NYC schools Chancellor David Banks and a group of high-ranking city Department of Education officials attended an event at a mosque run by an anti-Israel imam who cheered encampments at Columbia University, outraging Jewish teachers and families.
Banks joined principals and superintendents to meet Zakir Ahmed at the Islamic Cultural Center of New York on the Upper East Side.
Also there were Ahmed’s wife, a Bronx public school director, and the controversial former “Intifada High” principal, Debbie Almontaser.
Zakir Ahmed attended anti-Israel protests at Columbia University and City College in April. “What you guys are doing is something so incredible,” he told protesters at CCNY’s encampments, according to an Instagram video. “Make sure that you continue to spread the word and bring more people to these gatherings.”
One city teacher bashed the problematic speakers and meeting.
“The chancellor is too focused on checking off boxes and appeasing groups than he is in actually solving antisemitism and Islamophobia,” he said.
The event came a day after the group visited the Nova Music Festival Exhibition in Lower Manhattan.
Also speaking at the event was Afaf Nasher, executive director for the New York chapter of the Council on Islamic Relations.
The NYC Public Schools Alliance recently blasted the city Department of Education using CAIR as a resource in a professional development workshop.
“The inclusion of an organization with such a contentious history and recent pronouncements promoting divisiveness and hostility is inappropriate and counterproductive to the goals of fostering a balanced and inclusive educational environment,” the antisemitism advocacy group wrote.
Tova Plaut, founder of the alliance, said the DOE is failing to “meet the moment.”
“They just keep getting it wrong, and after eight months, it feels purposeful,” she said.
The DOE did not immediately respond to questions.
Additional reporting by Susan Edelman
