When there is antisemitism there is anti-Americanism 'at its core,' says Rich GoldbergVideo When there is antisemitism there is anti-Americanism 'at its core,' says Rich Goldberg Foundation for Defense of Democracies senior advisor Rich Goldberg details the deep-rooted connection between the United States and Israel on 'Life, Liberty & Levin.' EXCLUSIVE: A spokesperson for Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that the School District of Philadelphia needs to address the mushrooming spread of antisemitism in classrooms. The alleged anti-Jewish climate in the nation’s eighth-largest school district in the city, nicknamed the City of Brotherly Love, has recently sparked a congressional investigation into its education system that is reportedly infected with hatred of Jews and Israel. Shapiro’s spokesperson, Rosie Lapowsky, told Fox News Digital, "Governor Shapiro takes a back seat to no one on these issues, and as he has repeatedly spoken out about, antisemitism and this kind of hateful rhetoric is unacceptable and has no place in Pennsylvania — especially not in our classrooms. This is a matter the Governor has made clear the district needs to take very seriously." PHILADELPHIA SCHOOLS PARTNER WITH MUSLIM ADVOCACY GROUP FOR GUIDES ON 'AMERICAN JEWS' AND TEACHING 9/11 Anti-Israel protest in Philadelphia, PA. Anti-Israel protesters march against the war in Gaza in Philadelphia, April 25, 2024. (Matthew Hatcher/AFP via Getty Images) Fox News Digital conducted interviews with parents and teachers from the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) and presented the findings, along with a November House Committee on Education and the Workforce investigation notice into antisemitism in Philadelphia public schools, to the governor’s office. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce is probing "whether there was or is a hostile environment against Jewish K-12 students," according to its letter obtained by Fox News Digital. The congressional letter stated, "The Committee is deeply concerned that SDP is failing to uphold its obligations under Title VI. Since October 7, 2023, the Committee has received allegations that SDP is rife with antisemitic incidents, including allegations of teachers spreading antisemitism in the classroom and SDP approving antisemitic walkouts that isolate Jewish students." The letter continued that "Because of these alleged failures, SDP entered into a federally mandated corrective action plan with the U.S. Department of Education in December 2024: however, according to press and whistleblower reports, antisemitic incidents have continued to proliferate since the plan." YC STUDENTS EXPOSE 'EXTREMIST' PROFESSORS FOSTERING CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM AT MAJOR UNIVERSITIES Josh Shapiro Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks at the Celebration of Freedom ceremony on July 4, 2023 in Philadelphia. (Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images) Fox News Digital obtained messages and a document from a private Signal phone messaging group for Philadelphia Educators for Palestine. The group formulated a "Grounding Commitments" document that defends all Palestinian "resistance." Critics say much of Palestinian resistance includes violence and also terrorism. placeholder According to the Philadelphia Educators for Palestine, "All resistance is righteous. We reject any false equivalence between the violent systems that oppress us and our responses to them." Signal text messages stated the anti-Israel group has recruited school children to advance their anti-Jewish state agenda. According to district policy, educators should not be communicating with students on social media platforms. "In order to maintain a professional and appropriate relationship with students, District employees should not communicate with students who are currently enrolled in District schools on personal social media sites," states SDP policy. Fox News Digital reached out to Philadelphia Educators for Palestine for a comment. TEACHER UNION SENDS MAP ERASING ISRAEL TO ITS MILLIONS OF MEMBERS FOR 'INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY' Mika Hackner, director of research at the North American Values Institute, told Fox News Digital, "This is a shocking example of public school teachers knowingly misusing their position, and going against their own district's policies, to encourage political activism in their students. Inviting high schoolers into a private Signal chat and involving them in discussions and events which promote political violence is just beyond the pale. The School District of Philadelphia must take appropriate action." Multiple Jewish parents and teachers spoke to Fox News Digital on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution from anti-Israel teachers and the School District of Philadelphia. One Jewish parent said, "There are teachers and administrators who are perpetuating Jew-hate," adding that "[Ismael] Jimenez uses his public social media to create Jew-hate." Ismael Jimenez is the director of social studies curriculum for the SDP. Capitol Dome 119th Congress Sunrise light hits the U.S. Capitol dome on Jan. 2, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) The congressional letter also references Jimenez as an SPD senior administrator who "has been widely condemned by Jewish advocacy groups in light of his ‘pattern of denying the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel, refusing to speak about peace or coexistence, and downplaying the lived experiences of Jewish people in the face of violence.'" NATION'S LARGEST TEACHERS UNION VOTES TO SEVER TIES WITH ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE