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The Ongoing Crisis of Antisemitism in K-12 Education

An empty classroom. Photo: Wiki Commons.

If you think antisemitism is bad at the university level, wait until you read what’s happening in K-12 schools across the country.

A concerned teacher recently reached out to me, horrified by the content being used to educate students about antisemitism. The materials provided by the National Education Association (NEA), particularly a document from Jews for Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ), are filled with misinformation and, in my view, are themselves antisemitic.

This teacher has tirelessly sought support from various Jewish organizations to address these concerns, but she keeps hitting a wall. It seems that many organizations are reluctant to do battle with a powerful union like the NEA, leaving this teacher and others like her without the necessary support to combat these problematic educational materials.

The JFREJ document propagates a specific political agenda, portraying Israel as a white settler colonial state and ignoring the complex history and diverse demographics of Israel and the Jewish people.

JFREJ’s document suggests that Jews with light skin are complicit in white supremacy — and that’s not the only Jew-hating piece of trash in this document.

By choosing to use this material, the NEA is making a political statement. This choice reflects an alignment with far-left perspectives rather than a balanced approach to addressing antisemitism.

By choosing a Jewish organization that does not represent mainstream Jewish thought, and in fact, an organization that most of the Jewish community believes spreads antisemitism, the NEA is insulting the Jewish community by defining antisemitism according to its radical agenda.

Jews for Racial & Economic Justice is a fringe group that has aligned with far-left ideologies, and partners with other ostensibly Jewish, but really antisemitic, organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace.

Recent headlines have been filled with reports of rising antisemitism on college campuses, but the more insidious threat lies in our K-12 schools. Ethnic studies programs, particularly those following the radical Liberatory Ethnic Studies (LES) model, are indoctrinating young students against Israel by falsely labeling it a white settler colonial state. This biased education fosters a generation of young antisemites.

There are disturbing trends in K-12 education. Jewish students are being targeted not only by their peers, but also by teachers and administrators. Parents have described their alarm as antisemitism infiltrates their children’s curriculum.

In Washington State, ethnic studies have infiltrated every aspect of K-12 education, evolving from a vague legislative suggestion into a mandate. Aggressive advocacy groups with deep pockets push for ethnic studies to be the lens through which all education is viewed, promoting a Marxist and Maoist-based liberatory model.

This model explicitly positions Palestinians as marginalized and Israel as a white colonialist oppressor, distorting history and legitimizing antisemitic views among young students.

The Liberatory Ethnic Studies (LES) model, rooted in power and oppression analysis, aims to transform the school system into an agent of change, often at the expense of academic excellence and democratic values.

Throughout California and other states, antisemitism in K-12 schools has become increasingly prevalent, particularly following the October 7 mass murder and rape of Israelis.

Reports detail shocking behaviors such as second-graders being told to write anti-Israel messages, teachers encouraging unsanctioned student protests in support of Gaza, and Jewish students being harassed with antisemitic slurs. Some teachers have even suggested that Israelis were responsible for the violence inflicted on them.

The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and other Jewish organizations have been inundated with calls from concerned parents, especially in the Bay Area, reporting these incidents.

The Israeli American Council reported a 690 percent increase in antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents in K-12 schools within three months of the October 7 attack. These incidents ranged from student bullying and vandalism, to discriminatory class materials and teacher statements.

The reluctance of Jewish organizations to confront the NEA underscores the significant influence that powerful unions hold over educational policies. The struggle of the teacher I mentioned to gain support highlights a broader issue, where political considerations often overshadow the need to address serious concerns like antisemitism. The NEA’s powerful position makes it daunting for individuals and smaller organizations to challenge their decisions.

For educators seeking comprehensive and balanced resources on antisemitism, organizations like the ADL offer materials designed to combat hate and educate students without political bias. Their resources help ensure that schools promote understanding and respect rather than division and misinformation.

The current wave of antisemitism in our schools is a serious issue that requires immediate attention. It is time for the Jewish community and other concerned groups to take a stand and demand better from powerful unions like the NEA. Only then can we hope to create an educational environment that is truly inclusive and free from antisemitism. This effort is not just about addressing the present concerns, but is part of a broader mission I discuss in my forthcoming book, From Outrage to Action: A Practical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism.

Howard Lovy is a Michigan-based author, book editor, and journalist who specializes in Jewish issues. He is currently working on a book, From Outrage to Action: A Practical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism. His novel, Found and Lost: The Jake and Cait Story, will be released in 2025. You can find him on his website or on X.

