests that raise political or safety concerns can be evaluated in advance rather than decided ad hoc during the application process.
No formal vote on changing policy occurred at the April meeting. The board proceeded to executive session on unrelated attorney‑client matters and, after returning, announced no action would be taken that night. The issues raised are likely to resurface at upcoming public meetings and committee sessions where the board and administration review policy and community engagement procedures.
