We wanted to inform you about a recent meeting that ICEB Shura members had with Mayor Brad Cohen of East Brunswick. Our community has been hurting due to the recent incident in the EBHS yearbook, and it was essential for us to address our concerns directly with the Mayor.

We expressed our concerns about the pain our community, particularly our children and their parents, has been enduring due to the township leadership's neglect. We highlighted that the Mayors post, which linked "blatant anti-Semitism" with "Muslim students" being replaced in the picture, has led to hate-filled messages against our community. Our children have been doxxed, bullied online, and their photos plastered all over national and social media.

We informed the Mayor that many in our community reached out to EB Public School and his office, alerting them to the situation. Despite this, the response has been inadequate, and it seems the Mayor was unaware of our community's anguish.

We emphasized the powerful testimonials shared by our students at the Board of Ed meeting, urging the Mayor to watch the recording.

The meeting was productive; in particular, upon being alerted to a highly offensive comment directed at the faith of Muslims within his Facebook post, Mayor Cohen deleted that comment and took steps to stop further comments on the post.

We requested the Mayor's help to heal our community by:

• Countering the targeting of Muslim minors and condemning those who leaked their pictures.

• Clarifying that people should not rush to judgment before the investigation is completed.

• Countering the implied assumption that Muslims were responsible for this act.

• Proactively reaching out to media outlets to correct any implied meanings that have fueled division and hatred.

• Emphasizing that no hate is allowed in East Brunswick and tackling both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

In response to these requests, the Mayor has communicated to us that an announcement will be made to address our concerns.  We remain hopeful that we can find ways to counter hate and begin to heal as a community.

Thank you for your continued support.

Jazak'Allah Khayrun!  

Islamic Center of East Brunswick Shura