On a soccer field in Miami-Dade Florida, a group of young boys showed the world that hatred is rooted deeply in this young generation. When we received the news of this story, we were heartbroken that hate this deep, this strong, still exists today. The story we are about to tell you is not fictitious; please prepare yourself as you read about this act of violence.
It was Friday night and the teams had been preparing for this all season. Fans packed the stands from each school in anticipation for kickoff at the boys’ state soccer championship game. One private religious school against the other.
They believe in the same God, but that day they were separated in their desire for the title!
As their teams lined up to face the opposition for kickoff, they made eye contact with the opposing team; the race for possession of the ball had begun.
Both teams rushed up and down the field as the game took off. The strategy of every practice and all the conditioning had prepared them for this battle. What it didn’t prepare them for … was a battle of a spiritual, mental, and hateful type.
Passes … shots … saves … more passes … more shots … GOAL!
As one team passed the ball from player to player the phrase “Heil Hitler” began to be shouted from the opposing team on the field.
As Jewish boys at Scheck Hillel School, their ears perked up and they begin to look for the perpetrator. Maybe it was misheard?
The game continued and so did the antisemitic comments: “Hitler was right;” “heil Hitler;” “dirty Jews.” They wanted to remain in control and stay focused on winning the state soccer championship game. They gave it their all; the fans and their classmates were counting on them.
The racial, hateful, antisemitic slurs filled the soccer field by the opposing team, Archbishop Coleman Carroll.
They fought until the end but lost 2–1. As the team began to exit the field, one boy felt a push from behind, and began to stumble …
Suddenly, he was shoved to the ground and the opposing players circled around him, hitting him, and took turns kicking him with their dagger cleats.
One kick to the head connected and a spike from the cleat was left in his eye.
The above story is something you may have thought happened in 1933 at the onslaught of the Holocaust. A story so egregious that it could not be a current event.
But this IS a REAL story, a very RECENT story with a real victim, and very real hate.
We at Proclaiming Justice to The Nations (PJTN) will not sit by while our Jewish brethren are persecuted solely because of their heritage. We immediately reached out to Archbishop Thomas Wenski, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Miami and the Superintendent of Catholic Schools, and demanded change in their schools, amongst their athletes, and in their classrooms.
The antisemitic hate being brought up in this next generation is extremely dangerous and we have to put a stop to it NOW. Please join us!
PJTN has fought since 2002 to end the putrid hate against our Jewish brethren and we called on school leadership across the nation to educate the young minds under their watch. We have called on leadership to evaluate teachings that have spun this hate and replace it with information on the importance of standing with the Jewish people and the nation of Israel as the apple of God’s eye.
As a group of kids meet to play a beloved sport, one that they have spent many hours practicing and preparing for—violence and degradation from their Catholic brothers is abhorrent.
PJTN continues to stand in the gap, calling out antisemitism in every form, submitting legislation to change any laws that support antisemitism, petitioning school boards to make a change to curriculum and being a public target and shield for our Jewish brethren.
We need your help. Make a gift today so PJTN can continue to fight on the front lines for the safety and dignity of Israel and our Jewish brethren.
