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Rising Antisemitism in K-12 Schools Demands National Attention
As I walked through the US Capitol on May 8th — the day of the Congressional hearings on Antisemitism in K-12 schools — I was imbued with a sense of hope. As the Director of K-12 Educator Outreach for StandWithUs — an international, nonpartisan organization dedicated to combating antisemitism — I had the unique opportunity to attend these hearings in person. It was a moment that many had been waiting for, a chance to bring the harassment and bullying that Jewish students and teachers endure to the forefront of national consciousness.
Since the appalling terrorist attack against Israel on October 7, reports of antisemitism in K-12 public and independent schools across the country have surged to shocking levels. Each week, I engage with teachers, administrators, students, and parents who reach out to StandWithUs for support. They share harrowing stories of discrimination and harassment rooted in their Jewish identity.
Reflecting on my days as a high school teacher and administrator, it’s disheartening to see how the landscape has changed. Disciplinary measures that were once seen as fair are now used selectively to target Jewish students, while their aggressors often face no consequences.
Educational materials, rather than being vetted for accuracy and educational value, are hurriedly pulled from the internet, including platforms like TikTok, which perpetuate misinformation about the October 7, the war against Hamas, and countless other issues.
Numerous teachers’ unions, whose mission is to improve working conditions for educators, have shifted their focus towards taking one-sided positions against Israel, or worse. My former union, the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA), has been deeply mired in controversy over antisemitism for months.
The MTA recently held an “anti-racism” panel featuring speakers that Jewish groups decried as boosting “antisemitic and anti-Israel falsehoods.” Two Massachusetts legislators described the event as “two hours of anti-Israel and antisemitic propaganda.” Some unions have also promoted curricula that border on or cross the line into indoctrination. This shift is not only damaging to the impartiality expected of educational institutions, but also undermines the professionalism of teachers.
During the Congressional hearings, some lawmakers displayed a deep understanding of the pervasive and enduring nature of antisemitism in educational settings. Representative Kathy Manning (D-NC) gave a strong overview of the problems that are reported to StandWithUs every day. She also raised critical concerns about the corrosive influence of propaganda on social media platforms such as TikTok.
Representative Kevin Kiley (R-CA) sharply questioned Berkeley School Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel about her district’s contract with the Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium (LESMCC), an organization condemned by many, including elected officials, for promoting antisemitic narratives.
He said, “[LESC] grew out of the initial working group to form California’s model ethnic studies curriculum [which] was universally condemned as antisemitic; fourteen members of the legislature, all Democrats, said it is difficult to fathom why the state of California would to actively promote a narrative about Jews that echoes the propaganda of the Nazi regime … so it was revised, but this liberated ethnic studies consortium offers the original version … they split off from the group and said we’re going to stick with the original antisemitic version and that’s the version that you went out and decided to have in your classrooms, is that right?”
Dr. Morthel smiled, thanked him for his question, and told him he was factually incorrect, because they didn’t purchase curriculum from the LESC, they designed it in-house: the money they paid LESC was simply for them to be a “thought partner.” This attempt to sidestep the issue only raises more disturbing questions. Why would any school district pay a group of extremists to be a “thought partner” for anything, let alone ethnic studies courses that are supposed to help fight racism?
However, other members of the committee seemed less prepared. Even worse, Representative Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) tried to actively undermine the fight against hate by giving a representative from the ACLU a platform to promote misinformation about the widely adopted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism. He also seemed to whitewash the long history of systemic discrimination Jews faced across the Middle East, prior to the establishment of the State of Israel.
The hearing was a promising start, yet two hours is scarcely enough to tackle the widespread problem of antisemitism in schools. It is imperative that further investigations are conducted into the many different ways bias and bigotry are finding their way into our schools. Teachers’ unions must be held accountable when they encourage educators to sidestep state curriculum standards and district policies and promote misinformation into the classroom. Congress should increase funding to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to enable it to thoroughly investigate and address violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in publicly funded schools.
