(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) The New York City politicians, educators and parents fumed on Jan. 11, 2024, over a Brooklyn elementary school’s classroom map that removed Israel from the map and labeled the region “Palestine.”
After photos revealed the controversial “Arab World” map on a classroom wall at PS 261 in Boerum Hill as part of an “Arab Culture Arts” program that was funded by Qatar Foundation International (QFI), the elected officials started demanding answers, according to the New York Post.
“I am deeply concerned about this issue and we are working to determine why this map is on display, if the map was approved by the [Department of Education], and whether the exclusion of Israel is a part of the class’s curriculum,” Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., whose district includes the school, said.
Unlike other people in his party, the Democratic congressman continued by acknowledging the anti-Jewish and anti-Israel attitudes in the United States that skyrocketed after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“With the shocking rise in anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment in the city and around the country, it is imperative that our public schools accurately and fully teach our students about the history and origins of the state of Israel,” he said.
Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, R-N.Y., who represents heavily Jewish southern Brooklyn, also criticized the map and demanded that indoctrinators in schools must “tell kids the truth.”
“They’re not supposed to be inserting politics into the school system. Tell kids the truth. There’s a State of Israel on the map,” she said.
Parents who were picking up their kids from school also weren’t happy about the map.
“You’re in the public school system and my opinion is they should represent everyone,” one Jewish mom, who did not wish to be named, said.
However, some leftist parents applauded the educators for displaying the map, with one mother saying that the school has a large Arabic population. She then defended the map by saying that it was “referring to Arabic-speaking countries.”
Tova Plaut, a city public school instructional coordinator for early childhood education strongly disagreed with this perspective, saying that the map is a perfect example of “Jewish erasure.”
“It was a perfect example of Jewish erasure in New York City public schools. There is a country there called Israel,” she said.
