Three Jersey City school board members are demanding a fellow trustee resign after he uttered a pro-Palestinian slogan that has been condemned by many as antisemitic at a recent public board meeting.
The call for Younass Barkouch to step down comes on the same day he resigned from his position as aide to three Hudson County state legislators — Sen. Raj Muhkerji and Assembly members John Allen and Jessica Ramirez.
After a dance performance during a brief celebration of Arab-American Heritage Month at the April 25 board meeting, Barkouch cupped his mouth with his hand and chanted “From the river to the sea” at the performers as they left the stage. One of the performers can be seen shouting something back toward the audience.
The controversial slogan is seen by some as a call for a free Palestinian state, but others consider it a battle cry demanding Israel’s destruction, one that has been adopted by the Hamas terrorism group that has been fighting Israeli forces since launching a surprise attack Oct. 7.
Thursday afternoon, Barkouch, who said he will not resign from the board, stated he had not been aware of how the slogan is perceived.
“I want to clarify that my intention was to advocate for the freedom, human rights, and safety of innocent Palestinian civilians who reside between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and who are victims in Benjamin Netanyahu’s pointless war,” Barkouch said in a statement. “I have recently taken the time to research the historical context of the phrase and apologize for not considering how it may have been be perceived by certain members of the Jewish community.”
The microphone at the board table was off at the time, but Board President DeJon Morris said trustees heard it clearly.
“He is becoming very radical and venomous because I believe he is disgruntled after the whole vice presidency and the Eid situation didn’t go his way,” Morris said. “Regardless of what our political disagreements are, at the end of the day, children are impressionable and they look at home as a leader … He is a leader regardless of his antics …”
Once informed of the phrase’s controversy, Morris scheduled a special meeting for May 14 to file ethics charges against Barkouch, a Muslim Moroccan-American who was elected in 2021. The board president is joined by trustees Natalia Ioffe and Afaf Muhammad in calling for Barkouch’s resignation.
“I feel the action of using children for a political agenda represents the opposite of our job and what our mission should be as school board members,” Ioffe said. “We are sworn in to protect students of all cultures at all times.”
Barkouch has been involved in controversy since the new year began. He became vice president of the board when he Morris ousted Ioffe an Noemi Velazquez from the leadership positions, then was ousted himself after Morris learned Barkouch was aiming for the board president seat.
Last month, he stirred more controversy when he fought the district over the designated date for the Muslim holiday of Eid.
“Moving forward, I am committed to the ongoing goal of promoting dialogue and reconciliation efforts to build a more inclusive and equitable community for all,” Barkouch said.
Jash Gill, chief of staff to Ramirez, Allen and Muhkerji, confirmed Barkouch stepped down from his positions.
Barkouch says the board should also demand Morris’ resignation Councilman Yousef Saleh accused him of stating that the board would continue to designate an improper date for the school holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. Morris denies he said that during a heated argument at an Eid event.
“Electeds should be very mindful and held to a higher standard,” Saleh said. “The Board of Education should be worried about catalyzing a culture war on the local level. This situation can easily spiral out of control. No public meeting was done when (Morris) stated that the BOE would explicitly have Eid on the wrong holiday forever and called me a “disgruntled school girl that had just been broken up on a first date” as a pejorative in his public statement.
“I do not believe a public meeting would help in either of these circumstances. We need to get back to work and stop these duels of egos.”
The controversial slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” has taken on a loaded meaning as the conflict in Gaza drags on. More than 34,500 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza. About 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the initial incursion by Hamas.
The board business went on as usual at the April 25 meeting without a complaint, but an email by the Jersey City Jewish Association called for the board to denounce Barkouch’s words. The group demanded Barkouch apologize for the language.
“This type of language and behavior has the potential to incite unrest and jeopardize the safety and multicultural balance of our diverse educational system,” the group said in the April 29. “There is no justification for promoting unrest in our schools.”
