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[excelsiorlef]

A rumor that a Jewish family was to blame for an elementary school canceling its annual production of “A Christmas Carol” snowballed on conservative news outlets this week.

Since the story spread online, a child in the family who is enrolled in fifth grade at the school in Lancaster, Penn. was subjected to taunts and harassment by schoolmates and a threatening comment on Breitbart News suggested publishing the parents’ names so they could “thank them personally.”

...

Paskoff said the child was being taunted on the school bus by kids saying it was “your fault the play was canceled.”

“It was getting prevalent enough that the family got concerned,” he said.

The parents did ask if their child could be excused from participating in the Charles Dickens play, according to the local newspaper account, but said they never complained about it happening or asked for it to be canceled.

But last week a local TV station ran a story suggesting that the play had been canceled because of two parents’ objections to the famous Tiny Tim line, “God bless us, everyone.” The piece reported that Centerville Elementary School officials said the complaint did cause them to give the play a second thought. Fox News and Breitbart picked up on it and ran with it, after which the school received more than 200 calls and emails.

In a letter sent to parents on Dec. 15, and a subsequent question and answer posted on the school’s website, the school principal categorically denied that the play was canceled this year because of any parents’ complaints, but rather that school officials had determined that preparing for the play would take up too much academic time.

“One rumor we’ve been addressing is that one or two families influenced this decision,” wrote Tom Kramer, Centerville Elementary School principal. “That’s just not true. The instructional time issue was our primary concern.” In the FAQ the school posted, Kramer said there was no religious complaint made about the play.

There are some reports the family left town to be safe

Speaking to Lancaster Online anonymously, the family said they pulled their child from school and temporarily left Lancaster because they weren’t “going to take a chance after the pizza incident,” referring to the event earlier this month when a gunman brought an assault rifle to Comet Ping Pong, the Washington, D.C., pizza place at the center of a fake news story about Hillary Clinton operating a secret child-sex-trafficking operation there.

Though the ADL says it was a planned Vacation

But the Anti-Defamation League published a statement Thursday evening that the family did not flee town out of fear, but rather had left for a winter break vacation.

“We spoke with the family, who explained that they went on a previously-planned vacation for the holidays,” ADL regional director Nancy Baron-Baer said in a statement. “There is no truth to the rumor that the school canceled A Christmas Carol at the request of parents.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ed-for-cancellation-of-school-christmas-play/

 

[Kayhan]

So the family and school already confirmed to the ADL that

A) They just left the country for a vacation.

B) The Christmas play was canceled by the school because rehearsals took away too much class time.

“News reports alleging that a Jewish family has ‘fled’ Lancaster County are untrue and damaging,” said Nancy Baron-Baer, ADL Regional Director. “We spoke with the family, who explained that they went on a previously-planned vacation for the holidays. Stories like this can sow fear in the Jewish community and beyond, and it is important to stop the spread of misinformation.

“There is no truth to the rumor that the school cancelled A Christmas Carol at the request of parents. The Hempfield School District released a FAQ clearly stating that the play was cancelled due to the inordinate amount of class time taken up by rehearsals. We commend the district for setting the record straight.”

http://www.adl.org/press-center/pre....WFxvpFMrLGg?referrer=https://t.co/bqU3QXktID


The real story here is about the spreading of false rumors and fake news around the internet and forums like NeoGAF.

 

[NewFresh]

Sad the family had to go through that because of how eager conservative websites are to find some kind of outrage to latch on to.

I'm sure a lot of "keep Christ in Christmas" bumper sticker people were feeling validated. Probably while shopping at Kohl's....

 

[ItIsOkBro]

So the family and school already confirmed to the ADL that

A) They just left the country for a vacation.

B) The Christmas play was canceled by the school because rehearsals took away too much class time.

What is real anymore

 

[Miles Quaritch]

Why am I not shocked to see Breitbrart's name pop up...

 

[Calamari41]

Fake news about fake news?

 

[excelsiorlef]

So the family and school already confirmed to the ADL that

A) They just left the country for a vacation.

B) The Christmas play was canceled by the school because rehearsals took away too much class time.



http://www.adl.org/press-center/pre....WFxvpFMrLGg?referrer=https://t.co/bqU3QXktID


The real story here is about the spreading of false rumors and fake news around the internet and forums like NeoGAF.

That's literally all in my OP. The family was still harassed and blamed...

Like literally right at the bottom. Separated out from the rest of the article...

 

[Lkr]

Happy Holidays, Breitbart

 

[Oersted]

So the family and school already confirmed to the ADL that

A) They just left the country for a vacation.

B) The Christmas play was canceled by the school because rehearsals took away too much class time.



http://www.adl.org/press-center/pre....WFxvpFMrLGg?referrer=https://t.co/bqU3QXktID


The real story here is about the spreading of false rumors and fake news around the internet and forums like NeoGAF.

Its weird that you treat forums not as part of the Internet and give a special shoutout to Gaf.

Gaf had its dark days, but it never went full Breitbart and Daily Mail.

 

[ahoyhoy]

What is real anymore

It's becoming harder and harder to gauge that on the Internet these days.

Might actually go back to just watching the nightly news since there's at least some time for them to report on things rather than deliver knee-jerk reactions and hot takes

 

[Lkr]

That's literally all in my OP. The family was still harassed and blamed...

Like literally right at the bottom. Separated out from the rest of the article...

