Hillcrest HS protest sparks controversy Students riot after health teacher posts pro-Israel Facebook photo

by Kristen Guglielmo Associate Editor

In the wake of the Israel-Hamas war and a rise in hateful rhetoric, parents and educators alike were shocked and outraged last week when videos surfaced of a raucous pro-Palestinian protest at Hillcrest High School in Jamaica. In footage of the Nov. 20 incident hundreds of students are seen crowding the hallways while chanting and waving Palestinian flags.

According to multiple reports, the protest, which students said consisted of plenty of fights and riots, was preplanned by the teens in response to a Jewish health teacher’s Facebook profile photo, showing her at a pro-Israel rally while holding a sign that reads, “I stand with Israel.” Her identity has not been publicized.

Students posted videos of the event on TikTok, spreading word of the rowdy happenings with captions reading, “When a protest brakes [sic] out because a teacher stands with Israel.”

Another video showed a water fountain pulled out of a wall, surrounded by shattered tiles, with a caption saying the teacher had chosen to “wake up one day and choose support against Zionism.”

The protest culminated with 25 law enforcement officers arriving at the school at around 11:20 a.m., Principal Scott Milczewski told parents, and the school being placed in a “soft lockdown.” Initial reports said the teacher in question was rushed into an office to hide with the door locked until law enforcement was able to safely escort her out of the building.

Following the incident, reports said, Milczewski told parents, “There are 2,500 students. Adults will always be outnumbered. I think that’s something we have to understand. And that’s why we’re asking you to speak to your children. We need your support with this.”

The anonymous teacher shared a statement with the New York Post, which read in part, “No one should ever feel unsafe at school, students and teachers alike. It’s my hope in the days ahead we can find a way to have meaningful discussions about challenging topics with respect for each other’s diverse perspectives and shared humanity. Unless we can learn to see each other as people we will never be able to create a safe learning community.”

The event comes weeks after Mayor Adams and Schools Chancellor David Banks released a joint statement denouncing hate speech in schools in response to the conflict sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and a Nov. 9 walkout organized by students around NYC, calling for a ceasefire.

Adams condemned the incident on X, formerly Twitter, last weekend, writing, “The vile show of anti-Semitism at Hillcrest High School was motivated by ignorance-fueled hatred, plain and simple, and it will not be tolerated in any of our schools, let alone anywhere else in our city. We are better than this.”

One educator, a former substitute at Hillcrest, told the Chronicle, “The students are misguided. They believe they’re doing the right thing, they’re just going about it in the completely wrong way.”

Asked to elaborate, the teacher, who requested to be referred to as CL, said, “They like attention. And they like that this is reaching national news, because they think it’s going to benefit antiwar efforts. But they don’t realize it’s a bad look.”

On Sunday evening, Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (R-Whitestone) posted on X a video an anonymous source sent to her office of students at Hillcrest attacking a school safety officer, a week prior to the protest in what the Department of Education said was an unrelated incident.

Paladino called for the school to be shut down and investigated. “... Order and discipline must be restored. We’ve tried ‘progressive’ educational theory for far too long, and it’s gotten us absolutely nowhere. Our students and our city deserve far better than this.”

In response to a rise in anti-Semitism in schools, Queens politicians held a peaceful rally against anti-Semitism outside of the District 27 office in Ozone Park on Monday morning. Among those in attendance were Councilmembers Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park), Lynn Schulman (D-Forest Hills) and Paladino, Assemblymembers Sam Berger (D-Flushing) and David Weprin (D-Fresh Meadows) and state Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr.

(D-Woodhaven).

When the Chronicle contacted the United Federation of Teachers with an interview request for its president, Michael Mulgrew, to speak on whether he planned to support the teacher involved, the union said he was unavailable for an interview but supplied a statement.

“The UFT has been working with the individual teacher, school safety, the DOE and the NYPD since last Monday,” it said. “The union will continue to send staff to the building and to work with the administration, DOE safety personnel, school safety and the NYPD to restore and maintain a safe environment for faculty, students and staff.”

Banks, a Hillcrest alum, visited the school on Nov. 27 to speak with students and faculty alongside Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. He later held a press conference with Richards, Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Fresh Meadows) and two students from the school.

“Violence, hate and disorder have no place in our schools,” Banks said.

He told reporters the teacher “was targeted based on her support for Israel, expressed in a permissible way outside of school hours, and her Jewish identity, and that is completely unacceptable.”

Though Banks said the teacher was never in direct danger, he said disciplinary action was taken against students responsible for “creating” the protest, and that some were suspended, but would not elaborate.

“There are some people calling for us to just suspend 500 students,” Banks said. “We are not doing that.”

He clarified the teacher was on a different floor during the protest, and was not escorted into a locked room, as initial reports said.

Additionally, Banks said the school was placed on lockdown two days after last Monday’s protest when a student said protests would happen again if the teacher wasn’t fired, but the situation did not escalate.

He called spreading the notion that the students are radicalized and anti-Semitic the “height of irresponsibility” and condemned those who did so, saying the media poured “gasoline on a situation.” He said students were hurt by those insinuations.

The students told reporters that the protest was planned to be peaceful, and that other students joined in, not knowing the purpose.

“Some of these students lack maturity. These are teenagers,” said Muhammad Ghazali, Hillcrest’s senior class president.

The school has a 30 percent Muslim student body, according to Banks, and he said that because teens consume news via social media, they often see Palestinian people suffering and wanted to show support.

“We wanted Palestine to be free,” said student Khadija Ahmed at the press conference. “But the message got lost.”

A student told the Chronicle, “A lot of people were joining just because they could. It was a chance to go crazy in school and not get caught.”

The teacher in question is expected to return next week, according to Banks, who is planning a Zoom session with all city school principals next week to discuss methods of addressing the situation in the Middle East. Q

Ozone Park tree lighting, 12/2

All are welcome to the fifth annual Ozone Park Christmas tree lighting on Dec. 2 at 5 p.m. at Solid Rock Church, located at 135-05 Cross Bay Blvd., hosted by Reverend DuWayne Pass.

The evening promises toys, hot cocoa, treats and, of course, a visit from Santa Claus himself, providing fun for the whole family.

The lighting is brought to the community by the Ozone Park Residents Block Association in collaboration with the Ozone Park Howard Beach Woodhaven Lions Club, the Kiwanis Club of Ozone

Park-Woodhaven, Our Neighbors Civic Association of Ozone Park, Solid Rock Church and the Tibbal family. Dozens of South Queens businesses are also sponsors; a full list is available on the Ozone Park Residents Block Association Facebook page.

According to the block association, the tree itself was paid for by Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Woodhaven) and Assemblymembers Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Rockaway Park) and Jenifer Rajkumar (D-Woodhaven). Q

— Kristen Guglielmo