Posted on 11/25/23
| News Source: Arutz-7
The New York Post reports that several hundred students in a Queens high school caused several hours of violent rioting in protest against a teacher who attended a pro-Israel protest. The teacher in question was forced to take shelter in a locked office as the mob attempted to force entry into her classroom.
The teacher was photographed at a rally holding a sign reading "I stand with Israel."
“Everyone was yelling ‘Free Palestine!’” a senior said. “Everyone was screaming ‘[The teacher] needs to go!’” a ninth-grader added.
School administrators and the NYPD, which responded to the school at about 11:20 am, got wind of their plans just in time to rush the teacher into an office and lock the door, another educator said.
Students recorded the riot and set it to Arabic music and anti-Israel captions, and added slurs against the teacher. Parts of the school were vandalized as well.
NYPD both sent officers to the school and readied its counterterrorism units for operation.
The teacher commented “I have been a teacher for 23 years in the New York City public school system — for the last seven at Hillcrest High School. I have worked hard to be supportive of our entire student body and an advocate for our community, and was shaken to my core by the calls to violence against me that occurred online and outside my classroom last week. No one should ever feel unsafe at school — students and teachers alike,” she added.
“It’s my hope in the days ahead we can find a way to have meaningful discussions about challenging topics with respect for each other’s diverse perspectives and shared humanity,” the teacher said in her statement. “Unless we can learn to see each other as people we will never be able to create a safe learning community.”
The riot was eventually brought under control, and the teacher was escorted from the building by police.
Hate messages against her continued on social media.