The post The Ongoing Crisis of Antisemitism in K-12 Education first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Palestinian Authority: Jews Should Go to America or Europe, and Gazans Should Flood Israel

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 28, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is trying to garner international support for an alternative to President Trump’s plan to relocate the Arabs of Gaza to countries “with humanitarian hearts.”

The PA has called Trump’s plan “satanic,” and instead wants the Jews to leave Israel to make room for the Gazans in Israel — the place that the PA calls Gazans’ rightful home.

Official PA TV suggested that the Jews should go back to Poland or Russia, as Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) reported last week.

A senior PA official, Jibril Rajoub, is now suggesting that Trump take the Jews to America:

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Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “[US President Trump] is talking about expelling the original residents of Palestine and forgets that Israelis come from 76 countries, so let him take them to him.”

[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Feb. 15, 2025]

Rajoub also hopes for Fatah-Hamas unity to “besiege” Israel, “and those who stand behind the Jewish State, ” through “comprehensive popular resistance” — a term that also refers to the use of terrorism:

Jibril Rajoub: “We in the Fatah Movement support building bilateral rapprochement between Fatah and Hamas… so that our strategic option in the next stage will be comprehensive popular resistance and an organizational rapprochement that pertains to the PLO… What Netanyahu and Trump have said must constitute for us an incentive to achieve our unity and re-examine many political policies. I hope our brothers in Hamas will also understand that they need to do some self-inspection in a way that will allow building a future for our people and besiege this occupation (i.e., Israel) and those who stand behind it.”

The concept of Israel becoming Jew-free was also echoed in the PA’s official daily:

Instead of uprooting the Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, why don’t you return the Israelis to the countries from which they came?’

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Feb. 7, 2025]

Senior PA officials, such as Mahmoud Abbas himself and his senior advisor, propose that Gazans flooding Israel would bring “comprehensive peace and real coexistence” and that “then there will be no problem”:

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PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: “If the Americans want a solution, the only place they [the refugees] need to return to is their cities and villages from which they were expelled during the Nakba [i.e., “the catastrophe,” the establishment of Israel] … He [US President Trump] who thinks he has the power to impose a new deal of the century or to exile our people and take control of any inch of our land is deceiving himself.”

[Official PA TV News, Feb. 15, 2025]

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PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “The solution is simple and easy: To return them to the cities and villages from which they were forcibly removed in 1948, then there will be no problem…”

[Mahmoud Al-Habbash, YouTube channel, Feb. 5, 2025]

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PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “He should return them to the cities and villages from which they were expelled in 1948.”

[Mahmoud Al-Habbash, YouTube channel, Feb. 5, 2025]

PMW has reported numerous times that the Palestinian Authority does not recognize Israel’s right to exist within any borders. All of these statements by the PA leadership hoping for Israelis to leave and be replaced by so-called refugees reflect messages that the PA regularly broadcasts to its people and upon which it educates its children.

Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Itamar Marcus is PMW’s Founder and Director. A version of this article originally appeared at PMW.

The post Palestinian Authority: Jews Should Go to America or Europe, and Gazans Should Flood Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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How Hamas Is Using Goebbels’ Propaganda Tactics in Gaza

US-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen and Russian-Israeli Sasha (Alexander) Troufanov, hostages held in Gaza since the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, are escorted by Palestinian Hamas terrorists and Islamic Jihad terrorists as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, February 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

“It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle.”

That statement is often attributed to Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister, who understood the power of a lie, repeated over and over again. Whether the quote is accurate or not, Goebbels certainly used that very principle to cultivate the myth of the so-called Jewish-Communist betrayal that allegedly led to Germany’s defeat in World War I.

This propaganda enabled Hitler to tap into the frustrations of many Germans suffering from the Great Depression of the 1920s — and also fueled long-standing hatred toward Jews, which eventually culminated in the Holocaust.

It is doubtful that Goebbels, sitting in a Berlin bunker just before taking his own life along with his wife and six children, could have imagined how his principles would live on in the modern era — adopted by those far removed from the so-called Aryan master race. But reality proves that the method works: A lie repeated often enough becomes an absolute truth.

This past Thursday, we witnessed yet another instance of Hamas’ propaganda — this time regarding the return of the bodies of Oded Lifshitz, Shiri Bibas, and her two young children, Ariel and Kfir, who were kidnapped during the October 7 massacre. For months, Hamas operatives claimed that the family had been killed in Israeli airstrikes, even conveying this false information to the captive father. However, forensic examinations have now revealed the grim truth: They were brutally murdered by these terrorists. Yet, just as in 1930s Germany, the lie was repeated so frequently that it became a fact in the eyes of many.

