New York GOP lawmakers accuse state education board of pushing antisemitic material to kids

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FIRST ON FOX – Ten Republican U.S. House members representing New York say the state department of education is pushing misleading anti-Israel messages on children through teacher materials.

In a letter to Education Department (NYSED) Chancellor Lester Young Jr. and Commissioner Betty Rosa, Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., and the GOP delegation from New York called out a video and training materials linked from a government website designed to help educators teach children about the war in Israel following Hamas' deadly terror attacks.

Since the department shared the video, New York lawmakers said they "have had numerous parents, Jewish educators, Rabbis, and community leaders reach out to our offices to express outrage over the NYSED’s endorsement of these resources," according to the letter obtained by Fox News Digital.

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Chancellor Lester Young Jr. and Rep. Claudia Tenney (Fox News Digital)

The lawmakers claim an article about the conflict and a short video produced by Canadian news outlet CBC contain numerous factual errors, as well as antisemetic and anti-Zionist biases, that paint Israel as the primary aggressor in the decades-long conflict.

"This article and video are not only factually inaccurate and lack requisite context, but are clearly biased against Israel. Sadly, this appears to be representative of the pervasive anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist material that emanates from your offices," the letter states.

The lawmakers claim the video overlooks key context of the decades-long conflict by stating that the issue is merely about land, pointing out that Israel has offered "numerous land-for-peace deals" that Palestinian leaders have rejected over the years.

"While we fully appreciate the need to simplify things when educating our children, this video leaves out critical context, without which, one cannot even begin to have a dialogue about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," the letter says.

Israel is in its third week of war against Hamas in Gaza following the terrorist group's attack on Oct. 7. In the weeks since the attack, pro-Palestinian demonstrations at college campuses have been criticized for supporting terrorist organizations and using antisemitic speech.

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The CBC Kids video, which appears in a list of resources shared by NYSED, states that the Israel-Palestinian conflict is "about one thing: land," which the lawmakers say is a gross mischaracterization. 

"This notion glosses over the true essence of the conflict, which is the desire of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and their supporters to wipe out Israel and the Jews, whereas Israel is fighting for the right of it and the Jewish people to exist," the lawmakers wrote.

Police officers stand guard in front of the Western Wall during a day of prayer in the Old City of Jerusalem on Oct. 19, 2023, for the safe return of hostages taken by Palestinian terrorists earlier this month. (Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images)

"This is not merely about land, but the right to exist. This is made clear by the mainstream Palestinian chant of 'From the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea,' implying the lack of existence of a Jewish state entirely," the letter says.

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The lawmakers also took issue with what they called a false equivocation of Israel's government and Hamas. The video shared by NYSED stated, "Both sides have used violence to protect themselves."

"While Israel regularly aims to mitigate civilian casualties by dropping leaflets, evacuation orders, and performing roof knocks prior to raids, Palestinian leadership almost exclusively targets civilians. In the most recent example, Hamas broadcasted videos of its soldiers murdering, beheading, raping, torturing, kidnapping, and brutalizing children, women, and the elderly. This includes numerous Americans," the lawmakers wrote.

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In addition to Tenney, the letter was also signed by Republican New York Reps. Elise Stefanik, Nicholas Langworthy, Andrew Garbarino, Mike Lawler, Anthony D'Esposito, Marcus Molinaro, Nick LaLota, Brandon Williams and Nicole Malliotakis.

Fox News Digital reached out to NYSED for comment.