“PALESTINIAN” & LEFTIST “ACTIVISTS” ATTEMPT TO INDOCTRINATE ITHACA, NEW YORK THIRD GRADERS INTO HATING ISRAEL

The ghouls of the Obama-era Left leave no stone unturned in
demonizing the Jews and indoctrinating children into the hating of the
good for being the good.

This is analogous to the “Palestinian” indoctrination of children:
they teach them at the youngest ages to hate Israel and want to kill
Jews. And now the same thing has come to Ithaca, New York.

“VIDEO: Activists manipulate third-graders into hating Israel,” by William A. Jacobson, Legal Insurrection, December 11, 2016 (thanks to Armaros):

Ithaca (NY) third grade event shows how anti-Israel indoctrination has moved into elementary schools.

Anti-Israel activism by faculty at colleges and universities receives
a lot of media attention in part because campuses generally are open to
the public and college students are able to report on what happens.

Faculty-inspired anti-Israel activism, however, is not limited to
colleges and universities. I hear many parents and students complain
that by the time many students reach college, they already have been
turned against Israel.

Far under the radar, the attempt to demonize Israel is moving down
the educational chain even into elementary schools, pushed by activists
who accept no boundaries even for young children. Yet because such
activities take place in schools to which access is limited, and the
young students are not developmentally able to report on what happens,
it’s rare to obtain hard visual proof.

We have such proof.

On Friday morning, September 18, 2015, the third grade classes at the
Beverly J. Martin School in Ithaca, NY, heard a presentation on “human
rights” by Palestinian activist Bassem Tamimi and local anti-Israel activists, led by Ariel Gold. We broke the story a couple of days later, Anti-Israel activism hits elementary school in Ithaca, NY.

Based on documents produced pursuant to a NY Freedom of Information
Law (FOIL) request and court rulings, previously we were able to
document that the Tamimi event was an anti-Israel propaganda event. At
least one third-grade student suffered nightmares and a Letter of Reprimand was issued to the school principal for attempting to cover-up the nature of the event.

Previously, though, we didn’t have any video of the Tamimi Event,
just the paper and electronic record of communications. While that paper
and electronic record was shocking, only video could fully convey what
happened.

After over a year of investigation and litigation, including a court order
under the NY Freedom of Information Law, Legal Insurrection has
obtained a partial video of the Tamimi Event. That partial video shows
how, after the main portion of the presentation was over (for which
there is almost no video), the third-grade students expressed strong
hostility to Israel and were encouraged to do so.

That video, which has been blurred and bleeped to protect student
identities, is embedded in its entirety below. As bad as I expected it
to be, it was worse. I was shaken as I watched the manipulation of these
8 and 9 year olds in a public school.

This video, and the Tamimi event, should serve as a clarion call.

The Attempt to Portray the Tamimi Event as Loving

On Sunday night, September 20, 2015, Legal Insurrection broke the story, Anti-Israel activism hits elementary school in Ithaca, NY.

Because of Tamimi’s notoriety for exploiting children
in videotaped confrontations with Israeli soldiers, Tamimi’s mere
appearance in a third grade class raised suspicions about the event. The
Tamimis are best known for the 2012 video
of daughter Ahed confronting Israeli soldiers for the cameras, for
which she received an award from then Turkish Prime Minister (and
current President) Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Subsequent to the Ithaca third-grade event, Tamimi was barred from entry to the U.S.

Gold is an Ithaca-based anti-Israel activist who now works for Code Pink. She is best known for generating publicity through disrupting speeches and events, and even prayers at the Western Wall. Gold uses her own children in her anti-Israel activism.

Gold, who was Tamimi’s national tour coordinator, arranged the Tamimi
event at the elementary school. The discussion was guided by teacher
Brooke Burnett, a friend of Gold, and partially filmed by Mary Anne
Grady Flores, another Ithaca activist who is friends with Gold and
Burnett.

