Iran’s Attack on Israel
5 min read
The breeding ground for antisemitism doesn’t start on college campuses; it begins in elementary and high school where youth are being filled with falsehoods, misinformation and distortions of history.
Did those mobs of rabid anti-Israel protestors wake up on October 8th and suddenly decide to hate Jews? All the college students shouting “there is only one solution,” calling for demise of Jews, were they good with the Jews sitting beside them in class on October 6th?
Looking at their faces twisted with anger, I know that this has been a long time coming. How can Jews who were massacred, violated, burned and kidnapped become the villains in the eyes of these youth? When and how did their hatred begin?
Part of the answer lies on the new battleground – your children’s classroom. The breeding ground for antisemitism doesn’t start on college campuses; it begins in elementary and high school where youth are being filled with falsehoods, misinformation and distortions of history. Teachers are giving their one-sided, biased views and no one is stopping them.
In the art classroom of PS 261, a public elementary school in Brooklyn, Rita Lahoud teaches pre-K and elementary students in the Arab Culture Arts program. She posted a map with hand-drawn labels marking each nation. But Palestine has erased Israel; it’s nowhere on the map. These children are growing up believing that Israel does not exist.
The Free Press reported how public school students as young as three and four are being taught pro-Palestinian lessons. At PS 59, Siriana Abboud, a pre-K teacher posted a crude poster showing her students that a person’s ethnicity is connected to the shape of their nose. Jewish staffers complained that children were being exposed to cruel antisemitic stereotypes. Two days after the October 7th massacre, Abboud posted on her Instagram account, “We stand with those still tearing down border walls” and “We show solidarity with those still fighting to free their stolen land.” Abboud is the founder of an online preschool program and hosts live classes.
The emotions and prejudices of teachers are being taught as facts. Young, impressionable students are being led to march, to shout slogans, and to believe as their biased teachers do, warping the mindset of the next generation.
The Brown University Choices Program is taught to one million public school students across the nation. Israel is presented as an “apartheid state” and a “military occupier”. This distorted curriculum, as well as the Arab Culture Arts program, are funded by QFI. QFI is a nonprofit owned by the ruling family in Qatar, the wealthy Arab state that has been the refuge for Hamas terrorist leaders. QFI has donated over $1 million to the NYC Department of Education from 2019 to 2022. Records for 2023 have not yet been available.
Getting the picture?
Gary Newman, in a NY Post article entitled ‘How pro-Hamas rhetoric infected U.S. high schools’, writes about the infiltration of pro-Islamist indoctrination within our schools. He gives examples of blatant lies taught as truths. Masquerading as education, children are being taught hatred and repulsive anti-Israel, antisemitic falsehoods through defamations within their textbooks. He cites the American Textbook Council who reported: “Textbook editors adjust the definition of jihad and sharia or remove these words from lessons to avoid inconvenient truths…Explicit facts that non-Muslims might find disturbing are varnished or deleted…terrorism and Islam are uncoupled and the ultimate dangers of Islamic militancy hidden from view.”
Unapologetic hate towards the Jews and Israel is infiltrating the school system.
Growing up and hearing about the atrocities my parents and family endured in the Holocaust, I would watch the scenes of thousands of Hitler youth marching against the Jews, many who turned on their own parents and handed them over to the Nazis. How could millions of children feel such venomous hatred in their hearts?
Hitler was a great believer in the need to indoctrinate Nazi ideology early and the power of youth to carry on the creed of The Third Reich. Children had been saturated in Nazi ideology for years. School curriculum, in conjunction with propaganda targeted towards youth, was highly effective teaching children to hate. The Hitler Youth were among the most committed Nazis.
Warning bells go off when I hear the words of pollster Mark Penn: “The truth is that false narratives have been allowed to fester and sink into large numbers of generation Z students.”
In the world of my parents, very few bothered to make a difference.
Don’t make the same mistake. The next generation is being raised to hate Jews, threatening violence as a legitimate response to the “Jewish problem.”
Take an even more active role in the education of your children. Get to know your teachers and school board. Attend meetings, look through children’s textbooks, and don’t assume it is a good education filled with truth simply because it is in your child’s schoolbook. Ask who is funding the programs your children are being taught. The administrators and educators must be held accountable for the education of our youth.
Educating your child means that you are educated. Learn about the majestic history of the Jewish people and deepen your understanding of the values and wisdom of Judaism. Create events that foster Jewish pride within your home, fostering connection to those who came before you. You tap into the courage of Moses who stood up to Pharaoh, the fortitude of Queen Esther who dared not remain silent, and the audacity of Abraham and Sarah to spread the understanding that there is indeed a God in a world filled with paganism.
If you’re not filling your child’s mind, who will?
Your children are counting on you.
Thank you for shedding light on this very horrifying situation!
This article - is R-O-T -- Right On Target. TAKE NOTE: this process apparently was/has been CO-OPTED - from EARLY JUDAISM - who followed as G-D Commanded - to teach our children - When you lie down - when you rise up - and while your on your way. Some of the other ancient beliefs - picked up on that - and indoctrinated their children - with their beliefs. However - many of our historical leaders - opted to teach that - we should not stand out among the other nations - and NOT OPENLY teach - The Written Torah to NON-Jews. Which has lead since the C.E. - to many MAJOR POGROMS - 87+ & Many MINOR POGROMS - against the Jewish Nation & our Converts. We need to BOLDLY - BEGIN TEACHING OUR CHILDREN THE TRUTH - as well as - the NON-JEWISH WORLD - NOW!
How have we allowed this to happen. Is anyone monitoring what is being taught in public schools with our tax dollars. This article needs to be shown in social media to counter act all the misinformation.
Thank you for shining light on the horrific information being taught in public school systems - as well as the funding behind it.
Horrifying! But to encourage you, not all are being indoctrinated this way. As a conservative Christian, this is why I homeschool my children. We study Children of Abraham, a Jewish history program put out by the Bridges for Peace organization in Israel, and have taken our children to volunteer, working for Jewish farmers in Judea and Samaria. They know the truth. They have been raised to become “righteous among the nations,” and are carrying truth onto their college campus now. Some of us will still lay down our lives for you. Isaiah 35:4! Chazak v’amatz!
Kudos! Well said, and accurate! Very scary what's happening in our school system.
The long0standing program of the Leftists is to destroy people minds so that they can control their minds.
They know you have to start early, so their first goal was to take over the teaching colleges so that they teach teachers to educate children they way they want.
They teach them that feelings are more important than facts.
Hence that modern concept that if you feel you are a whatever, you are a whatever and must be treated accordingly and ignore XX and XY.
That is why we have to get kids into religious schools as soon as possible, where they will be brought up to be normal.
I am a moderate Democrat who has worked hard to give my child a solid religious education. Could we please look at/listen to the INDIVIDUAL instead of generalizing? Btw--I have respectfully disagreed with some of the Aish contributors but I always want to read what they have to say. Re: This essay. I am a product of the NYC DOE and it makes me feel sad to know that every word written here is true. And yes, I care deeply about facts. Finally, there are certain children who cannot handle the rigor of Hebrew Day Schools. We need to make sure that ALL Jewish children receive a solid religious education, even if we have to thiunk out of the box.
This is horrifying and alarming! How is it possible that these teachers can just change history and present these lies as factual? There must be support from school boards. There must be support from parents. What can we do to call these teachers out and have them fired? They should not be given license to ever teach in a public school in the U.S.