A Lower Merion High School student said they were forced to remove a keffiyeh at graduation and led out by police

A Lower Merion High School student said they were forced to remove a keffiyeh-print headscarf and consent to be searched to participate in their graduation last week, then removed by police after receiving their diploma.

The student, who posted about the incident Monday on Instagram, said they were told by administrators that the headscarf represented a “political statement,” which the high school had prohibited students from displaying during the June 5 ceremony at Villanova University. The keffiyeh, a traditional Middle Eastern headdress, is often associated with Palestinian identity and the struggle for a Palestinian state.

The student, who declined to be interviewed on the record, said they initially refused to remove the scarf and were escorted out of the building. But after their mother persuaded them to take it off, they were not allowed back in.

Instead, their mother had to negotiate with administrators, who required that the student consent to a search, they said in the Instagram post. They also had to provide identifying information to police.

The student said they were restricted to watching the ceremony via livestream in a separate area, under monitoring by police. When it was time to receive their diploma, they said, they were permitted onstage, but escorted out of the building by police.

“i believe i was targeted for my pro palestinian views,” the student said in the Instagram post, which had drawn more than 3,000 reactions as of Wednesday.

The Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called on Lower Merion district officials Tuesday to apologize and revise their policies.

“The violation by LMSD of this student’s right to full participation in the ceremony after their agreement to the removal of the keffiyeh-patterned headscarf is deeply troubling,” said Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu, executive director of CAIR-Philadelphia.

Tekelioglu said other students reported that at Harriton High School, also in the Lower Merion School District, students were allowed to walk during their graduation last week with “displays of the Israeli flag and messages of support for the Israeli hostages.” He did not have photos of students with those displays; some community members circulated social media photos showing students with yellow ribbons, which have been used as a symbol of support for the hostages taken by Hamas.

“If somebody wants to show support for Israeli hostages, students should be allowed to do that,” Tekelioglu said in an interview. But at the same time, “there’s nothing wrong with somebody who may want to wear a keffiyeh.”

Tekelioglu said that he does not consider the keffiyeh to be a political statement, though “in many ways, everything in life can be political.” He said he wears one “as an expression of solidarity and acknowledgment of the Palestinian people, especially in a world that so often dehumanizes them.”

A district spokesperson did not comment directly on the keffiyeh incident or respond to a question about assertions that Harriton students had pro-Israel displays.

“To ensure that all students and families felt safe and supported during the Lower Merion High School graduation ceremony, and to avoid disruptions or displays that would detract from the inclusive and celebratory nature of the event, students and families received clear guidance regarding acceptable apparel and accessories,” said spokesperson Amy Buckman.

A letter from Lower Merion High School’s principal had instructed students that “political or personal statements that distract from the purpose of the ceremony will not be permitted.”

Buckman said that students who violated the guidance “were given a choice between removing those items and participating in the ceremony or not removing them and not participating.”

She did not comment on the student’s specific treatment, including the involvement of police.

Jonathan Gust, a spokesperson for Villanova University, said that university public safety officers were “present” during the event but that “the student was escorted out by Lower Merion High School officials.” Gust did not comment on other aspects of the student’s account.

The Lower Merion district has been grappling with speech around the Israel-Hamas war, as parents of Jewish students, including members of the Lower Merion Jewish Families Association, have accused the district of not doing enough to stop antisemitism. Some Middle Eastern parents and pro-Palestinian students, meanwhile, say the district has wrongly accused them of antisemitism.

“Lower Merion’s dedication to zionist comfortability is a poison to freedom of speech and expression,” the student who was forced to remove the keffiyeh said on Instagram. They said they had previously worn the same scarf to school without incident.

In comments on the Instagram post, some critics accused the student of a “political stunt” and described the keffiyeh as a terrorist symbol, embraced by Hamas; others said Lower Merion had gone overboard in targeting what was simply a cultural scarf.

In a statement, a parent group, Lower Merion Alliance for Free Speech on Palestine, said the keffiyeh incident “reflected political bias and inherent racism.” The group recently launched in response to concerns of “a pervasive anti-Palestinian/pro-Israel climate in school,” said Naomi Barton, one of the group’s organizers. Barton, who is Jewish, said group members had made “informal overtures” to school leaders about their children’s experiences, and to call for policy changes.

The group questioned the intent of Lower Merion’s ban on political statements at graduation, a policy it said was new this year.

Buckman did not respond to a question on whether Lower Merion had restricted political statements at previous graduations.

Lower Merion was not alone among area schools in facing controversy around graduation displays. Upper Dublin school officials on Wednesday told community members that some attendees of their high school’s graduation Monday “regrettably chose to express their views through displays of a flag,” which “tarnished the occasion for many in attendance and especially for our Jewish students and families.”

Upper Dublin officials said they met Tuesday with representatives of the district’s Jewish Families Association and leaders of local synagogues, and said they were “deeply sorry that what should have been a time of pride and joy left you feeling uncomfortable or fearful.”