NY’s Museum of Jewish Heritage aims to help teachers nip student antisemitism in the bud
A newly-released online resource compiles commonly asked questions about Jews and Jew-hatred to teach empathy and inoculate middle and high schoolers against online propaganda
Reporter at The Times of Israel
NEW YORK — Dara Winkler, a longtime English teacher at Robert F. Wagner Jr. Secondary School for the Arts & Technology in Queens, considers herself lucky.
Students haven’t stomped through the halls chanting “Death to Israel,” or “Kill the Jews,” as they have at other New York City schools amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Nor have they carved swastikas into desks or staged a massive walkout.
“We have a pretty diverse student body: They are Palestinian, Jewish and South Asian. They take a pretty cosmopolitan approach to the world. Aside from an older student saying Israel should stop what it’s doing, nothing has happened here,” Winkler said.
She is afraid, however, that as the lived histories of World War II and the Holocaust fade, fewer students will understand the underpinnings of the Middle East — and how they are relevant today.
“With greater exposure to misinformation, they’re vulnerable to the insidious fallacies of online propaganda,” Winkler said.
It’s because of this increasing distance from history that Winkler said it’s vital that teachers teach about antisemitism and the Holocaust. As such, she’s grateful for the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust’s newly released Antisemitism FAQ Educator Resource.
Designed to give NYC educators and students an understanding of historical and contemporary antisemitism, the FAQ includes a series of commonly asked questions, including where the roots of antisemitism come from, why Jews were targeted during the Holocaust, how the Holocaust ties into current events and how to identify antisemitic tropes.
Yet, as Jack Kliger, the museum’s president and CEO, acknowledged, as practical as the guide is, it’s not a panacea.
“There are some [people] who will not be changed, but we need to impact those who are forming their world views, who are hopefully being taught to have critical thinking, who are being taught to have a sense of right and wrong,” Kliger said.
That’s especially important as antisemitic incidents continue to spike.
In the months following the October 7 Hamas-led massacre that saw 1,200 people butchered in Israel and 253 abducted to the Gaza Strip, incidents of antisemitism skyrocketed across the United States, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) preliminary data. There were 3,291 incidents, compared to 712 incidents during the same three-month period in 2022.
Like Winkler, Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, welcomed the FAQ.
As the grandson of Holocaust survivors, a former high school history teacher and former New York City Council Education Committee Chair, Treyger said he was shocked to read the results of a 2020 Claims Conference survey of millennials and Gen Z participants aged 18 to 39. The survey found that two-thirds of respondents did not know that 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust, while 10 percent thought the Jews were responsible for the genocide.
“This level of ignorance is fertile ground for antisemitism. The schools need all the supplemental help they can get. We have to make sure the schools are meeting the moment. We need systemic change, not a piecemeal approach,” Treyger said.
According to a recent report by the American Jewish Committee, 63 percent of American Jews said the Hamas terror onslaught of October 7 made them feel less safe as a Jewish person in the US, and 46 % said fears of antisemitism forced them to change their behavior.
Those statistics contribute to why Treyger would also like the New York City school system to designate a point person to handle Title VI issues. According to Title VI, no one can be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination on the grounds of race, color or national origin, under any program or activity that receives federal financial assistance.
“I’m concerned those protections are not trickling down fast enough. We need a dedicated person handling this, someone proactive to educate and teach about antisemitism, and also Islamophobia and xenophobia,” he said. “It’s about school climate and culture. When they step into the school building, regardless of where they come from, every student should feel safe and supported.”
Despite the continued challenges to mete out antisemitism, Kliger said he draws inspiration from Holocaust survivors.
“They’re the ones who really believe education and teaching future generations is essential. You might think we are stroking against the wind, but my point is would it be better or worse? I have no question it would be worse,” Kliger said.
