Pro-Israel Queens Teacher Will Return To Job After Student Protests

QUEENS, NY — A Jewish teacher soon will return to teaching class at a Queens high school where hundreds of students protested her pro-Israel stance and called for her removal, officials said.

The teacher not only will return, but be welcomed by staff and students at Hillcrest High School, said Dan Weisberg, the first deputy chancellor Tuesday.

Weisberg's promise capped a chaotic week that saw 400 students protest the teacher in between class periods Nov. 20 — a demonstration that Chancellor David Banks said will lead to discipline.

"It is totally unacceptable for that teacher to have been targeted by a protest for her stand on Israel, for her identity," Weisberg reiterated Tuesday said. "We cannot allow that to ever happen again."

But even as Banks and Weisberg said the protests went too far, they also lambasted "misinformation" about exactly what happened.

During a news conference Tuesday, one Muslim student said many students who "lack maturity" effectively hijacked a peaceful protest with mischief.

"It was only a handful of kids that started doing this," he said.

Another student said the protest was meant to give students a chance to express their thoughts about the plight of Palestinians.

"But the message got lost," she said.

"I think she should be able to come back," the student said about the teacher. Updated

LIVE: Chancellor Banks is addressing recent events at Hillcrest High School https://t.co/DfAlQJk6eB
— NYC Public Schools (@NYCSchools) November 27, 2023