The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights has launched an investigation into New York City Department of Education over allegations of antisemitic discrimination in the nation’s largest school system, federal officials said Thursday.

The probe will examine whether the district violated federal civil rights law by allowing or failing to address discrimination against Jewish students. The investigation centers on activities tied to a group known as NYC Educators for Palestine, which has organized seminars addressing “Palestine, Zionism and Resistance.”

According to the Office for Civil Rights, the seminars teach children as young as 5 about “Palestinian resistance,” says that “Zionists” are “genocidal white supremacists,” and urges children to support both Hamas and its “martyrs.”

“No child should be taught by his or her teachers to hate their peers,” said Kimberly Richey, the department’s assistant secretary for civil rights. “Neither should Jewish children be taught that being Jewish somehow makes them inherently guilty or proponents of hate and violence.”

The investigation adds to growing federal scrutiny of how schools handle antisemitism and political expression in classrooms. It remains unclear how long the review will take or what actions federal officials may pursue if violations are found.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)