The media, too, must play its part by treating antisemitic incidents in schools with the gravity and urgency they deserve. As it stands, Jewish students and teachers are suffering, students are being indoctrinated, and our educational system is woefully unequipped to address these issues. It is time for a systematic effort to ensure that schools remain places of learning and growth, not platforms for indoctrination or institutionalized antisemitism.
David Smokler is the director of K-12 Educator Outreach for StandWithUs, an international nonpartisan education organization that supports Israel and fights antisemitism.
The post Rising Antisemitism in K-12 Schools Demands National Attention first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Immigration Judge Rules Palestinian Columbia Student Khalil Can Be Deported
Mahmoud Khalil speaks to members of media about the Revolt for Rafah encampment at Columbia University during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza, in New York City, US, June 1, 2024. Photo: Jeenah Moon via Reuters Connect
A US immigration judge ruled on Friday that Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil can be deported, allowing President Donald Trump’s administration to proceed with its effort to remove the Columbia University student from the United States a month after his arrest in New York City.
The ruling by Judge Jamee Comans of the LaSalle Immigration Court in Louisiana was not a final determination of Khalil’s fate. But it represented a significant victory for the Republican president in his efforts to deport foreign pro-Palestinian students who are in the United States legally and, like Khalil, have not been charged with any crime.
Citing the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, Trump-appointed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined last month that Khalil could harm American foreign policy interests and should be deported for his “otherwise lawful” speech and activism.
Comans said that she did not have the authority to overrule a secretary of state. The judge denied a motion by Khalil’s lawyers to subpoena Rubio and question him about the “reasonable grounds” he had for his determination under the 1952 law.
The judge’s decision came after a combative 90-minute hearing held in a court located inside a jail complex for immigrants surrounded by double-fenced razor wire run by private government contractors in rural Louisiana.
Khalil, a prominent figure in the anti-Israel student protest movement that has roiled Columbia’s New York City campus, was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, holds Algerian citizenship and became a US lawful permanent resident last year. Khalil’s wife is a US citizen.
For now, Khalil remains in the Louisiana jail where federal authorities transferred him after his March 8 arrest at his Columbia University apartment building some 1,200 miles (1,930 km) away. Comans gave Khalil’s lawyers until April 23 to apply for relief before she considers whether to issue a deportation order. An immigration judge can rule that a migrant cannot be deported because of possible persecution in a home country, among other limited grounds.
In a separate case in New Jersey, US District Judge Michael Farbiarz has blocked deportation while he considers Khalil’s claim that his arrest was made in violation of the US Constitution’s First Amendment protections for freedom of speech.
KHALIL ADDRESSES THE JUDGE
As Comans adjourned, Khalil leaned forward, asking to address the court. Comans hesitated, then agreed.
Khalil quoted her remarks at his hearing on Tuesday that nothing was more important to the court than “due process rights and fundamental fairness.”
“Clearly what we witnessed today, neither of these principles were present today or in this whole process,” Khalil said. “This is exactly why the Trump administration has sent me to this court, a thousand miles away from my family.”
The judge said her ruling turned on an undated, two-page letter signed by Rubio and submitted to the court and to Khalil’s counsel.
Khalil’s lawyers, appearing via a video link, complained they were given less than 48 hours to review Rubio’s letter and evidence submitted by the Trump administration to Comans this week. Marc Van Der Hout, Khalil’s lead immigration attorney, repeatedly asked for the hearing to be delayed. Comans reprimanded him for what the judge said was straying from the hearing’s purpose, twice saying he had “an agenda.”
Comans said that the 1952 immigration law gave the secretary of state “unilateral judgment” to make his determination about Khalil.
Khalil should be removed, Rubio wrote, for his role in “antisemitic protests and disruptive activities, which fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States.”
Rubio’s letter did not accuse Khalil of breaking any laws, but said the State Department can revoke the legal status of immigrants who could harm US foreign policy interests even when their beliefs, associations or statements are “otherwise lawful.”
After Comans ended the hearing, several of Khalil’s supporters wept as they left the courtroom. Khalil stood and smiled at them, making a heart shape with his hands.
