NEW YORK, NY – A New York City Public Schools teacher is under fire after he posted a caricature of Palestinian Hamas terrorists parachuting into Israel where hundreds of women and children were executed last weekend by Hamas.
The image represents the widely held belief that Hamas parachuted into Israel, which has been fact-checked by several sources as being misleading, if not incorrect. A video widely shared claiming to be the attack on Israel was in fact, a taken prior in Egypt.
The image was shared earlier on the Black Lives Matter Chicago branch’s social media pages. That organization has since apologized for the image.
“Yesterday we sent out [messages] that we aren’t proud of,” BLM Chicago responded after taking down the image. “We stand with Palestine & the people who will do what they must to live free. Our hearts are with, the grieving mothers, those rescuing babies from rubble, who are in danger of being wiped out completely.”
Mohammad Jehad Ahmad, a teacher at Gotham Tech High School, changed his Facebook cover photo to an image that appears to endorse the organization, sparking a wave of controversy.
The image, initially flagged by a user named Justin Spiro on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, depicts a person paragliding with a Palestinian flag. The text “I stand with Palestine” appears beneath the image.
This visual is notably similar to tactics used by Hamas, as the organization has employed parachutes and gliders to descend into Israeli communities, resulting in the murder of hundreds and the kidnapping of civilians.
Earlier this week, the New York City Department of Education sent teachers guidelines for discussing the Israel-Hamas conflict with students.
Ahmad criticized DOE Chancellor David Banks saying, “Now he has the time to send us Zionist propaganda to our official work emails,” he’s a white supremacist imperialist, scumbag. He and [Mayor Eric Adams] only value white life.”
He said on Sunday he is receiving death threats about his post and made a public statement about a New York Post article regarding his Twitter comment.
“The death threats from Zionists have started coming in. They’re threatening me and my family. I’m taking screenshots. I am unwavering, so-called “Israel” is a terrorist state,” he tweeted. “I say, and would say it to whomever. So-called “Israel” is a settler colony. It was invented through terrorism and exists through terrorism.”
Social media users were shocked at the teacher’s postings.
“How are you a teacher? That is all completely wrong, and you are condoning terrorism,” one wrote.
“Another shining example of why tenure should be abolished for K-12,” said Timmy Mac.
In another post, Ahmad denied the mass killings and beheadings of Jewish children by Hamas terrorists,
The New York City Department of Education has not released a statement on the matter at this time.