Ten students at a Naples, Florida, middle school have been given
one-day, in-school suspensions for participating in "Kick a Jew Day,"
in which Jewish students were targeted for assault, according to news
reports in the local media.

Parents and students at North Naples Middle School told NBC channel 2
in Naples that many students -- all of them Jewish -- were targeted in
the attacks, which took place last week.

The station obtained a letter from one parent who said his daughter
was a target of the attacks.

"Kids pretended to kick her, and later at lunch, they actually kicked
her," the letter stated. "Apparently, many kids, all Jewish, were
kicked. I was furious and attempted to call the parents of the girl
who initiated this hatred."

School officials reacted immediately to complaints from students, but
some in the Jewish community say the punishment for the ten students
didn't go far enough.

“You are talking about an incident that has anti-Jewish bias, if not
anti-Semitism," Jewish Community Online quoted David Barkey of the
Florida Anti-Defamation League. "You have Jewish students being
singled out, harassed and assaulted. ... If the allegations are true,
it is possible these students violated Florida’s new anti-bullying
law. And, if students were physically assaulted, it could rise to the
level of criminal conduct.”

But Rabbi James Perman of Temple Shalom in North Naples said it "seems
that the school system has taken appropriate measures," though he
noted that he hadn't "seen anything like it in my 17 years in Naples."