USA
NY Education Department apologises after antisemitic newsletter sent to public schools
The letter included a ‘toolkit’ instructing how to boycott pro-Israel organisations and accused the Jewish state of committing genocide
April 11, 2025 14:28
The letter included a ‘toolkit’ instructing how to boycott pro-Israel organisations and accused the Jewish state of committing genocide
April 11, 2025 14:28The New York Education Department has apologised after a newsletter containing “anti-Israel propaganda” and “hateful, antisemitic language” was circulated to the city’s public schools.
This month’s edition of the Office of Student Pathways Newsletter, an official monthly publication distributed to students and parents in the public school system, included a link to a “toolkit” that encouraged students to boycott pro-Israel organisations and advocate for Palestine on social media, according to a report from the New York Post.
The document, bearing the official New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) logo, contained a bullet point reading “guidelines for teaching about genocide”, which linked to a Google Doc titled “stop Gaza genocide toolkit”.
This included tips on how to advocate for Palestine on social media, how to encourage boycotts of and divestment from Israel and how to “mobilise for a people’s arms embargo”.
The file bore the logo of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights – an advocacy group established after the Second Intifada whose activists are not allowed to enter Israel – and contained links to its website.
Following the revelation, the document was condemned on the Senate floor. In a speech decrying the incident, Louisiana Republican John Kennedy said: “I’m still in disbelief...[it is] the biggest bunch of antisemitic rot you can imagine.”
A version of the “toolkit” may have also been linked in the newsletter’s October 2024 edition, according to Kennedy.
“That document called on all the teachers and all the students in the New York public schools... to participate in ‘rage week’ and ‘resist genocide’ by mobilising on October 5, for a ‘Day of Action’ ahead of the anniversary of [the Hamas attacks] on October 7, 2023,” he said, adding: “That was the date of the terrorist attack on Israel, which apparently the administration of the public schools wants to celebrate.”
Elsewhere, New York’s own Democratic representative, Ritchie Torres, condemned NYCPS for publishing “anti-Israel propaganda”, adding: “
“There is no place for ideological indoctrination in public education. An apology from the Department of Education is necessary but insufficient.”
He also demanded that “the individual responsible for injecting personal politics into official communications, where it doesn’t belong, should be fired”.
Melissa Aviles-Ramos, chancellor of NYCPS, has since apologised for the inclusion of the toolkit, labelling it a troubling oversight “in which an offensive political toolkit was hyperlinked in one of our published newsletters.”
“The inclusion of this toolkit violates our policies on political neutrality and uses hateful, antisemitic language,” she stated. “This language is hurtful to many in our Jewish community, and we deeply apologise.”
Aviles-Ramos insisted that the document was removed as soon as NYCPS leadership became aware of it and that a “thorough investigation” is underway.
She also claimed that the New York City Department of Education will implement stronger vetting protocols in future.
“We remain laser-focused to foster respect, safety and civil discourse in our schools and ensure our Jewish students and families feel safe and supported,” she concluded.