A Muslim student in California is upset after her picture in her school yearbook was captioned as “Isis Phillips” instead of her name. Bayan Zehlif, a student at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga, California, posted the picture on Twitter on Friday:
I guess I'm Isis in the yearbook… pic.twitter.com/hMc0dVu8dM
— Bayan (@BayanZehlif) May 7, 2016
According to the Islamic Monthly, Susan Petrocelli, the principal at Los Osos, has opened an investigation to establish how Zehlif was misidentified as “Isis Phillips.” She said that a student with the name Isis Phillips used to attend the high school, and further said on Twitter that it was a regrettable misprint:
https://twitter.com/LosOsosHigh/status/729121904125042688
However, Zehlif is sceptical. She reportedly stated in a Facebook post that:
“The school reached out to me and had the audacity to say that this was a typo. I beg to differ, let’s be real.”
The principal Petrocelli however clarified that she never meant to suggest that it was a typo, and that the school is taking the matter seriously:
“I would never said it was a typo or a mistake. As I told Bayan’s family, this matter has to be thoroughly investigated first. If there is a student that has responsibly and intentionally committed this, we will take the appropriate action that is necessary.”
She stated that the yearbook is compiled by a class of Los Osos students as well as student editors. Petrocelli added that only 287 yearbooks have been distributed so far out of 3,000, and that the rest have been withheld until the school finalizes work with a publishing company to correct the mistake.
Petrocelli has urged patience as the investigation have only just started, adding that the high school isn’t able to reach students until Monday when school resumes.
While it may well have been a regrettable mistake, it is also understandable that Bayan Zehlif is upset. No peace-loving Muslim wishes to be associated with a violent terrorist group.
For a social experiment on Islamophobia, see the video below:
Featured image via screen grab from Twitter.
