Brooklyn Teacher Praised Hamas Leader Sinwar, Sparking Investigation
Translated & summarized from Now 14 by baba
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Brooklyn teacher Damian Neva praised Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
- Neva is under investigation by city education officials.
- His social media contained anti-Israel posts and comparisons to the Holocaust.
- An organization called for his immediate dismissal.
- Sinwar was responsible for the October 7th massacre and was killed in Gaza.
A Brooklyn public school teacher, Damian Neva, is under investigation by city education officials after praising Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a group chat. Neva, 48, who previously worked as a fashion photographer before becoming a teacher at PS 77 in the upscale Park Slope neighborhood, reportedly posted the message "Long live Yahya Sinwar" in November 2024. The message lauded Sinwar, the architect of the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre in Israel. Neva's social media also contained anti-Israel posts, including a sticker of Israel being torn, a Star of David on the Statue of Liberty, and a comparison of Warsaw in 1944 to Palestine in 2024. He was also described in a lawsuit related to a local food co-op as leading a boycott movement and stating that pro-Israel and Jewish members "don't have the voices to block our campaign." When approached by a reporter from The Post at his Brooklyn home, Neva called the police.
Yahya Sinwar, a notorious Hamas leader, was responsible for the deaths of many Palestinians suspected of being informants and personally confessed to strangling one Gazan. He masterminded the October 7th attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,139 people in Israel and the abduction of 251 to Gaza. Sinwar was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in October 2024 after months in hiding.
Dov Hikind, a former Brooklyn Assemblyman and founder of Americans Against Antisemitism, called for Neva's immediate dismissal. "Sinwar planned what happened on October 7th, the massacre, the barbarity, the rape, the cruelty," Hikind stated. "The idea that someone connected to education, who believes Sinwar is a hero, can teach in a classroom is inconceivable. How would we react if a teacher said Adolf Hitler was a great leader? This teacher needs to lose his job. He needs to be fired, period."
The office of Schools Chancellor Kamer Samuels has initiated an investigation. A representative for the Department of Education stated, "Antisemitism and support for terrorist organizations have no place in our educational system. We are committed to fostering an inclusive, respectful, and welcoming environment for all students and members of our school community. This allegation has been reported and referred for investigation, in accordance with the Chancellor's regulations."
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