A New York school teacher has filed a discrimination complaint after he was banned from wearing a ‘Proud Zionist’ t-shirt by his ‘woke’ Brooklyn school.
Jeffrey Levy says that he was told his shirt with a Star of David was ‘offensive’, as was another with the pro-police slogan: ‘Back the Blue.’
The English teacher claims that Principal Neal Singh did not object to other political slogans worn by staff including ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘Feminist’ t-shirts.
MS 51 Principal Singh ordered Levy to stop wearing the Zionist and Back the Blue shirts because students and staff had complained.
‘Singh told me that my T-shirt with an Israeli flag on it and the words ‘Proud Zionist’ were “politically explosive,”‘ Levy says in his complaint, filed September 30, with the city Department of Education’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity.
Jeffrey Levy says that he was told his shirt with a Star of David saying ‘Proud Zionist’ was ‘offensive’, as was another with the pro-police slogan: ‘Back the Blue’ (stock images)
Levy said that staff were allowed to wear shirts saying ‘Feminist’ (stock image)
The complaint obtained by The New York Post, continued: ‘He told me that Zionism involves the retaking of Palestinian land and is “offensive.”‘
Zionism is a Jewish nationalist movement with the goal of creating a Jewish state in Palestine, the ancient homeland of Jews – where one of the hills of old Jerusalem was called Zion.
Levy told the Post that he was recently confronted by one student who shouted at him: ‘Palestine is Palestine!’
‘I said, “You’re welcome to your opinion,”‘ Levy recounted.
He added that other staff were allowed to wear shirts with the following slogans: ‘Black Lives Matter,’ ‘Feminism is the radical idea that women are people,’ ‘Feminist’ and ‘O’Connor & Ginsburg & Sotomayor & Kagan.’
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The latter refers to female Supreme Court Justices.
MS 51 Principal Singh ordered Levy to stop wearing the Zionist and Back the Blue shirts because students and staff had complained
The teacher claimed that Singh’s definition of political attire seemed to be ‘limited to Jews only.’
Levy, who has been a teacher for 20 years, told the Post: ‘None of my attire, actions or beliefs endanger the emotional or physical safety of students or staff, which Singh accused me of. … I have conducted myself professionally and have always respected the beliefs of all while doing my job neutrally and without bias. … His attempt to threaten and intimidate me is anti-Semitic.’
But in a statement, the Department of Education backed the teacher, saying: ‘Schools are not public forums for advancing personal political views, and per Department of Education regulations, employees are prohibited from using schools for the purpose of political expression.
‘This principal’s request followed complaints from students and staff and is consistent with policies around political neutrality in schools.’
It comes amid an ongoing row in the US over perceived double standards in schools and colleges, with many complaining that ‘woke’ political views are acceptable, but anything conservative is branded racist or offensive.
A professor at the University of Southern California caused outrage last week when he refused to remove a pro-police Blue Lives Matter flag outside his office.
James Moore, professor of engineering and policy, has ignored repeated calls to take the flag down from students and administrators who he says live in a ‘progressive bubble.’
Moore spoke with Fox & Friends on Friday to defend his stance. ‘I feel a responsibility right now. I wanted to communicate to progressively-oriented students that there’s a competing point of view,’ he said.
‘They live in something of a progressive bubble on a college campus… I wanted to communicate to conservative students, of which there are many, that in fact they’re entitled to their voice, that the messages they hear are really not representative of society at large.’
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