Some parents of Coronado High School graduates were upset by comments made in the keynote speech given by Miko Peled. He is a writer, activist and former owner of Coronado’s Martial Arts America. Peled’s speech starts at the 32:40 mark in the video and is 12 minutes long. You can watch the video here.
Multiple CHS parents took to Facebook to voice their frustration with Peled’s speech.
Elaine Tenen was at the graduation and shared this comment with eCoronado.com:
I can not understand how Miko Peled was chosen as the keynote speaker for the 2014 HS graduation. I was appalled, disgusted and completely offended by his words. I thought a keynote speaker is supposed to inspire, not talk down to his audience. He spewed his own political agenda which I believe was completely inappropriate. I have known Miko and his political views for a long time. He is extremely controversial regarding the state of Israel. His views are not that of the majority, but of a very small minority! He should be embarrassed that he used his own son’s graduation to further his political agenda. To find out from the principal that no one reviews what the keynote will say is shocking to me. I believe in free speech, and as I told Jenny Moore; I understand not reviewing what the kids will say, but to allow someone to speak directly to High Schooler’s and not have a clue about the content is not okay. Miko had previously spoken at the HS, and myself and others went to complain. Guess they forgot about that? Someone should have read his book, googled him and reviewed his Wikipedia page… to start. I truly hope that in the future our school district will do their “due diligence” when choosing a speaker for this type of event.
I have a challenge for Miko. I started a program in 2012 in my parents memory, they were Holocaust survivors. The entire freshman class is taken to the Museum of Tolerance in LA for a day. Over five million people have visited the museum, mostly middle school and high schoolers. I have solely sponsored it for the last 2 years, it is not an inexpensive endeavor, but I believe an extremely important one. For the 2014 class we were going to have to start fund raising soon. Rather than a 20 minute speech, if Miko Peled really believes in everything he said at the graduation and he feels so strongly about tolerance, then I challenge him to sponsor the trip next year. Miko, put your money where your mouth is.
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