Queens, NY High School Students Protest Jewish Teacher Who Attended Pro-Israel Rally

Students at a Queens, New York, high school protested a Jewish teacher they allege attended a pro-Israel rally, call for her firing.

Students at a high school in Queens, New York, banded together in protest against a teacher who allegedly attended a pro-Israel rally. Hundreds of Hillcrest High School students protested for over two hours, causing the educator to lock herself in her classroom, the New York Post reports.

The New York Police Department alleges that they were “requested” in “response of the school sergeant in regard to a disorderly group of students inside of the location.” The incident took place on Nov. 20, in response to claims that the teacher attended the rally and posted a photo of herself to Facebook holding an “I Stand With Israel” sign on Oct. 9.

“A bunch of kids decided to make a group chat, expose her, talk about it, and then talk about starting a riot,” a senior student told the outlet. “Everyone was yelling ‘Free Palestine!’” The students are calling for the firing of the educator, The Hill reports.

The scene at Hillcrest High School in Queens as a Jewish teacher hid in her locked office for hours while students demanded she be fired for attending a pro-Israel rally. pic.twitter.com/jzVCEofvJS
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) November 25, 2023

Alleged videos of the riot were posted to TikTok as well as other social media platforms showing hundreds of students flooding the school’s hallways as well as alleged damage being done to the building. The NYPD deployed cops to the grounds and employed its counterterrorism bureau to look into an alleged threat made against the school, the New York Post reports.

“Whether it was one student or multiple students who did or said something, whatever the trigger was, something happened. And I know from my many years on the City Council that the counterterrorism task force is not engaged unless they believe it is potentially a serious situation,” City Councilman James Gennaro said.

The teacher who allegedly attended the pro-Israel rally remains unidentified and believes she was unjustly targeted for her beliefs. “I have been a teacher for 23 years in the New York City public school system — for the last seven at Hillcrest High School,” she said.

“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.”