in the wake of October 7 attack Two years ago, high school teacher Josh Hirsch posted pro-Israel comments on social media. He wrote that it was unrealistic for Hamas to expect a ceasefire as long as it was holding hostages.
Shortly after, a former student called for his expulsion. A note taped outside his classroom door in Adams County, Colorado, contains his wife’s name and their home address. A poster appeared on his chair that read: “Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.”
The reaction stunned Hirsch, the only Jewish teacher in his school building. For the first time in his 14-year career, he considered quitting. He stayed and joined the teacher advocacy network the organization had created Anti-Defamation LeagueIt is an approach that he believes makes schools more inclusive of diverse viewpoints.
“I was a teacher and I tried to keep my focus on being the best teacher I could be,” he said.
tensions over Israel-Hamas war The phenomenon has spread to schools across the United States, where advocates have reported a rise in anti-Semitic harassment since the 2023 bombing attack on Israel. While some argue that school leaders have failed to take the threat seriously, others warn Criticism of Israel The military campaign in Gaza is often interpreted as hate speech.
The Trump administration has not punished school systems in the same way it struck colleges accused of tolerating anti-Semitism, but schools still face pressure to respond more forcefully. Several states have pushed for new vigilance, including legislation that critics say will stifle free speech.
Lawmakers in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee have passed measures to make schools more accountable for complaints of anti-Semitism. law The agreement signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, will provide training to identify and prevent anti-Semitism in schools. And in Arizona, the Democratic governor He objected to the bill On how to handle reports of anti-Semitism in schools, calling them an attack on teachers.
Several measures, including one signed by Oklahoma’s Republican governor, call for the adoption of a law Definition of anti-Semitism This casts certain criticisms of Israel as hate speech.
“These bills make clear that Oklahoma stands with our Jewish communities and will not tolerate hate disguised as political speech,” said Kristen Thompson, the Republican state senator from Oklahoma who authored the legislation.
Dozens of countries have adopted it Definition It is promoted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which is also recognized by the US State Department. The report lists 11 examples of anti-Semitic behavior, such as applying “double standards” to Israel or comparing the country’s policies to Nazism.
While supporters of this definition of anti-Semitism say it is necessary to combat evolving forms of Jewish hatred, civil liberties groups warn that it suppresses pro-Palestinian speech.
The Trump administration has leveraged anti-Semitism investigations in its efforts to reshape higher education, suspending billions of dollars in federal funding to Harvard, Columbia and other universities over allegations that they tolerate hate speech, especially during protests over… Israel-Hamas war.
The White House did not participate at the K-12 level. In congressional hearings, House Republicans did just that Some large school systems have taken it upon themselves Because of their handling of anti-Semitism, but the administration has largely left it up to the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to handle complaints.
In one case under investigation, a complaint described students in the Berkeley Unified School District in California asking Jewish classmates for their “number,” a reference to the numbers tattooed on Jews during the Holocaust. She also said teachers made anti-Semitic comments and led walkouts that praised Hamas.
The district did not respond to a request for comment.
In another case in California, the family of a 14-year-old girl filed a federal lawsuit last year alleging she had to leave University Preparatory Academy, a charter school in San Jose, in 2023 because of anti-Semitic bullying. After the Hamas attack, she said students called her names, including “terrorist.” The California Department of Education and the school said they could not comment on pending litigation.
Nationally, the Anti-Defamation League recorded 860 anti-Semitic incidents in non-Jewish schools last year, ranging from insults and swastikas etched on lockers to anti-Semitic material taught in classrooms. The number is down from more than 1,100 recorded in 2023, but is much higher than numbers in previous years, according to the ADL.
A Massachusetts state commission formed last year to combat anti-Semitism found it to be a “pervasive and rising problem” in schools.
At one meeting, the committee’s co-chair, Democratic state Rep. Simon Cataldo, said the Massachusetts Teachers Association was sharing anti-Semitic resources with teachers, including a kindergarten workbook that describes Zionists as “bullies” and an image of the Star of David made out of dollar bills. The union said that these images were selected from hundreds of images in artwork and posters related to the Palestinians, and the links to those materials were deleted.
The union said it was involved in efforts to confront rising anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and accused the committee of “offensive political theatre.”
“Those who manipulate anti-Semitism to achieve political goals — such as undermining labor unions and public education — are following in the footsteps of the Trump administration,” the union said in a statement.
Margaret Litvin, an assistant professor of Arabic and comparative literature at Boston University, said the committee “deliberately conflates criticism of Israel with anti-Jewish prejudice and prejudice against Jews.” That approach would be used to justify “extreme” state interference in the school district’s affairs, said Litvin, co-founder of the group Concerned Boston Area Jewish Faculty and Staff.
The tension has reached the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union, which this summer considered a proposal to drop ADL course materials that teachers use to teach about the Holocaust and bias. Supporters said the Anti-Defamation League had significant influence on school curriculum and policies, with an underlying pro-Israel viewpoint.
Delegates at the union’s representative assembly narrowly voted to approve the proposal, but were overruled by the NEA’s board of directors. Association President Becky Pringle said the proposal “would not advance the NEA’s commitment to academic freedom, our membership, or our goals.”
In the aftermath, the Anti-Defamation League invited K-12 teachers to join a new network called Lighthouse: Building Educator Allies for Change, Openness, and Networks, which it said aims to help educators learn from each other how to address and combat anti-Semitism and other forms of hate.
Hirsch, a teacher in Colorado, was among hundreds who expressed interest.
Some of the negative backlash he faced stemmed from his online comments about local activist organizations. After donating money to Black Lives Matter groups and supporting them with a sign in his yard, he expressed feelings of betrayal when he saw the groups expressing their support for the Palestinians and not for Israel.
He said he was surprised by the reaction to the posts in his school’s predominantly Hispanic community. He is a former debate coach, and through his work with the ADL Network, he aims to help students share their opinions in constructive ways.
“If we give them the opportunity to hate, and we give them the opportunity to make enemies of someone, that’s actually counterproductive to what we’re trying to do as a society,” he said.
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