Israelis who dressed up as Ku Klux Klan members on Purim make waves on Facebook

17 students from Harel High School in the Jerusalem-area suburb of Mevasseret Zion pose for controversial picture.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Israel high school students dress up as Klansmen for Purim. (photo credit: COURTESY MIZBALA.COM)
Israel high school students dress up as Klansmen for Purim.
(photo credit: COURTESY MIZBALA.COM)
A tasteless brand of humor, or a clever display of satire?
The talk of social media users in Israel this past Purim was a controversial photograph of high school students from the Jerusalem suburb of Mevasseret Zion who dressed up as members of the Ku Klux Klan.
The 17 students from Harel High School in Mevasseret dressed up in white sheets and hoods with one of the “Klansmen” posing with a cross. In the foreground, three of the students painted their face in black to portray African-Americans.
The KKK is a white supremacist organization that originated in the American South in the 1860s. It waged a campaign of terrorism against blacks and non-Protestant whites in an attempt to combat desegregation during the civil rights era.