Lesson on Israel-Hamas war at Sewanhaka High that prompted parental criticism gets scrapped

A recent lesson on the Israel-Hamas war at Sewanhaka High School, which spurred many parents and students to complain it was biased against Palestinians and Muslims, will be scrapped, according to the district's superintendent, who acknowledged it was “imbalanced.”

More than a dozen people, some of whom identified themselves as being Muslim, criticized the lesson at a Sewanhaka school board meeting Wednesday, according to a video recording of the meeting. They said the lesson favored the Israeli side and was offensive to Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims. Students who heard the lesson were upset by it and worried it could lead to prejudice, they said.

Farhana Islam, 40, of New Hyde Park, a mother of an eighth-grader in the district, said at the meeting: “[The lesson] was very disturbing. … It was biased, especially against Palestinians. "

The damage of such teaching, she said, “is immeasurable. To introduce a biased point of view to 10th-graders who are so impressionable. ... It could lead to bullying and hostility. "

Nayyar Imam, of Mount Sinai, president of the Long Island Muslim Alliance, who saw the lesson, said: “Of course it is biased. The lesson is not giving the full truth.” He was not at the meeting but hopes to meet with the school principal. “They need to be careful,” he added.

The written lesson, presented in a high school social studies class about a week ago, included a three-page dialogue between an Israeli college student and a Palestinian college student, who both take passionate and opposing stands on the war. The origin of the lesson was not clear. 

Interim Sewanhaka Superintendent Thomas Dolan said at the meeting: “This was not handled well. There is an imbalance to this document.” He did not elaborate.

Dolan noted the teacher, whom he did not identify, had not been in the classroom since giving the lesson. She returned Thursday and will be “co-teaching” with another instructor for an undetermined amount of time. He said the teacher meant no bias or offense, and that the lesson was not part of the curriculum and not created by the teacher.

“This document is one that you will not see again,” Dolan said of the lesson.

Dolan added the district prides itself on welcoming diversity and officials “dedicate and recommit” to training teachers to value equity and inclusion. He noted each of the district's five buildings have prayer rooms.

The lesson drew criticism from the larger Muslim and Jewish communities of Long Island.

Melville resident Malik Nadeem Abid, secretary general of the International Human Rights Commission in New York, said the lesson showed a “clear bias” in favor of the Israeli side. 

“The language about Palestinians is very inflammatory and negative,” he said. “The lesson we want to teach is peaceful coexistence, neighbor to neighbor, Jewish and Palestinian.”

Moji Pourmoradi, director of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County, criticized the lesson for including inflammatory language from both students. 

“It's aggressive and inflammatory, when what we want is real discussion, empathy and listening,” she said. “Nobody is respected in this. I could get just as many who say it puts a bias the other way.”

In the lesson, the Palestinian student says, “You Israelis deserve to be pushed. And we Arabs won't stop pushing until we have pushed you into the sea.”

The Israeli student, at one point, says, “Perhaps it is time for the Arabs to stop this foolishness.” 

People at the meeting said the lesson's repeated use of the word Arab inflated the conflict beyond its current borders. They said the lesson made it seem like Muslims don't care about Jewish people, which they feared might sow disrespect, if not violence.

Gloria Sesso, president of the Long Island Council for the Social Studies, said the Israel-Hamas war, which has spurred demonstrations and a rise in antisemitism and anti-Muslim sentiments, is so sensitive that many teachers avoid it.

Teaching about the Israel-Hamas war has proven challenging, she said. Still, she saw problems with the Sewanhaka lesson.

“This is not the way you teach it,” said Sesso, a retired history teacher. 

Sesso said the war can and should be discussed, if only by focusing on the geography and a timeline of the conflict's history “without taking a side.” 

The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking more than 200 hostages. Israel's military response has devastated many parts of Gaza and cost more than 34,500 lives, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.

Eric Post, Long Island director of the American Jewish Committee, said the lesson oversimplifies a complex history and failed to promote effective student dialogue.

“More reliable methods exist to teach the Arab-Israeli conflict that we hope schools across Long Island will avail themselves to,” Post said.

By Craig Schneider

craig.schneider@newsday.com@Scraigo

Craig Schneider is a Long Island native and Stony Brook University alumnus. He joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in January 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.