To ask you to help with a cover story for my Jewish child

[Aislyn]

My eldest is at secondary school and has suffered horrific racist bullying due to being identifiably Jewish. She never told anyone, but they guessed due to her appearance, and her saying Eastern European countries when asked 'where are you from?'

Unfortunately the school has been completely unhelpful, and refused to tackle this.

My second child is starting at second and has sen. They are at even higher risk of bullying. They have an appearance that would mean that they could be identified as Jewish, especially when citing Eastern European countries in response to the above question. Can anyone think of a cover story for my child?

(Yes, I have tried to get them a place at a Jewish school, but there is none available)

With empathy - as a mother of two Jewish children also experiencing terrible things - won’t the children already know if there’s a sibling at the school?

A cover story?
I’m sorry, I don’t think I understand.

They will not be going to the same school. I would not put another child there, but unfortunately I cannot move my eldest.

Why are they stating they are from "Eastern European countries" when asked where they are from? Why not either name the country if they are from another county or say whatever village or suburb they live in?

What do they say when asked 'where are you from?' without exposing themselves to Anti-Semitism

Christ what a nightmare OP. Your poor daughter

i think id tell her to say Greek or Turkish, provided you aren’t from an area full of Greeks who might have follow-up questions

fwiw my friends children he exactly the same. They arereally polish jewish- they are dark haired and darker skinned

Well, where are they from?
London?

They say the name of the village or town they live in.

if pushed further they say I don’t understand that is where I live.

Are they not born in the UK?
why are they saying they are from Eastern Europe? Sounds like setting themselves up for more further questions than needed?

"Where are you from?"
"I live in a house on the new build estate off Uppingham Road"
"No, where are you really from?"
"Oh I didn't realise you were being racist"

"London" is not acceptable as an answer, as they don't look British

This, it should be impolite in school as it is in other work or social circumstances to grill someone about their heritage, can't they just say whatever town you live in OP?

I don’t think being vague is helpful. It makes it seem like their identity is shameful.

Are your children immigrants? Do they have accents that make them obviously from another location? I’m trying to figure out why people are asking where they are from as opposed to just presuming they are from the local area.

They should just say where they are from!
There is no unacceptable answer to that question.

What does a British person look like?

British people have all sorts of looks and skin colours, they don't need a cover story they need to be reporting whichever kids are interrogating pupils on their heritage.

I agree here - my daughter has a complicated answer as I was born in Israel, her dad was born in the states and she was born and lives in Scotland. So ‘where are you from’ is an odd one for her. She usually says ‘Scotland’.

she’s always been the only Jewish child (except for the years she overlapped primary with my son) so there was no secrecy about it. Only became a problem after October 7th and has had regular issues since then.

Exactly!

Surely the point is that the answer confirms in the bullies head they are Jewish so the can commence their anti semetic bullying?

OP is trying to hide their Jewishness. 1936 vibes

In what way do they “not look British” that most people in London do?

I can't think of any Eastern European country that would immediately make a child identifiable as Jewish. Are you from Israel?

If yes, your child needs to say they're from where you live now. Do they have a definite Israeli accent?

If not from Israel, I'm not sure what's happening. If children say they're from Poland, Belarus, Ukraine etc, it's usually not assumed that they're Jewish.

I'm so sorry to hear about the racism at your child's school. Saying that someone can't be from London because they 'don't look British' is pretty grim though.

British people present in all different skin tones, in what way do they not look 'British'?

How far do you want to go with this? Does your DD2 have the capability or appetite for convoluted lies? Would she want to obscure her heritage?

OK she could say, London when asked (if asked) or if she has a distinctive accent what’s the nearest country that would not identify her. To be honest there aren’t many countries that scream. ‘ must be Jewish’?

What country were they born in?