The National Association of Independent Schools' (NAIS) annual People of Color Conference in Colorado has drawn sharp criticism after speakers made controversial statements about Israel that Jewish organizations say "normalized antisemitism."
The event, which hosted approximately 8,000 students and educators from elite private schools, featured keynote speaker Dr. Suzanne Barakat, who defined Zionism as when "some European Jews decided that the solution to solving antisemitism in Europe and Russia was the establishment of a state in Palestine" - a characterization that Jewish leaders called "a patent erasure of the millennia-old connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel."
The impact on Jewish attendees was immediate and troubling. According to the letter, one Jewish student reported that he and his peers "felt so targeted, so unsafe, that we tucked our Magen Davids into our shirts and walked out as those around us glared and whispered."
NAIS represents 1,300 private institutions, including prestigious Manhattan schools such as Dalton, Brearley, and Riverdale Country School.
Multiple national Jewish organizations, including the American Jewish Committee and Anti-Defamation League, sent a joint letter to NAIS expressing "deep concern" about the conference's content. They noted that speakers "trafficked in extreme, biased, and false anti-Zionist and anti-Israel rhetoric" and "accused Israel of genocide."
NAIS President Debra Wilson responded that Barakat's anti-Israel comments were "unprompted and unexpected." The organization has since announced that all future conference presentations will require advance submission.
