Bergen Student: 'I Was Reprimanded Over Anti-Israel Tweets'

A Bergen County high school student supporting Palestine claims school administrators reprimanded her and accused her of bullying after seeing comments she made on social media.

Bethany Koval, a 16-year-old Israeli Jew attending Fair Lawn High School, said on Twitter she’s been reprimanded for a tweet directed towards Israel and was being questioned by school officials about a pro-Palestine comment she made on social media.

“Principal just called me down. I’m about to be exposed for being anti-Israel,” Koval tweeted. “Pray for me.”

District Administrator Bruce Watson said in a statement Thursday that “at no time have District officials sought to censor or reprimand any pupils for their online speech.”

“The Fair Lawn School District recognizes and respects individuals’ First Amendment rights to free speech,” Watson said.

Koval claims she may face legal action.

Threatened to file a bullying case against me. It’s against state law to express unpopular political views on the Internet, now.

— benny (@bendykoval) January 6, 2016

Watson said in the statement that the school received a complaint ”alleging potential harassment, intimidation, or bullying by one student against another.”

Koval posted three audio clips of a meeting she had with an administrator regarding her posts. The administrator can be heard telling Koval that the state could determine she had committed an act of bullying for a tweet she sent to a fellow student who unfollowed her as “that pro-Israel girl from my school.”

In one recording, the administrator said that she believes the tweets about Israel were “controversial” but not “problematic.”

An investigation has been launched to determine “whether an act of HIB occurred” under state law. The investigation, Watson said, will not focus on “any political opinions expressed by any pupils.”

“All parties involved are given a full and fair opportunity to share their side of the story,” Watson said. “Upon completion of the investigation,” Watson will “make a determination and report confidentially to the Board of Education” in accordance with state law.

Koval, whose Twitter username is “benny” posted Thursday morning that she went home because there was “too much aggression amongst classmates here.”

Two hours before that post, Koval posted that she was “sitting outside my school panicking.”

She also posted Thursday morning that she “shouldn’t feel unsafe at my own school for expressing a political belief.”

Twitter users have tagged posts supporting Koval with the hashtag #IStandWithBenny.