68 Cases In Queens: Report Details Antisemitism And Anti-Israel Incidents In NYC Public Schools

A report documenting 250 incidents classified as antisemitic or anti-Israel in New York City public schools has placed Queens near the center of concerns over the treatment of Jewish students and educators.

United Jewish Teachers (UJT), a network of Jewish United Federation of Teachers members and New York City Public Schools employees, tracked incidents from October 2023 through July 2026. The organization recorded 91 cases in Brooklyn, 68 in Queens, 62 in Manhattan, 22 in the Bronx, and seven on Staten Island. Queens accounted for more than one-quarter of the citywide total.

The figures are based on cases collected and classified by UJT. They are not 250 independently verified hate crimes, and inclusion does not establish that each allegation was substantiated by NYC Public Schools or law enforcement. UJT's report also includes incidents it categorized as anti-Israel as well as antisemitic.

The nearly three-year collection describes a broad range of alleged conduct involving students and employees, from harassment, threats, assaults, swastikas, and vandalism to disputes over classroom instruction, political demonstrations, and Jewish religious accommodations.

 

What The Report Found

UJT classified 64.8 percent of the incidents as direct acts against people or property, including harassment, threats, assaults, vandalism, swastikas, and other hate symbols. Another 23.2 percent involved educational materials or classroom instruction the organization considered biased, particularly concerning Israel and the Middle East. An additional 9.6 percent involved protests, walkouts, or exclusion from activities, with the remaining 2.4 percent falling into other categories.

UJT President Moshe Spern said reported verbal incidents included antisemitic stereotypes, Holocaust references, and rhetoric directed against Israeli Jews. The organization also documented allegations that Jewish religious accommodations or participation in school activities were denied or obstructed.

The categories cover conduct of considerably different kinds and severity. A swastika, physical threat, or harassment directed at a Jewish student is different from a disagreement over classroom material or a political demonstration. Criticism of Israel or its government is not, by itself, antisemitic. UJT's report includes both categories and identifies where it believes political activity crossed into harassment, exclusion, or anti-Jewish hostility.

 

68 Cases In Queens

Queens accounted for approximately 27 percent of UJT's citywide collection, second only to Brooklyn.

Among the Queens cases publicized from the report is an incident at Townsend Harris High School in Flushing. UJT reported that a student was harassed over plans to join the Israel Defense Forces after graduation.

At Flushing High School, UJT documented a hallway flyer containing a Nazi symbol alongside language accusing Israel of practicing apartheid.

Only a limited number of the 68 Queens cases have been publicly described in sufficient detail to report individually without risking the identification of minors or repeating allegations that cannot be adequately substantiated. The borough total therefore represents considerably more cases than the individual examples that have become public.

UJT also documented incidents elsewhere in the city, including a swastika carved into a board at Brooklyn Technical High School. The organization says the continuation of incidents through July 2026 shows that the concerns did not end in the months immediately following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack in Israel.

 

Jewish Educators Report Problems As Well

UJT's concerns extend beyond students. Founded in 2024, the organization represents and assists Jewish teachers, paraprofessionals, and other NYCPS employees, along with parents, students, and community supporters.

UJT says Jewish educators have reported antisemitism, harassment, and discrimination in classrooms, staff settings, union spaces, and online. Some have sought assistance navigating school and district procedures after filing complaints.

The employee complaints add a workplace component to the issue. Public schools are both educational institutions for students and workplaces for thousands of teachers and other employees.

 

Federal Civil-Rights Investigation

Separate from UJT's report, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights opened a Title VI investigation into the New York City Department of Education on April 23 over allegations of antisemitic discrimination.

The investigation followed complaints concerning NYCPS employees who allegedly organized educational seminars focused on “Palestine, Zionism, and Resistance.” According to the federal Department of Education, complaints alleged that materials associated with the seminars contained extreme characterizations of Zionists and presented material concerning Palestinian “resistance” in a manner that could contribute to a hostile environment for Jewish students.

The investigation does not constitute a finding that NYCPS violated federal law. The Office for Civil Rights opened the matter to determine whether discrimination prohibited under Title VI occurred.

Title VI prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in federally funded programs. Federal protections can apply to Jewish and other students when discrimination is based on actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics.

 

What Happens After An Incident?

A major focus of UJT's criticism concerns the response after an incident is reported.

Spern has criticized the handling of swastikas and other hate graffiti, arguing that offensive material should be documented and investigated before being removed so evidence is preserved and recurring incidents can be tracked. UJT maintains that some complaints received inadequate follow-up from school or district administrators.

NYC Public Schools says it has zero tolerance for hate and bias, including antisemitism, and investigates reported incidents under Chancellor's Regulations and applicable law. Schools have designated Respect for All personnel responsible for addressing bullying, harassment, and bias, while students, employees, and parents have multiple channels for filing complaints.

The dispute therefore concerns not only whether reporting procedures exist, but whether those procedures have produced an effective response in the cases documented by UJT.

 

Broader Religion-Based Harassment Data

UJT has also pointed to NYCPS statistics concerning student-on-student bullying, harassment, and discrimination based on religion.

The figures cited with the report increased from 151 incidents during the 2018-2019 school year to 367 in 2022-2023 and 398 in 2023-2024, before declining to 319 in 2024-2025.

Those numbers cover religion-based incidents generally and are not counts of antisemitic incidents. They nevertheless provide broader context for complaints involving religious harassment within the school system.

 

What UJT Is Seeking

UJT is calling for several changes to NYCPS policy, including adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism; mandatory investigation and preservation of evidence involving hate graffiti; a centralized system for reporting antisemitic incidents; antisemitism training for school personnel; and review of educational materials involving Israel and the Middle East.

Some of those proposals remain subjects of disagreement. Supporters of the IHRA definition say it provides a framework for recognizing contemporary antisemitism, including circumstances in which rhetoric concerning Israel targets Jews. Critics of some applications argue that it can blur the distinction between antisemitism and legitimate criticism of Israel.

 

Jewish Organizations Propose Student Protections

The UJT report has been followed by a separate national initiative addressing antisemitism in elementary and secondary schools.

On September 9, the Jewish Federations of North America, Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and StandWithUs released a “Jewish Students' Bill of Rights.”

The six-point proposal calls for school personnel to be trained to recognize antisemitism; transparent systems for reporting incidents and following up on complaints; accurate instruction about Jewish history, the Holocaust, antisemitism, Israel, and Jewish life; appropriate accommodation of Jewish religious observance; protection of students' ability to express their Jewish identity and participate fully in school life; and balanced presentation of contested political issues.

The organizations cited national data showing that reported antisemitic incidents at non-Jewish K-12 schools remained comparatively steady even as the overall number of reported antisemitic incidents declined in 2025. The K-12 figure was 825 incidents in 2025, compared with 860 in 2024.

Those national figures are separate from UJT's New York City tracker.

 

Reporting An Incident

NYC Public Schools encourages students, employees, and families who experience or witness harassment, discrimination, or bullying to report the incident to a principal or other appropriate school official.

NYCPS also operates an Anti-Hate Hotline at 718-935-2889, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Reports may be made anonymously. Complaints can also be submitted through NYCPS reporting systems and the Respect for All program.

For Queens, the figure that stands out in UJT's report is 68: more than one-quarter of the 250 cases the organization documented citywide.

The cases vary substantially in their circumstances and severity, and only some have been publicly detailed. What they place before the school system is a straightforward responsibility: Jewish students and employees, like every member of the school community, should be able to learn and work without harassment, intimidation, discrimination, or exclusion, and complaints should receive a timely and appropriate response.