The leaders of Catholic and Jewish schools in Miami have issued a joint statement condemning “hate of any kind” after a Jewish teen was seriously injured in a fight between Jewish and Catholic students earlier this week.
The fight broke out following a semi-finals soccer game between the teams from the Scheck Hillel Community School – a Miami Jewish day school – and the Archbishop Coleman Carroll High School, run by Miami’s archdiocese.
Referring to the “physical altercation,” both said in the statement that there was an allegation of “racially insensitive comments or gestures” and that “both schools are completing their investigation.”
The statement declared that both have “zero tolerance for any kind of aggressive language and behavior, antisemitism or hate of any kind, and will take “appropriate action with the students involved.”
The fight took place after the game, held at Scheck Hillel school, and video clips on social media showed a melee in which players and spectators were fighting on the field.
Antisemitic slurs and phrases like “Heil Hitler,” “Hitler was right,” and “Kikes” were hurled as the Catholic students beat up the Jewish players. One of the Jewish students told the StopAntisemitism organization that he was called a “dirty Jew” while being punched in the face.
We are in touch with one of the students that was assaulted in yesterday’s Scheck Hillel Community Jewish School vs. Archbishop Coleman Carroll High School soccer game.
According to the victim, as he was getting punched in the face, he was called a “dirty Jew”. pic.twitter.com/etd7sKsXbD
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) February 16, 2023
There were signs early on that the situation was getting out of hand: at least one student from the opposing team attacked a player from the Scheck Hillel school team on the field after the Jewish player won a goal as seen in the clip below.
More videos are emerging that are rather concerning; here we see a Hillel freshman (blue) score a goal. The Archbishop Coleman Carroll High School (yellow) goalie then proceeds to attack the Hillel player for no reason. pic.twitter.com/gcxy2xwtRB
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) February 16, 2023
No arrests have been made thus far.