OVER ISRAEL SUPPORT According to the congressional letter, "Today, SDP employs numerous educators who allegedly promote antisemitic content in their classrooms. One such teacher has allegedly threatened Jewish parents and students online. She and other Philadelphia educators also allegedly use lessons from an effort called Teaching Palestine, whose class materials rationalize terrorist violence and advocate for the destruction of Israel." The congressional letter highlights the actions of the teachers and the administrator. One who was allegedly "Threatening Jewish parents and students" was identified as Kaziah Ridgeway. Other teachers allegedly used lessons from "Teaching Palestine," according to social media posts and the letter. A Philadelphia school teacher told Fox News Digital that the prevailing situation in SDP is "being complacent and encouraging pro-Palestinian bias in the district. There is no prescription to counter antisemitism in school." Shelly Robinson, a Philadelphia school teacher who retired in 2021 and taught at Northeast High School, the largest high school in Pennsylvania, told Fox News Digital, that at one multicultural fair, "there was a map on stage at school and there was no Israel." Robinson, who graduated from Northeast and has deep contacts to the school, said a "Muslim student group started selling buttons stating ‘From the River to the Sea’ after Oct. 7. Things got really bad for Jewish teachers at Northeast after Oct. 7." The Anti Defamation League described the saying as "an antisemitic slogan commonly featured in anti-Israel campaigns and chanted at demonstrations." memorial at Nova music festival Memorials at the site of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re'im, Israel, on May 27, 2024. (Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg via Getty Images) The U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and slaughtered over 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans. Robinson recalled a professional development trainer who told a student group called "No Place for Hate" that they "should stop promoting white heroes named Shakespeare and Einstein, and said we should promote refugees." When Robinson noted that the German physicist Albert Einstein was a refugee who fled Nazi Germany, the development specialist for teachers said, "But he was a Jew." Robinson said, "I started to see what was going on in the school district and had been going on for 20 years."
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Any interesting things in berkeley talk concerning free speech Thought for 9s The most recent flashpoint is a virtual talk UC Berkeley’s Students for Justice in Palestine hosted on the evening of October 7, 2026, titled “Al-Aqsa Flood Anniversary Talks.” Speaker Mohamed Abdou (author of Islam and Anarchism, formerly at Columbia, and on a virtual “Death to the Akademy” tour) spoke to roughly 25 people.Abdou described the third anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack—which the group itself calls Operation Al-Aqsa Flood—as “one of the most glorious days.” He linked U.S. settlement and Indigenous history to the Palestinian cause, argued students are complicit by attending universities built on “stolen land,” and said: “There is no free Palestine until a free Turtle Island. That means destroying it.” He has previously written that he was “with the muqawamah (the resistance) be it Hamas and Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad but up to a point.” Coverage and criticism also cite earlier remarks attributed to him telling students to “be proud of your hate for America.”Jewish student groups and organizations including the Jewish Student Union, AMCHA Initiative, and Combat Antisemitism Movement called the framing of the attack immoral or dangerous and asked the campus to deny him a platform. AMCHA explicitly said the event involved free speech, which it supports, while still flagging the rhetoric. UC Berkeley spokesperson Dan Mogulof replied that the First Amendment protects the expression, while speech that constitutes harassment or discrimination on a protected category is not protected.That same day, Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky gave his annual Supreme Court talk at the Berkeley City Club. It included discussion of his recent book with UC Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman, Campus Speech and Academic Freedom: A Guide for Difficult Times, which addresses protest rules, disruption, and government pressure on faculty speech after the Gaza war. In an August 2026 message to the law school, Chemerinsky restated an all-comers policy for student groups, time-place-manner limits, and the view that even protected speech can trigger institutional duties if it creates a hostile environment, while disruption of events will not be tolerated.
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A veteran is a person who served in the active military, naval, air, or space service and was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable.Military DefinitionService: Full-time duty in a branch of the Armed Forces (such as the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard).Discharge: Separation from service under honorable conditions, meaning it was not a dishonorable discharge.Combat: Combat experience is not required to be a veteran; anyone who completed their required service time is included.Reserves and National Guard: Members of these branches qualify if they were called to federal active duty by presidential order.General DefinitionThe word also means a person who has long experience or a lot of skill in a specific job, field, or activity (such as a "political veteran").