Lmao smh people read the OP before belittling the OP

 

[Slayven]

Lmao smh people read the OP before belittling the OP

Maybe reading isn't fundamental

 

[Miles Quaritch]

So the family and school already confirmed to the ADL that

A) They just left the country for a vacation.

B) The Christmas play was canceled by the school because rehearsals took away too much class time.


The real story here is about the spreading of false rumors and fake news around the internet and forums like NeoGAF.

Ignoring that a family was harassed because people thought their religion/ethnicity was the reason behind their shitty Christmas play being cancelled because....?

Or are you suggesting the harassment didn't happen?

 

[NewFresh]

So the family and school already confirmed to the ADL that

A) They just left the country for a vacation.

B) The Christmas play was canceled by the school because rehearsals took away too much class time.



http://www.adl.org/press-center/pre....WFxvpFMrLGg?referrer=https://t.co/bqU3QXktID


The real story here is about the spreading of false rumors and fake news around the internet and forums like NeoGAF.

Did you miss the entire part about harassment?

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

Ignoring that a family was harassed because people thought their religion/ethnicity was the reason behind their shitty Christmas play being cancelled because....?

Or are you suggesting the harassment didn't happen?

The real story is that the fake news pushed this so hard that it resulted in regular, innocent people once again being harassed.

 

[Kayhan]

Ignoring that a family was harassed because people thought their religion/ethnicity was the reason behind their shitty Christmas play being cancelled because....?

Or are you suggesting the harassment didn't happen?

It is right there in my post. How false rumors quickly spreads on the internet.

Luckily the ADL, school and parents set the record straight quickly.

 

[Kayhan]

Did you miss the entire part about harassment?

The harassment came as a consequence of false rumors. Hence my post about false rumors.

It is not hard to read my posts. Just read my posts and stop trying to imply I have bad intentions.

The pathetic response to my commonsensical post is quite telling.

 

[excelsiorlef]

The harassment came as a consequence of false rumors. Hence my post about false rumors.

It is not hard to read my posts. Just read my posts and stop trying to imply I have bad intentions.

The pathetic response to my commonsensical post is quite telling.

Edit: Your initial post was frankly unclear.

You posted a quote I had alread included and called out NeoGAF about false news..

It also lacked any acknowledgement of the harassment so how are we to know wjat exactly you meant to be blunt.

 

[zeemumu]

As we edge ever closer to that When Good Ghouls Go Bad Future where you can just get away with blatant lies because no one bothers to fact check your statement or read.

 

[Kayhan]

The ADL denied they fled not the harassment

Where the fuck did I say the family wasn't harassed?

I see now that my jab at GAF was 100% justified.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

The Fuck does brietbart have against Jews? Shit is disgusting.

 

[Johndoey]

Where the fuck did I say the family wasn't harassed?

I see now that my jab at GAF was 100% justified.

Son you looking like a fool right now, take the L and move on.

 

[excelsiorlef]

Where the fuck did I say the family wasn't harassed?

I see now that my jab at GAF was 100% justified.

Please see my revised edit above.

You edited your post that added some clarity to your posts but frankly initially your posts lacked enough context for me and others to centre it in this conversation.

Your GAF call out is not justified based on your lack of intial clarity. Nor even if you had been cleaner does the reaction you got have anything to do with your jab at GAF in regards to false news.

 

[zeemumu]

The harassment came as a consequence of false rumors. Hence my post about false rumors.

It is not hard to read my posts. Just read my posts and stop trying to imply I have bad intentions.

The pathetic response to my commonsensical post is quite telling.

You chose this thread to call out GAF on reporting fake news so from a lot of people's viewpoints it looks like you're implying that the OP is reporting on fake news, and the addition of "the real story" is something you'd add on if the OP didn't report on or undersold the importance of that part of the story, and as far as I can tell he didn't because it's in the article and the title of this thread.

Regardless of your intentions you can see how that conclusion might be reached, right?

 

[Mammoth Jones]

It's getting scary how these typically online "news" sites can lead to people being harassed like that. Especially with the "thank them personally" shit. Christ.

Son you looking like a fool right now, take the L and move on.

Yea. Avoid the double down. Just take the L.

 

[Calamari41]

Yea. Avoid the double down. Just take the L.

Keep digging and digging until everyone gets tired of the conversation and leaves. When you're the last one standing, that means you won the argument.

 

[HStallion]

Where the fuck did I say the family wasn't harassed?

I see now that my jab at GAF was 100% justified.

We like to call this a self fulfilling prophecy. You made a vague enough inflammatory post that was basically just reiterating what the OP was already saying and then got defensive and condescending about it. Just give it a rest and lets talk at the story in the OP.

 

[Netherscourge]

The story is about the unjustified harassment and bullying created by Neo-Nazi media sites, aka, Breitbart, which has in turn enabled it's Neo-Nazi followers to promote Christian bigotry.

There is nothing fake about that fact.

 

[Tigress]

Where the fuck did I say the family wasn't harassed?

I see now that my jab at GAF was 100% justified.

If you have this many people confused you may consider your wording was bad. I've been there before. I know it seems hard to realize it is confusing to others when you know exactly what you said but remember other people are not in your head and don't think the same way so they can misread what you thought was perfectly clear. If you have a lot of people doing the same thing consider the problem might be how you worded things.

 

[Acorn]

These emboldened trump supporting racist fucks need to be put back in their dumpster.