A Brooklyn middle school principal denied a parent's request to have a Holocaust survivor speak to students about antisemitism, saying the survivor's pro-Israel views were not appropriate for a public school.
The decision was defended by Mayor Eric Adams' administration.
Arin Rusch, the principal at MS 447 in Boerum Hill, wrote to the parent Nov. 18 saying Nazi labor camp survivor Sami Steigmann's opinions would not be "right" for the school, the New York Post reported Tuesday.
"In looking at his website material, I also don't think that Sami's presentation is right for our public school setting, given his messages around Israel and Palestine," Rusch said.
"I'd love to explore other speakers," she said, according to the Post, adding that lectures about the Holocaust and combating antisemitism are still welcome.
Steigmann, 85, does not address Israel's war against Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists on his home page or in his bio, according to the Post.
In online lectures, he has said he is a proud Jew who supports Israel, and the Jewish state's right to defend itself from enemies such as Hamas.
"What's happening in the Middle East, we will prevail. We will win," he said in a lecture posted on YouTube, according to the Post.
"In every generation they tried to annihilate us. We prevailed."
He has also urged students to join StandWithUs, an international and nonpartisan Israel education organization that says it works to inspire people of all backgrounds, challenge misinformation, and fight antisemitism.
"Life is based on the choices we make. Choose wisely," he wrote, according to the Post.
Adams' office defended Rusch's decision, saying Steigmann "wasn't the right fit" for the school.
"Mayor Adams is dedicated to ensuring all New Yorkers, particularly our students and young adults, hear stories from the genocide and oppression of the Holocaust so we never again perpetrate such evil," a City Hall spokesman told the Post.
"While this speaker wasn't the right fit, we will continue to ensure our students hear from the living survivors of this history into the future."
New York City Council member Inna Vernikov, a Ukrainian-born Jew and a Republican from Brooklyn, accused Rusch of censorship and discrimination.
"It's particularly abhorrent to deny someone who lived through the horrors of the Holocaust the opportunity to share his experience with students — particularly during a time when antisemitism is skyrocketing among our youth," Vernikov told the Post.
"Not only is this behavior repugnant, but the school is potentially engaging in viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment and of equal protection that covers religious or ethnic discrimination.
"To see public schools engaging in this conduct is unsurprising, and we will not sit idly by," she said.
Rusch and the city Department of Education did not respond to the Post's requests for comment.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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