South Fulton County

Fulton school map drama shows tangles of Israeli-Palestinian conflict

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Few things are more complex than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and that dispute came to northern Fulton County after an apparent misunderstanding over a map that appeared at a middle school multicultural night last week.

A display at Autrey Mill Middle School on Thursday represented the culture of Palestinians, many of whom are Muslim, and included a map that seems to show the outline of Palestine before Israel was recognized as a nation inside its borders.

A picture of the map circulated on social media without context, causing many to take it as a slight to Israel, which was founded as a Jewish state.

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The school district then condemned the display and said it would be investigating.

Local Muslim advocates released a statement Tuesday voicing opposition to the school’s statements and saying school officials opened up some students to bullying by mishandling the incident.

The district declined to respond to questions from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the incident Tuesday and gave no indication on the status of the investigation.

This story was written by Ben Brasch of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution