Antisemitism runs rampant in Philadelphia schools, Jewish group alleges in civil rights complaint

The Philadelphia school district has failed to protect Jewish students from “a virulent wave of antisemitism” that swept through classrooms after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, according to a federal complaint filed Tuesday.

The district, among the largest public school systems in the U.S., has ignored persistent harassment and bullying of Jewish students, some of whom have been forced to drop out, lawyers wrote in the complaint. Some teachers and administrators have spread inflammatory anti-Jewish and anti-Israel messages on social media and even in the classroom without repercussion, the complaint said.

The Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish advocacy group, asked the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights to order the district to issue a statement denouncing antisemitism and to take disciplinary action against teachers and students who engage in discrimination and harassment. The ADL also wants training for faculty, staff and students and the removal of antisemitic posters, flags and other material on school property.

A school district spokesperson declined to comment on an active investigation.

Colleges, universities and high schools nationwide have seen a wave of pro-Palestinian student protests in response to Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, taking hostages and killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The toll in Gaza recently surpassed 39,000 Palestinians killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Most of the focus has been on protests that rocked college campuses this spring, leading to thousands of arrests. But a recent congressional hearing spotlighted antisemitism in K-12 education, with the leaders of New York City Public Schools, the Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, and the Berkeley Unified School District in California all vigorously denying they had failed to address hostility toward Jewish people.

Like Philadelphia, New York City and Montgomery County are facing Education Department civil rights investigations into allegations of antisemitism. The ADL filed a complaint against Berkeley in California state court.

In Philadelphia, schools leaders allowed hostility toward Jewish students to spread and intensify over the past nine months, and “failed to address a rampant culture of retaliation and fear" that prevented Jewish students and parents from even coming forward, James Pasch, ADL’s senior director of national litigation, said in an interview Tuesday.

“There's an environment here that really needs to change, and it really needs to change now,” he said.

A group of pro-Palestinian teachers called Philly Educators for Palestine, which was cited in the complaint, responded Tuesday by accusing the ADL of “multiple inaccuracies.” The group added in a statement to The Associated Press that “criticism of Zionism or the Israeli government is not antisemitism, and attempts to label it as such is not only antisemitic itself but troubling as it will shut down any opportunity for critical thought and discussion.”

In May, a group called the School District of Philadelphia Jewish Family Association made similar allegations against Philadelphia schools in a complaint to the education department under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on shared ancestry.