Campus anti-Semitism, decades in the making: a teacher’s perspective

Some claimed to be “shocked” at the beginning of the school year when swastikas were found painted on the walls of Nock Middle School, located at the Newburyport School District in Boston. This was preceded by an anti-Semitic video made to insult a Jewish student. To be honest, with the public schools turning a blind eye to anti-Semitism and progressive educators regarding Israel with great disdain, I wouldn’t be surprised if teachers encouraged the video. You can call me crazy, but in my experience as a public educator, anti-Semitism is rampant in the public education system. When I taught in Costa Mesa, California in the late 1990s, I particularly remember another history teacher admit that she avoids the lesson on Israel. Keep in mind that this teacher was promoted as the lead sixth-grade core teacher.

My experience a couple of years later, teaching in Glendale, Calif. was no different. A Jewish student of mine received several anti-Semitic threats and was beaten and bullied for the whole school year. The students who hurt her weren’t punished in the same way a white student harassing an African-American student would be. To make things worse, other teachers made anti-Semitic comments about the student as well. I made the administration aware of the anti-Semitism coming from one particular teacher, but nothing was done.It certainly doesn’t help the situation when student teachers at universities organize to preach hatred toward Israel. Recently, student workers at the University of California (UC) organized a “pro-Palestinian” group and issued the following statement:

“We are teaching assistants, tutors, and other student-workers at the University of California represented by UAW 2865. We have a responsibility as educators to both learn about and teach the social issues of our time, including pressing global struggles such as the struggle of the Palestinian people for liberation from settler-colonialism and apartheid.”

The anti-Semitism at UC campuses is legendary, especially over the past couple of years. Earlier this year, students at UC Davis awoke to swastikas painted on their fraternity house. Emily Shire of the Daily Beast recently asked if America’s colleges were breeding anti-Semitism. She noted that at UC Berkeley—a place where the word “Israel” isn’t uttered without hatred—swastikas regularly displayed on doors and other locations are, according to Jewish students, not taken seriously enough by the administration. One particular slogan read, “Zionists should be sent to the gas chamber.”Once again, as a former educator, this isn’t surprising to me, to say the least. When educators teach “tolerance” these days, it’s all geared toward the LGBTQ community, African-Americans, Latinos, and Muslims. Tolerance toward Jews (or even Christians) is only taught indirectly, such as having the class read “The Diary of Anne Frank.” One teacher I worked with said she refused to spend much time on it since she believed the book was mostly fiction. And she’s still teaching at the same school!

Many educators will claim that although they are against Zionism, they are not necessarily anti-Semitic. There are blurred lines here, especially when the same educators revise history and teach students that Israel is similar to Nazi Germany in many ways. This is why millennials have contributed so much to Jew-hatred. It’s all based on lies they learned in their classrooms. Perhaps if Jews demonstrated on college campuses with the same effrontery as anti-Israel protesters, this wouldn’t be happening.

Daryl Deino is a former public school teacher recovering from his years working in the public education system of Southern California. A technology and new media expert, Daryl’s byline can be found in numerous publications offering his review of the latest gadgets and his perspective on free speech, anti-Semitism, and equal rights. Follow him on Twitter @ddeino.


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