Report Claims New York City Public Schools Have Allowed Foreign-Linked Activists To Influence Curricula With Anti-Israel Messaging

A new report by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) and New York City Public Alliance have called out the New York Department of Education for not taking action against the rising antisemitism and anti-Israel indoctrination in New York City public schools.

The report specifically highlighted the DOE teaching material that used sources linked to advocacy groups linked to US-designated terrorist groups like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. One of the DOE-recommended resources is the Zinn Education Project, whose content is highly critical of Israel and the US.

Calling out the DOE for this oversight, the report highlighted that the resources were given to New York City teachers to use at “their discretion,” with one school, Ella Baker Elementary, using a Teach Palestine webinar that maintained “anti-Zionism is not automatically antisemitism,” and “Israel’s attacks on children, schools, and historical memory in Palestine.”

The report sparked outrage among parents, with a Jewish advocacy group emailing school administrators to address the content as it was making public schools “unsafe for Jewish people, or in fact for any person who identifies as a Zionist or supports the right of Israel to exist.”

Jewish advocacy groups have called on parents to email their schools to call for the removal of the biased material. Following a post on X highlighting the report, users expressed collective outrage at the DOE’s inaction and lamenting the fate of the kids being indoctrinated.

“Anyone who cares about the next generation – we have to become involved in the municipal politics. We already see what happens when no one is paying attention!” one user wrote.

Another added, “Wow this is utterly terrifying! Here we were thinking it’s just dumb college kids. Wow.”

“It’s been going on for years already in Canada. Schools are rife with toxic teachers who indoctrinate our kids,” someone else wrote.

Another user highlighted that teachers were getting incentivized to disseminate certain rhetoric in their classes: “Note 12 PDPs (recertification points) are given for attending workshop and $500 travel reimbursement grants are available. All funded by Qatar Foundation through Brown University.”

The most damning part of the report was the involvement of alleged foreign influence at Brooklyn’s PS 261. During an “Arab Culture Arts” program in January, a teacher posted an “Arab map” that excluded Israel. The event was funded by QFI, – the American wing of the Qatar Foundation, a nonprofit owned by the Qatari ruling family – which has donated over $1 million to the DOE for dual-language Arabic programs at Brooklyn PS 261 and PS 30.

In response to the report, DOE spokesman Nathaniel Styer stated “Our ‘Meeting the Moment’ plan to fight antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of hate has been extremely comprehensive. It includes vetted instructional materials and professional development on how to best teach about the crisis in the Middle East and other complex current events. We have also done comprehensive and ongoing community engagement on this topic.”

He did not talk about the controversial Zinn Education Project or how the DOE approved resources with links to terrorist-designated organizations.

The DOE has not responded to requests for comment on the matter.