US student sues school for erasure of pro-Palestinian artwork

ISTANBUL

A high school student in the US has filed a lawsuit against her school district, claiming school officials painted over her pro-Palestinian parking spot, which led to “emotional trauma,” according to the New York Post.

The student in New York’s Long Island, identified in court documents by the pseudonym Jane Khan, had participated in a tradition at Half Hollow Hills High School West where students are allowed to paint their parking spots.

Khan decorated her spot with a watermelon design featuring a keffiyeh pattern, her name in Arabic, and the phrase “Peace Be Upon You.” The watermelon has long been a symbol of Palestinian resistance and solidarity.

“Ms. Khan’s artwork created no substantial disruption of any school activity or threatened harm to the rights of others,” according to her lawsuit against the Half Hollow Hills Central School District, filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.

Khan claims that after a post in a Facebook group called, “Never Forget Jewish Lives Matter,” encouraged people to report the artwork, she was summoned to the principal's office for questioning.

Two days later, the watermelon portion of her painting was covered with white paint.

"Half Hollow had no history of open tension between its ample Muslim and Jewish populations - to the contrary, it enjoyed an enviable history of positive coexistence," the student said in the legal filing.

"Ms. Khan takes no offense at people identifying with a cause within Half Hollow schools — she just doesn't want her viewpoint erased," Khan said in the lawsuit.