Israel-Hamas war: In Long Island schools, much has been left unsaid, observers say
Cold Spring Harbor High School student Sam Davis with his parents, Carrie and David. There should be a districtwide approach to teaching about the war, David said. Credit: Howard Simmons
Wantagh High School senior John-Paul Haubeil said he sees news and discussion about the Israel-Hamas war all around him — except in his classroom.
Haubeil said that while the war dominates the news and many family discussions, the conflict has yet to be brought up at length in his classes, including his history class. Neither has he heard much discussion in class about hate speech, antisemitism and Islamophobia, despite the recent spate of hateful acts and speech around the country, he said.
“It feels weird that we’re not talking about it, when everyone is talking about it,” said Haubeil, 17.
While some Long Island teachers say they’re talking about the war, others are not. This apparent disparity in instruction angers some parents, who say it’s imperative that students gain a better understanding of the war, if only because of the vast amount of misinformation going around.
“I find that shocking,” said Lloyd Harbor resident David Davis, who said his son, Sam, a junior at Cold Spring Harbor High School, said that aside from some passing remarks, his teachers aren’t addressing it in class. “There should be a districtwide approach to it.”
The Israel-Hamas war has seen widespread news coverage from newspapers to social media since Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took about 240 hostages on Oct. 7. Israel’s military response has devastated parts of Gaza and cost 11,000 lives, according to the Gaza-based Ministry of Health — an agency in the Hamas-controlled government.
Gloria Sesso, president of the Long Island Council for the Social Studies, said the war, which has spurred demonstrations and a rise in antisemitism and anti-Muslim sentiments, is simply too hot a topic for some teachers.
“I’m hearing it’s way too sensitive to have discussions in class,” said Sesso, a retired history teacher.
Sesso said the war can and should be discussed, if only by focusing on the geography and a timeline of the conflict's history "without taking a side." Early grades could focus on the geography, while middle- and high-schoolers could also look at the timeline, she said.
Long Island has 124 school districts and can theoretically have 124 different approaches to handling information on the war, said Alan Singer, a Hofstra University professor of education. Beyond that, individual teachers can choose what to focus on, as well, he said.
Teachers, however, have become wary of people looking over their shoulder following recent controversies over the teaching of race and diversity, along with the tensions that roiled school board meetings over masking and vaccinations during the COVID pandemic, he said.
"There's a sense of nervousness on how to proceed. Teachers feel they're being monitored," Singer said. "The war between Israel and Hamas is not the origin of that nervousness, just the latest step."
Greg Perles, a history teacher at North Shore High School in Glen Head, is among those educators emphasizing the war in his senior honors class. He said he believes students need to learn how to have difficult conversations. He strives to make the classroom "a place for evidence-driven conversation."
"If we don't do that, we cede the ground to social media" where "the conversation is uglier, more volatile and less factual," he said.
Perles said he's spent about two weeks discussing the war. Students were reticent at first, so he asked them to write down every question they could think of about it. He taught them about the fraught history of Israel. He discussed how Israelis and Palestinians have very different views on the same events, and after a few days, discussion took off, he said.
The class looked at historical maps of the region and discussed — "using facts, not feelings" — how one event led to another. They discussed searching for the context of historical events, without confusing context for justification. They talked about the U.S. policy in the region, with some students questioning whether the U.S. should be involved there at all, while others vehemently said it should be, he said.
Discussion expanded to include the hate speech and violent acts that have emerged since the war began.
"Some kids, Jewish kids, said they felt the presence of antisemitism for the first time in their life," he said. "We have some Muslim-American kids. I know those kids are feeling victimized."
Long Island public schools and colleges have not been immune from the protests, peace vigils and hateful acts regarding the war. Stony Brook University has seen pro-Palestinian rallies and peace vigils, Hofstra had a peace vigil and faculty forum, and Jewish and Muslim students placed fundraising tables at Molloy University.
