Coming under fire from lawmakers, administrators from prominent school districts across the country defended their record on the handling of anti-Semitism while condemning hatred toward Jews and Israel.
New York City Public Schools Chancellor David Banks, Montgomery County [Maryland] Board of Education Member Karla Silvestre, and Berkeley [California] Unified School District Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel appeared before the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, which is a part of the House Education and Workforce Committee. Also testifying was American Civil Liberties Union Senior Staff Attorney Emerson Sykes.
When asked by the subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.), if Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish state, if “from the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” is anti-Semitic, and whether what Hamas did on Oct. 7 was terrorism, Mr. Banks, Ms. Silvestre, and Ms. Ford Morthel answered in the affirmative….
