Public School Leaders Accused of Ignoring Antisemitism, Students Shout ‘Bring Back Hitler’

College campuses aren’t the only institutions of learning where acts of antisemitism are taking place. Jewish parents, teachers, and students have filed complaints about primary and secondary schools too.  

Wednesday on Capitol Hill, a Congressional Education Committee grilled the leaders of three liberal K-12 public school districts – New York City; Berkeley, CA; and Montgomery County, MD, a suburb of Washington, D.C. – about their responses to acts of antisemitism in their districts.  

In a heated exchange, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) accused New York City Public School Chancellor David C. Banks of going easy on a teacher who posted an offensive anti-Israel image to his social media account, while holding up a picture of the image.

“This is highlighting a Hamas paraglider who slaughtered Jews,” she said.

Banks said the district took action but refused to say what type of action despite Stefanik’s insistence he do so. 

“That’s unacceptable,” Stefanik said. 

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In a similar exchange, Rep. Aaron Bean (R-FL) questioned Karla Silvestre about Montgomery County teachers who have been openly targeting Jews.

“‘You are teaching hatred and we’re going to get rid of you.’ Has that happened?” said Bean.

“We have taken disciplinary action, yes,” said Silvestre.

“Have you fired anybody?” asked Bean.

“No,” Silvestre admitted. 

Enikia Ford Morthel, the superintendent of Berkeley schools, told lawmakers she doesn’t see a problem with teachers in her district downplaying the genocidal battle-cry that calls for Israel’s destruction.

Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) asked her about one portion of the curriculum that said, “For some Palestinians, ‘From the River to the Sea’ is a call for freedom and peace.” 

“It cited a supportive quote from Congresswoman Talib who’s been censured by this body in a bipartisan vote.  Do you think that’s an appropriate thing to have on a slide for students?”  

Ford Morthel answered, “We definitely think it’s important to expose our students to a diversity of ideas and perspectives and if it’s presented as a perspective, I do think it’s appropriate.”

Before the hearing began, a number of Jewish teachers, students and parents told stories of being afraid at school and having their concerns ignored by administrators.  

Nisan Safanov, a junior at Stuyvesant High School in New York City spoke about a Jewish boy being punched, his younger brother afraid to go to school because of a mob of protestors, and a yarmulke being taken from a Jewish boy’s head and thrown on the ground. 

“What action did the administration take against the assault of someone whose only crime was practicing their religion? Their response was indifference,” Safanov said. 

Likewise, Brooke Meshel, a Jewish teacher in the New York City school district, recalled a protest at her school.

“Some students in the crowd shouted, ‘Bring back Hitler,’ and ‘Kill all the Jews,'” she said, adding when she asked administrators to act they did nothing. 

Last year, the presidents of four elite universities went before a similar congressional education committee investigating their response to antisemitism on campus, which precipitated two of them losing their jobs.