The "Palestine Exemption" to free speech.
New York teachers warned against political activity even on their own time.
Nearly half of the dead in the wake of the Israeli invasion of Gaza are children.
It’s a shocking number.
The images of Palestinian parents carrying the bodies of sons and daughters out of the rubble of bombed-out buildings are heartbreaking.
Over ten thousand Gazans dead so far.
Over 4,000 children.
As a retired teacher I’m reminded that 4,000 childrenthat have been killed in Gaza in just the past month is six years worth of my students.
Although Israel says it is targeting Hamas, the bombing is indiscriminate.
Regardless of how a teacher of children feels about this, the Chancellor of the New York City schools sent out a warning to teachers yesterday that they could not take part in protest even on their own time.
In advance of a planned student and staff walkout at some New York City schools Thursday to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, schools Chancellor David Banks warned teachers about violating Education Department rules on political speech.
In an email to school staff Wednesday, Banks urged educators to keep their personal political beliefs out of the classroom — and warned that even out-of-school political activity can violate city rules if it “disrupts … the school environment.”
“When speech and action — even on one’s personal time — undermines the mission or core functions of NYCPS, we will review and take appropriate action on a case-by-case basis,” he wrote.
The warning comes a day before some city students and staff plan to walk out of school to call for an end to Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza in response to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks.
Students and faculty across the nation have held protests against the Israeli invasion and the resulting deaths of thousands of Palestinians.
The protests have resulted in a push back by pro-Israel organizations and donors directed at freedom of speech, labeling any criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic and hate speech.
Which it is not.
This week Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was condemned by the MAGA House Republicans and 24 Democrats including Illinois’ Democratic Congressman Brad Schneider for expressing views on the Israeli attack on Gaza.
Says Dima Khalidi of Palestine Legal:
Palestine Legal has been documenting for years what we call a Palestine exception to free speech, so it certainly didn’t start on October 7th. We’ve seen these same kinds of tactics, severe doxing, attempts to get people fired and investigated, to punish boycotts for Palestinian rights and other advocacy through legislation, and an attempt to purge academia of voices that support Palestinian rights.
But since October 7th, when we’ve seen people mobilizing for Palestinian rights, we’ve seen an exponential increase. We’ve had more than 300 requests for legal help — more than we get in a whole year typically. And we’re seeing dozens, dozens of people getting fired and facing unemployment consequences around the country for making simple statements in support of Palestinian rights. We’re seeing students get disciplined, as you mentioned, Amy. There is a widespread attack on the student movement for Palestinian rights, which has built an incredible cross-movement — has built cross-movement alliances on campuses for the last decade. And really, people’s livelihoods are being threatened. And people’s lives are also under attack. We saw a 6-year-old Palestinian boy murdered just for being Palestinian. So this is a widespread effort to intimidate people into silence.
In 2018 Dima Khaledi joined me and my brother Mike on our podcast Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers to discuss the Palestine Exemption to free speech in this country.