Fox and Breitbart wrongly blame Jewish family for cancellation of Christmas school play

The family said they had never complained about the Christmas play and were worried about their child being bullied as a result

The family said they had planned a holiday but also were worried about their child facing harassment (Getty Images)

A Jewish family that was wrongly blamed for complaining about a Christmas school play have said they were worried about their child's safety after the story was picked up by right-wing and extremist news outlets.

The Centerville Elementary School in Pennsylvania cancelled its rendition of A Christmas Carol this year after the principal decided it would take too much time outside of classroom hours.

Yet a Jewish family told Lancaster Online that it had removed their child from the school due to concerns about their child’s safety amid backlash after the cancellation, and had gone on a planned holiday.

The Hempfield School District said the production of the school play was cancelled because the district could not afford the hours outside the classroom. They said it was not because of rumours that the family complained about the line “God bless us, every one!” as previously reported.

The false reports of the Jewish family being to blame were picked up by the likes of right-wing broadcaster Fox News and white supremacist outlet Breitbart, who declared the school was carrying out a "war on Christmas".

A Fox News opinion piece by Todd Starnes wrote: "I'm afraid Tiny Tim's goose has been cooked by the Ghost of Christmas Intolerance. Bah, humbug indeed." The writer was later corrected.

"One rumour we've been addressing is that one or two families influenced this decision. That's just not true," said the school’s principal, Tom Kramer. "The instructional time issue was our primary concern."

He said it would take 15 to 20 hours outside of the classroom. The decision put an end to the play after three decades of tradition.

The family told Lancaster Online on the condition of anonymity that they had not complained about the play and had only asked their child to be excused from the performance, and the school granted the request.

The parents also told Lancaster Online, however, that their child was "harassed by classmates" since the play was cancelled in November, and have left the region due to the alleged bullying and an incident where a man burst into a restaurant to destroy what he wrongly thought was a paedophile ring run by Hillary Clinton.

The school got at least 200 calls in support and in objection to the cancelling of the play.

Comments on the growing news story reportedly frightened the family, including the following comment on the Breitbart story: "It would be nice if we had the addresses of those concerned citizens and, I bet, this info is known to people living in the area."

The blow-up comes shortly after a fascist website posted contact and personal details of Jewish families in a small town in Montana, where white supremacist Richard Spencer’s mother lives, and urged a "call to action".

The Anti-Defamation League denied the reports, saying the family had left on holiday.

"News reports alleging that a Jewish family has 'fled' Lancaster County are untrue and damaging," Nancy Baer, the Anti-Defamation League's regional director, said in a statement.

"We spoke with the family, who explained that they went on a previously-planned vacation for the holidays."

The parents, who declined to talk further to the local newspaper, said in the first interview that they hoped their child could return to the school.