[Bassem Tamimi and Mary Anne Grady Flores at Beverly J. Martin Elementary School][Image via Ariel Gold Facebook]

Gold has attempted to describe the Tamimi event as loving and
promoting peace, even the call for the school children to become
“freedom fighters for Palestine”:

Tamimi also defended the event:

Initially, the principal of the elementary school, Susan Eschbach,
also attempted to downplay the significance of the Tamimi event. In a
September 22, 2015, statement to the school community Eschbach denied
there was anything improper. The statement provided, in pertinent part (full text here):

Responding to the concerns about Tamimi’s arrival at BJM….

There were many adults present in the class and at no time was there
an anti-Israel, anti-Palestine, anti-Jewish, or anti-Muslim stance. The
children took away from this experience several messages .”I can be an
ambassador for peace.” “ You can make friends across borders and that is
a good thing.” “Children want the option to live peacefully and to go
to school. Children can help stand for these desires.” “Everyone should
work things out to live together.” And “love will make peace, not hate.”
The children had meaningful, relevant, and appropriate conversations.

Superintendent: Politically Skewed, Inflammatory, and Not “Developmentally Appropriate”

The statement from Eschbach to the community was rebutted, in
substance, when Superintendent of the Ithaca City School District
(ICSD), Dr. Luvelle Brown, later released a statement denouncing the
event, Superintendent: Third Grade event “politically skewed, inflammatory” against Israel.

The Superintendent’s statement provided, in part (emphasis added):

… The assumed purpose of the talk was to focus on human rights and peace. Upon further investigation, we have learned that the speakers went beyond the original intent of the talk. Additionally, school administration was not informed beforehand of the invitation to include one of the speakers.

The following statements are some of the most egregious examples from the presentation:

● At the beginning of the session, the speakers showed a brief video
of a young Palestinian girl who references Israelis killing
Palestinians;

●There was an indication by the speakers that Israel has broken many
United Nations’ laws and that Israel controls all of the resources of
the geographic area;

● In a closing statement of how students could help, a speaker spoke
of solidarity and being freedom fighters for Palestine; to bring peace
and protect the future of their children.

The Ithaca City School District’s position is that such statements are not
developmentally appropriate for third graders, nor aligned with the New
York State standards. The statements were politically skewed,
inflammatory, and not endorsed by the Ithaca City School District.

… We recognize that the Israeli Palestinian conflict is very
sensitive to many members of our community. We also recognize that this
delicate topic was not presented in a manner consistent with its
importance. We sincerely regret that this has occurred.

Jewish Voice for Peace,
in which Gold is active, started a petition drive asserting that
criticism of the Tamimi event was an attempt to stifle Palestinian
voices, and 31 parents at the Beverly J. Martin school (it’s unclear if
any had children in the class), led by Ithaca College Park School of
Communications employee Nicole Koschmann, submitted a letter to the
editor of the Ithaca Journal, Teachers know best about school speakers, defending the Tamimi event:

We, 31 Beverly J. Martin Elementary School parents, are
writing in regards to recent news regarding the Palestinian human-rights
activist visit at BJM on Sept. 18….

We parents believe teachers are the professionals in their field
regarding the developmental stages of their students, what is
appropriate, and what relates to the standards that need to be taught.
They are trained in this. Law professors at Cornell University do not
have this expertise. Political activists do not have this expertise.
This knowledge lies with teachers and their principal….

The reactionary swell created outside of BJM as a result of this
event is especially shameful when one considers the amount of resources
the teachers and administrators have had to divert from their job of
educating our children.

Our children were not preyed or imposed upon by the visitors that
day. Instead, they were exposed to a perspective and a situation.

The conversation will continue at school and at home. We are not
afraid of differing opinions. In fact, teaching students to disagree
respectfully, and with patience and compassion, is one of the key
elements of teaching human rights. Unfortunately, this is not a lesson
many adults have learned.