A teacher at Hillcrest High School in Queens, New York was forced to hide in a locked office as pro-Palestinian students rioted against her for attending a pro-Israel rally a month before.
NYPD counterterrorism unit investigating "radicalized" pro-Palestinian student riot at Queens high school after Israel-supporting teacher forced to hidehttps://t.co/UaYQkeAPtxhttps://t.co/UaYQkeAPtx
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) November 27, 2023
According to the New York Post, hundreds of radicalized students “rampaged” through the halls of Hillcrest High for almost two hours after seeing photos of the teacher holding a sign that read “I stand with Israel.” The picture was discovered on the teacher’s Facebook page.
“The teacher was seen holding a sign of Israel, like supporting it,” a senior at the school told The New York Post. “A bunch of kids decided to make a group chat, expose her, talk about it, and then talk about starting a riot.”
Dozens of police officers entered the school and got the teacher safely into an empty and locked office. At that point, according to the Jerusalem Post, students gathered outside of the office rioting, yelling, and trying to force their way in. Eventually, the officers were able to remove the teacher safely from the school.
Democratic New York City mayor Eric Adams condemned the students’ actions calling them “vile” and telling New Yorkers, “We are better than this.”
The vile show of antisemitism at Hillcrest High School was motivated by ignorance-fueled hatred, plain and simple, and it will not be tolerated in any of our schools, let alone anywhere else in our city.
We are better than this. https://t.co/y0sVuntwGo
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) November 26, 2023
Republican New York City councilwoman Vickie Paladino went much further in her description of the events.
“I was sickened by what I saw at Hillcrest HS, but sadly I was not surprised,” Paladino told Fox News Digital on Sunday. “Our education system is fundamentally broken, and antisemitic riots like this are sadly the natural result of years of woke leftist indoctrination replacing real education.”
Paladino also posted a long message on Twitter asking for more than condemnation of the student’s actions. She also called for action including but not limited to the expulsion of any student who took part in the riot and the immediate dismissal of any faculty who were involved.
The teacher, for her own safety, has kept her name out of the news and is striving to remain anonymous to the public. The New York Post reported, however, that one senior at the school said, “They found where she lives — her address, her phone number, her family and everything — her personal information.”
For her part, the teacher has not reacted with hatred or vitriol towards the parties involved. She was scared and continues to be shaken, but she did give a statement to the New York Post:
“I have been a teacher for 23 years in the New York City public school system — for the last seven at Hillcrest High School. I have worked hard to be supportive of our entire student body and an advocate for our community, and was shaken to my core by the calls to violence against me that occurred online and outside my classroom last week.”
“No one should ever feel unsafe at school, students and teachers alike,” she added.
