Oakland high school flies Palestinian flag in place of American flag

Fremont High School in Oakland, California went viral after a photo showed the flag pole in front of Fremont High School flying the Palestinian flag, reportedly in place of the American flag.

The photo was initially posted to X by freelance reporter Zach Haber on Tuesday, and by Wednesday, the flag was gone, according to KTVU.

Shira, of Israeli and Arab ethnicity, is the mother of a seventh-grade son in the Oakland Unified School District and told the outlet, "Our students are struggling to keep up after Covid with their math and their reading and I don't understand why this is such an issue here. And, if it was about peace, there would have been an Israeli flag and a peace sign as well."

"It causes real damage on the ground to the students, and it causes more divisiveness and puts our children in harm's way. We already have to deal with violence on school grounds and now we're going to have to deal with geopolitical conflict," she said.

Zoya Vies, a mother of six whose family immigrated from Russia to flee antisemitism there said, "It is very clear. When you fly a Palestinian flag over a public school, that you are taking a stand. If they were taking a humanitarian approach and their resolutions and their thoughts and their ideas were around bringing home hostages or around peace, as a whole, in the region, that would be one thing. But they’re clearly taking a stand."

Attorney Laura Powell noted on X that California law requires the American flag and California flag to be "prominently installed, displayed, and maintained" at every school.

According to data provided by the California Department of Education, Fremont students in 2022 school year performed very low in English and math, performing 146.5 and 230.8 points below standard, respectively.

69 percent of students graduated in the school year, and the suspension rate is considered high.

Fremont High School was reached for comment.