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Gov. Gavin Newsom targets antisemitism in California schools with new law In signing the law, Newsom rebuffed objections from the state's main teachers union and others. Gavin Newsom sits with students in elementary school classroom. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a measure aiming to clamp down on antisemitism in schools on Tuesday. | Rich Pedroncelli/AP By Eric He 10/07/2025 04:06 PM EDT Updated: 10/07/2025 08:08 PM EDT Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed into law a controversial bill that aims to clamp down on antisemitism in schools, shrugging off objections by a powerful teachers union and others that it will restrict what teachers can say about Israel’s war in Gaza and other hot button topics. The bill, AB 715, cleared both chambers of the Legislature unanimously in votes that belied the tensions leading up to its passage in the final hours of legislative session earlier this month. During a last-minute hearing to debate the bill, the chair of an Assembly committee vented he was being forced to “choose between fighting antisemitism and supporting a bad policy bill that is opposed by every single education advocacy organization.” 00:00 02:00 Read More Newsom rejected such concerns and was unswayed by opposition from the California Teachers Association, a major force in state politics. He sided instead with the Jewish Legislative Caucus and leading Jewish organizations such as Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California, which had made the measure their only legislative priority for the year. In pushing for the bill, the groups cited a surge in antisemitic incidents in California and members recounted their own experiences, particularly amid the turmoil in the Middle East following Hamas’ attack on Israel two years ago. Tuesday marked the second anniversary of the attack. “At a time when antisemitism and bigotry are rising nationwide and globally, these laws make clear: our schools must be places of learning, not hate,” Newsom said in a statement. Much of the requirements in the law, which takes effect on January 1, are open to interpretation. Teachers must be “factually accurate” in lessons and adhere to unspecified “standards of professional responsibility,” while avoiding “advocacy, personal opinion, bias or partisanship.” It also creates an Office of Civil Rights within a state agency, which will include an “antisemitism prevention coordinator” to consult with school districts and advise lawmakers on preventing antisemitism in schools. Newsom on Tuesday also signed SB 48, a companion bill that creates four additional coordinator positions meant to guard against discrimination based on someone’s religious beliefs, race and ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. The coordinator positions were part of a late deal the Jewish caucus made with other diversity caucuses, whose members objected to a bill focusing only on antisemitism. The two measures were contingent on the other passing. Despite that agreement, education groups, the American Civil Liberties Union, and other groups still urged Newsom to veto the bill. The ACLU, in a letter to the governor, claimed the measure contains “vague and overbroad provisions” that will restrict curriculum that is inclusive and historically relevant, create a chilling effect on students and teachers and invite lawsuits. The Council on American-Islamic Relations blasted the bill in a letter to Newsom as “especially harmful to the mental and emotional well-being of Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim youth,” saying AB 715 rendered their stories “invisible and even punishable, deepening feelings of isolation and alienation at a time when they most need affirmation and inclusion.” In a public message to the legislature explaining his decision to sign the law, Newsom called for follow-up legislation next year to address those concerns, noting that “representatives from the entire education ecosystem ... expressed deep commitment to the goals of the bill, along with urgent concerns about unintended consequences.” “Public schools play a foundational role in our democracy, and we must continue to make our schools safe learning environments for all students while fostering critical thinking skills in the context of challenging conversations,” Newsom said. David Goldberg, president of the California Teachers Association, highlighted Newsom’s comments on unintended consequences, calling them “significant.” “At a time when too many are seeking to attack academic freedom and weaponize public education, AB 715 would unfortunately arm ill-intentioned people with the ability to do so,” Goldberg said. Democratic Assemblymembers Rick Chavez Zbur and Dawn Addis, introduced the antisemitism measure in July after an earlier piece of legislation, which would have placed tight guardrails on curriculum for ethnic studies classes, was knocked down by the teachers union and other education groups. To drum up needed support for AB 715, Zbur and Addis agreed to major amendments during the last week of the legislative session, including the removal of language on what constitutes an “antisemitic learning environment.” David Bocarsly, executive director of JPAC, called the signing a “historic day for California’s Jewish community and for every child who has ever felt unsafe, unseen, or unwelcome at school.” “By signing AB 715, Governor Newsom has sent a clear and powerful message: antisemitism, like all forms of hate, has no place in our public schools, period,” Bocarsly said. “This law is more than policy – it is a promise that Jewish children, their families, and all students, deserve a great public education and classrooms free from hate and discrimination.” Watch: The Conversation Play Video1:40 Kevin O'Leary: US stake in Intel is 'waste of taxpayer dollars' Filed Under: California
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