Anti-Jewish and anti-Black graffiti was reported in several Long Island public schools as well, including a racial epithet and three swastikas in a South Woods Middle School bathroom in Syosset, antisemitic graffiti on a student desk at Smithtown High School East, and a swastika in a Commack High School bathroom.
Several school leaders sent emails to their community condemning the Hamas attack and the rise in hate speech and actions. Some have gone further.
Port Washington Superintendent Michael Hynes said administrators are developing faculty workshops on ways to discuss the war, such as how to talk about it without triggering students' emotions and how to defuse class conversations that go off the rails. Administrators are meeting with local religious leaders, and Hynes has sent out some guidance for teachers.
"Some students may want to [and likely have been] speaking about all that has happened," Hynes said in an email to staff. "If you are comfortable doing so, stick to the facts from reliable sources and encourage students to do the same."
This month, Port Washington's ninth-graders attended an in-school session where representatives of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County talked about the region's history. Students in grades 9-12 will work with the Holocaust center, including taking some field trips to the center in Glen Cove, officials said.
Shayna Blumenfeld, a junior in the district's Schreiber High School, said a debate about the war flared in her class on legal matters. The class was discussing the First Amendment when the topic came up as to whether Hamas should be called a terrorist group.
Strong opinions emerged on both sides of the debate, she said. The teacher gently moderated the group discussion, which ended with the group agreeing to speak to facts and to learn more about the history of the region, she said.
But Blumenfeld said she couldn't recall any other lessons about the war in her other classes, and she thinks teachers should talk more about it.
"It's history like anything else, and you need to learn about it, so we don't repeat history," said Blumenfeld, 16. "To truly understand American politics, you have to look at the Middle East. ... And it probably will play a role in the next election."
The Board of Regents sets state education policy and has general supervision over all educational institutions, including elementary, middle and high schools across the state. But much of the specific instruction is left to individual districts and teachers, Singer said.
The current state framework includes exploring the Arab-Israeli conflict in 10th grade, and American interests in the Middle East in 11th grade. Current events, according to the Regents, should be studied in every grade, Singer said.
Opinions differ on how to talk about the war and hate speech. Roger Tilles, Long Island’s longtime representative to the Board of Regents, held a news conference recently to urge school districts across Long Island to provide a detailed curriculum and “action plan” regarding bigotry and intolerance.
Tilles said teachers could introduce these discussions during instruction on the Holocaust.
But Singer, the Hofstra professor, said he worries that teaching about the Holocaust might not sway certain people against antisemitism.
"When you introduce Nazi stereotypes about Jews, there is a danger that it will reinforce antisemitic stereotypes," he said.
Some students have found their own ways to engage with the issue.
Haubeil, the Wantagh High School senior, has chosen to address the war in history assignments in which he has to pick a news item and write about it.
Davis' son, Sam, said his family, which is Jewish, visited Israel last year and made friends there, including a soldier who is fighting in the war and who occasionally texts the family.
"I think [the teachers] don't want to offend anyone," Sam Davis said. "I can see that point of view, but it needs to be discussed. I think it's very important to know the actual truth."
For his part, Sam, 16, started an online fundraiser for the families of the estimated 58 Israeli police officers killed in the Hamas attack. He's raised $56,000 so far.
Wantagh High School senior John-Paul Haubeil said he sees news and discussion about the Israel-Hamas war all around him — except in his classroom.
Haubeil said that while the war dominates the news and many family discussions, the conflict has yet to be brought up at length in his classes, including his history class. Neither has he heard much discussion in class about hate speech, antisemitism and Islamophobia, despite the recent spate of hateful acts and speech around the country, he said.
“It feels weird that we’re not talking about it, when everyone is talking about it,” said Haubeil, 17.
While some Long Island teachers say they’re talking about the war, others are not. This apparent disparity in instruction angers some parents, who say it’s imperative that students gain a better understanding of the war, if only because of the vast amount of misinformation going around.
WHAT TO KNOW
- While some Long Island educators are discussing the Israel-Hamas war in class, others are not.
