A suburban high school basketball game took an ugly turn last week Tuesday night when fans began chanting antisemitic remarks. Now, the incident is being investigated by police and the Anti-Defamation League.
Upper Darby High School’s basketball team drew a large crowd for its home opener. Opponent Lower Merion also sent a large contingent. Fans from both schools who were present say the students were chanting back and forth to each other.
Upper Darby made reference to Lower Merion’s large Jewish population and, the fans say, toward the end of the game began chanting, “Warm up the oven.”
In a letter to parents, Lower Merion principal Sean Hughes said the chant “could only be classified as hate speech.”
Upper Darby spokesperson Dana Spino wouldn’t comment on the specific remark but agreed that students stepped over a line:
“We’re taking this very seriously, and as we’re continuing to investigate exactly what happened, we certainly are not going to tolerate this type of behavior in the future.”
Both schools contacted local police and the ADL. Hughes says Lower Merion’s goal is to make sure the individuals responsible face appropriate consequences.
(Source: KYW Radio 1060)
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10 Responses
Lest any of us jewish sports fans, and others forget that this is still golus and those in nazi germany were also friendly until they had the oppurtunity. A reminder of eisav sonei es yaakov, even in smiley america. Hashem yerachem
where is upper darby and lower Marion.
they think ovens are funny??? why dont we nail them all to crosses see how funny they think that one is!!!!
Aliyah Now.
An appropriate chant would have been: beat the Nazis
#3 — They think it’s wonderful to be nailed to crosses. Why else would they call it Good Friday?
Lower Merion is one of the western suburbs of Philadelphia. I am a graduate of Lower Merion High School (class of ’67) and my father a”h moved to Upper Darby in his older teen years. Baruch Hashem I made Aliyah in ’76. Can the administration really deal with this? Only time will tell.
Lower Merion encompasses a large area, including Bala Cynwyd and Wynnewood, both which have large Jewish and Orthodox communities. It is also adjacent to the Philadelphia Yeshiva, just over the city line.
upper marion is a very rich suburb of philadelphia(i think) an dhome to conservative & reform jews.
To #9: When I left Philly, almost 35 years ago, Upper Merion was not a Jewish area. Perhaps things have changed since then. You might be thinking of the Northeast, which has a strong Jewish presence.