A New Jersey school district has hired an outside law firm to investigate how and why a Jewish student group was erased from the high school yearbook, with the members’ names omitted from the page and their photo replaced with a picture of a group of Muslim students.

East Brunswick Public Schools said the independent review by Brisman Law began Friday and will seek to determine who was responsible, as well as whether it was malicious or a mistake.

East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen condemned the incident as a “blatant Anti-Semitic act.”

“Hate has no place in East Brunswick and antisemitism will not be tolerated,” Cohen said.

Members of the Jewish Student Union at the school told People magazine that the incident was just the latest in a series of antisemitic incidents which according to Abigail, a junior, “have not been dealt with.”

The students said that although they spoke to the administration about their fears, nothing was done to make them feel safe.

“It’s a very hostile environment where we’re scared to be ourselves,” says Stephanie, a junior. “The school does not take us seriously when we talk about what we’ve experienced. I want them to care.”

“I’m supposed to be a kid, I’m supposed to be having a high school experience and I feel like I’ve grown up to be such an adult,” another junior said.

“I’m confident the independent counsel investigation will reveal the truth,” Superintendent Victor Valeski said. “They’ve been given complete authority to investigate whatever they need to investigate.”

“Above all, I personally, along with the entire East Brunswick Board of Education, sincerely apologize for the hurt, pain and anguish this event has caused our Jewish students, their families and the impact this continues to have on the entire EB community,” Valeski said. “East Brunswick Public Schools has been a pillar educational organization, thriving on our diversity. We do not tolerate bias and we investigate all reported antisemitism.”

The situation came to light Tuesday after about 375 yearbooks were distributed at East Brunswick High.

Valeski said a new photo of the Jewish Student Union was taken this week and will be included, along with the members’ names, in corrected versions of the yearbook that will be distributed next week.

Discipline could be warranted depending on the outcome of the probe, and a corrective plan will be developed for the yearbook, Valeski said.

The New Jersey office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called for a “transparent and fair investigation.” The yearbook incident “has triggered heinous backlash against some Muslim students who had no knowledge on their photo being misused,” spokesperson Aya Elamroussi said in a statement.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem & AP)