Parents of students at Fort Lee High School in New Jersey are calling for an investigation into what they allege was a history lesson that presented a skewed and biased perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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According to reports, several juniors in an 11th-grade social studies class claim that two teachers requested the students to hand over their phones before commencing the lesson. Parents who have seen copies of the 29-page presentation contend that it portrays an unfavorable view of Israel and characterizes Hamas, a designated terrorist organization by many nations, including the United States, as a "Palestinian political party and armed resistance movement." The slides also characterized the anti-Israel campus protests as "peaceful." The teachers referred to the October 7 massacre as "clashes" in which Hamas was able to "break out" of Gaza.
A mother of a Jewish student in the class told PIX11 News, a local news outlet, that her son felt extremely uncomfortable during the presentation and questioned the need to surrender their cellphones beforehand. Comments under the Instagram post by StopAntisemitism read, "This is disgraceful disgusting and damn right revolting." Some even called for both teachers to be fired and arrested.
Fort Lee School Superintendent Robert Kravitz confirmed to that he is looking into the parents' complaints. In a subsequent email, he wrote, "The Fort Lee School District values a harmonious culture and climate with board-approved policies and procedures that honor our curriculum and diversity. We cannot make any comment at this time as it is a personnel and legal matter that is currently under review."
The matter is scheduled to be addressed at an upcoming Board of Education meeting early next week.