Khalil has said criticism of the US government’s support of Israel is being wrongly conflated with antisemitism. His lawyers told the court they were submitting into evidence Khalil’s interviews last year with CNN and other news outlets in which he denounces antisemitism and other prejudice.
His lawyers have said the Trump administration was targeting him for protected speech including the right to criticize American foreign policy.
“Mahmoud was subject to a charade of due process, a flagrant violation of his right to a fair hearing and a weaponization of immigration law to suppress dissent,” Van Der Hout said in a statement after the hearing.
The American immigration court system is run and its judges are appointed by the US Justice Department, separate from the government’s judicial branch.
The post US Immigration Judge Rules Palestinian Columbia Student Khalil Can Be Deported first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Releases Video of Israeli-American Hostage Held in Gaza
FILE PHOTO: Yael, Adi and Mika Alexander, the family of Edan Alexander, the American-Israeli and Israel Defense Forces soldier taken hostage during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, pose for a photograph during an interview with Reuters at the Alexander’s home in Tenafly, New Jersey, U.S., December 14, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Stephani Spindel/File Photo
Hamas on Saturday released a video purportedly of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, who has been held in Gaza since he was captured by Palestinian terrorists on October 7, 2023.
In the undated video, the man who introduces himself as Edan Alexander states he has been held in Gaza for 551 days. The man questions why he is still being held and pleads for his release.
Alexander is a soldier serving in the Israeli military.
The edited video was released as Jews began to mark Passover, a weeklong holiday that celebrates freedom. Alexander’s family released a statement acknowledging the video that said the holiday would not be one of freedom as long as Edan and the 58 other hostages in Gaza remained in captivity.
Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda that is designed to put pressure on the government. The war is in its eighteenth month.
Hamas released 38 hostages under a ceasefire that began on January 19. In March, Israel’s military resumed its ground and aerial campaign on Gaza, abandoning the ceasefire after Hamas rejected proposals to extend the truce without ending the war.
Israeli officials say that campaign will continue until the remaining 59 hostages are freed and Gaza is demilitarized. Hamas insists it will free hostages only as part of a deal to end the war and has rejected demands to lay down its arms.
The US, Qatar and Egypt are mediating between Hamas and Israel.
The post Hamas Releases Video of Israeli-American Hostage Held in Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Some Progress in Hostage Talks But Major Issues Remain, Source tells i24NEWS
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – A source familiar with the ongoing negotiations for a hostage deal confirmed to i24NEWS on Friday that some progress has been made in talks, currently taking place with Egypt, including the exchange of draft proposals. However, it remains unclear whether Hamas will ultimately accept the emerging framework. According to the source, discussions are presently focused on reaching a cohesive outline with Cairo.
A delegation of senior Hamas officials is expected to arrive in Cairo tomorrow. While there is still no finalized draft, even Arab sources acknowledge revisions to Egypt’s original proposal, reportedly including a degree of flexibility in the number of hostages Hamas is willing to release.
The source noted that Hamas’ latest proposal to release five living hostages is unacceptable to Israel, which continues to adhere to the “Witkoff framework.” At the core of this framework is the release of a significant number of hostages, alongside a prolonged ceasefire period—Israel insists on 40 days, while Hamas is demanding more. The plan avoids intermittent pauses or distractions, aiming instead for uninterrupted discussions on post-war arrangements.
As previously reported, Israel is also demanding comprehensive medical and nutritional reports on all living hostages as an early condition of the deal.
“For now,” the source told i24NEWS, “Hamas is still putting up obstacles. We are not at the point of a done deal.” Israeli officials emphasize that sustained military and logistical pressure on Hamas is yielding results, pointing to Hamas’ shift from offering one hostage to five in its most recent agreement.
Negotiators also assert that Israel’s demands are fully backed by the United States. Ultimately, Israeli officials are adamant: no negotiations on the “day after” will take place until the hostage issue is resolved—a message directed not only at Hamas, but also at mediators.
The post Some Progress in Hostage Talks But Major Issues Remain, Source tells i24NEWS first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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