By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) – An eleventh-grade high school student in California had her given name replaced with Isis, under her yearbook picture in which she is wearing a hijab.
The teen, Bayan Zehlif, was taken aback when she looked in her high school yearbook.
Rather than see her name under her photo, she saw “Isis Phillips” written under her picture, evoking bewilderment and pain.
“I am extremely saddened, disgusted, hurt and embarrassed that the Los Osos High School yearbook was able to get away with this,” she wrote on Facebook.
The school told Zehlif that the incident was a typo and a student named Isis Phillips was previously enrolled during the current academic year but has since transferred.
“I beg to differ, let’s be real,” said Zehlif, who posted a picture of the offending yearbook pic and name on Twitter.
All 27 comments on her post have been in her defense, with users writing that they are “so completely appalled” and “this is so beyond disgusting”.
The Council on America-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which bills itself as the largest Muslim advocacy group, said in a statement issued on Sunday that “it’s unlikely” that Zehlif will return to class “until the issue is resolved appropriately.
“We join with the family in their concern about a possible bias motive for this incident and in the deep concern for their daughter’s safety as a result of being falsely labeled as a member of a terrorist group,” CAIR-Los Angeles Executive Director Hussam Ayloush said.
The advocacy group is calling for a “thorough investigation” of the incident.
Approximately 200 yearbooks have already been distributed to students, CAIR said.