Another example of Hamas’ propaganda unfolded last Saturday, when the release of six Israeli hostages was accompanied by a carefully orchestrated propaganda spectacle — when two other hostages were forced to watch, enduring yet another round of psychological terror. It is worth noting that Hisham Al-Sayed was released discreetly — perhaps because he is Arab or Muslim, or maybe because he did not fit Hamas’ propaganda narrative.

These events played out before crowds of Gazan families who came to cheer and praise the “heroism” of the kidnappers.

Israeli television, rightfully, refrained from broadcasting this spectacle, which echoed Goebbels’ tactics of creating a narrative in which Jews are portrayed as the real monsters. We have seen this before — in pro-Hamas posters depicting the Israeli Prime Minister as a bloodthirsty vampire.

The big lie continues to thrive: We are told that the Bibas family was kidnapped for their “protection”; that Hamas seeks to establish a peaceful Palestinian state alongside Israel; that a genocide is occurring in Gaza; and that Palestinians are the descendants of the Philistines and Jebusites. There is no truth here — only an endless repetition of falsehoods until they are ingrained in the global consciousness.

Thus, when Israel’s forensic institute confirmed that the Bibas children were brutally murdered as early as November 2023, and that Shiri Bibas’ body wasn’t returned but was instead replaced with that of an unidentified Gazan woman — it no longer came as a shock. The only question that remains is: What lie will they try to sell us next week?

What Joseph Goebbels pioneered in the 1930s has found new life in the age of social media. History proves that in the fight for truth, silence is not an option.

Itamar Tzur is the author of The Invention of the Palestinian Narrative and an Israeli scholar specializing in Middle Eastern history. He holds a Bachelor’s degree with honors in Jewish History and a Master’s degree with honors in Middle Eastern Studies. As a senior member of the “Forum Kedem for Middle Eastern Studies and Public Diplomacy,” he leverages his academic expertise to deepen understanding of regional dynamics and historical contexts.

The post How Hamas Is Using Goebbels’ Propaganda Tactics in Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Media Fall for Hamas Propaganda in Coverage of Israeli Hostage’s ‘Kiss’ to Captor

Families and supporters react as they celebrate the release of Omer Wenkert, a hostage who was held in Gaza since the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, on the day of the release of six hostages from captivity in Gaza as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, in Gedera, Israel February 22, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Rami Shlush

Hamas’ despicable hostage release this weekend was widely covered. But foreign media outlets chose to highlight one particularly nauseating propaganda moment — when Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov kissed a Hamas terrorist onstage after being ordered to do so.

For Gaza photojournalist Ashraf Amra, who infiltrated into Israel on October 7 and was honored by Hamas leadership, it was literally the money shot — which was later sold to Getty Images and platformed by media outlets, including The Times of London and Daily Express.

For Sky News, it was a moment of “warmth.”

Getty Images, The Times, and Daily Express all failed to check the source of the photo.

Amra is a Hamas propagandist: He was fired from Reuters and AP after HonestReporting exposed that he was honored by former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, and that he hosted an Instagram Live calling on Gazans to invade Israel during Hamas’ massacre on October 7, 2023.

These media outlets also know that Hamas is producing propaganda moments from their despicable staged hostage release ceremonies.

While they might be bound to cover these events, why should they also be helping to line the pockets of a friend of Hamas?

It’s even more problematic when the media seem to forget what Hamas’ staged spectacles are all about, which is exactly what happened to Sky News’ Diana Magnay.

In a live broadcast on Saturday, as Omer Shem Tov, Eliya Cohen, and Omer Wenkert were humiliated by Hamas on stage, with one of the camera-wielding terrorists clearly instructing Shem Tov to kiss his captors, Magnay overflowed with emotion: “Some amazing scenes today … this is very unexpected to see that kind of reaction, that kind of warmth.”

Even without the later clarification by Shem Tov’s father — who said it was all staged — Magnay, or any other journalist, should not have fallen for Hamas’ propaganda in such a painfully naive way.

Is it so difficult to cast doubt on a live show staged by terrorists who don’t even try to hide their propagandist goal?

The answer is that Hamas got what it wanted. Without the international media noticing, the world has gotten used to the spectacles; they have gotten used to the lies; and they have gotten used to the manipulation. They just want the money shot.

Hamas succeeded in normalizing its own evil.

And it is easily sold by Hamas-affiliated journalists to the gullible media, who celebrate it as “amazing scenes.”

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post Media Fall for Hamas Propaganda in Coverage of Israeli Hostage’s ‘Kiss’ to Captor first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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