NYC schools rack up disturbing 250 antisemitic, anti-Israel incidents since Oct. 7, 2023: scathing report

There have been at least 250 antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents in New York City public schools since the Oct.7, 2023, terror attacks on Israel sparked the Gaza war, according to a Jewish educators’ group.The deeply disturbing number comes as the city experiences a troubling rise in overall hate crimes citywide this year — with more than half of the incidents deemed antisemitic, show the latest NYPD data.“The data reveal a persistent pattern of hostility directed at Jewish students, educators, and staff,” said the United Jewish Teachers, referring to its school findings, in a report sent to Mayor Zohran Mamdani and schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels.“The majority of documented cases involve direct acts of harassment, vandalism, and threats.

“Significant shares also involve biased curriculum and instructional materials, as well as disruptive events such as walkouts and protests,” the group said.“These incidents have created hostile learning and working environments across the system.”While city schools don’t report hate episodes based on certain religions, student-on-student incidents of bullying, harassment, and discrimination based on religion overall have been skyrocketing — from 151 incidents in the pre-COVID pandemic 2018-2019 school year to 367 incidents in 2022-2023, 398 incidents in 2023-2024 and 319 in 2024-2025.The UJT’s report found that 65% of the incidents it tracked involved “direct acts” — harassment, vandalism, assaults, the drawing of symbols such as swastikas and verbal threats.Nearly one quarter, or 23%, covered biased teaching about Israel and the Middle East; 10% involved walkouts and the remainder were over other staff actions, including online posts, it said.Thirty-seven percent of the reported incidents occurred in schools in Brooklyn, 27% in Queens, 25% in Manhattan, 9% in The Bronx and 2% on Staten Island.The majority of the cases of verbal harassment involved antisemitic tropes, Holocaust references and “e...