- Parents say it’s imperative that schools talk about the war, considering the amount of misinformation going around. Students say it feels “weird” not to discuss it.
- Education experts say teachers are wary of this third-rail issue, having seen the attacks on teachers over controversies surrounding pandemic measures and parts of the curriculum.
“I find that shocking,” said Lloyd Harbor resident David Davis, who said his son, Sam, a junior at Cold Spring Harbor High School, said that aside from some passing remarks, his teachers aren’t addressing it in class. “There should be a districtwide approach to it.”
The Israel-Hamas war has seen widespread news coverage from newspapers to social media since Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took about 240 hostages on Oct. 7. Israel’s military response has devastated parts of Gaza and cost 11,000 lives, according to the Gaza-based Ministry of Health — an agency in the Hamas-controlled government.
Gloria Sesso, president of the Long Island Council for the Social Studies, said the war, which has spurred demonstrations and a rise in antisemitism and anti-Muslim sentiments, is simply too hot a topic for some teachers.
“I’m hearing it’s way too sensitive to have discussions in class,” said Sesso, a retired history teacher.
Sesso said the war can and should be discussed, if only by focusing on the geography and a timeline of the conflict's history "without taking a side." Early grades could focus on the geography, while middle- and high-schoolers could also look at the timeline, she said.
Long Island has 124 school districts and can theoretically have 124 different approaches to handling information on the war, said Alan Singer, a Hofstra University professor of education. Beyond that, individual teachers can choose what to focus on, as well, he said.
Teachers, however, have become wary of people looking over their shoulder following recent controversies over the teaching of race and diversity, along with the tensions that roiled school board meetings over masking and vaccinations during the COVID pandemic, he said.
"There's a sense of nervousness on how to proceed. Teachers feel they're being monitored," Singer said. "The war between Israel and Hamas is not the origin of that nervousness, just the latest step."
After a few days, discussions took off
Greg Perles, a history teacher at North Shore High School in Glen Head, is among those educators emphasizing the war in his senior honors class. He said he believes students need to learn how to have difficult conversations. He strives to make the classroom "a place for evidence-driven conversation."
"If we don't do that, we cede the ground to social media" where "the conversation is uglier, more volatile and less factual," he said.
North Shore High School history teacher Greg Perles said he strives to make the classroom "a place for evidence-driven conversation." Credit: Reece T. Williams
Perles said he's spent about two weeks discussing the war. Students were reticent at first, so he asked them to write down every question they could think of about it. He taught them about the fraught history of Israel. He discussed how Israelis and Palestinians have very different views on the same events, and after a few days, discussion took off, he said.
The class looked at historical maps of the region and discussed — "using facts, not feelings" — how one event led to another. They discussed searching for the context of historical events, without confusing context for justification. They talked about the U.S. policy in the region, with some students questioning whether the U.S. should be involved there at all, while others vehemently said it should be, he said.
Discussion expanded to include the hate speech and violent acts that have emerged since the war began.
"Some kids, Jewish kids, said they felt the presence of antisemitism for the first time in their life," he said. "We have some Muslim-American kids. I know those kids are feeling victimized."
Long Island public schools and colleges have not been immune from the protests, peace vigils and hateful acts regarding the war. Stony Brook University has seen pro-Palestinian rallies and peace vigils, Hofstra had a peace vigil and faculty forum, and Jewish and Muslim students placed fundraising tables at Molloy University.
Anti-Jewish and anti-Black graffiti was reported in several Long Island public schools as well, including a racial epithet and three swastikas in a South Woods Middle School bathroom in Syosset, antisemitic graffiti on a student desk at Smithtown High School East, and a swastika in a Commack High School bathroom.
Several school leaders sent emails to their community condemning the Hamas attack and the rise in hate speech and actions. Some have gone further.
Port Washington Superintendent Michael Hynes said administrators are developing faculty workshops on ways to discuss the war, such as how to talk about it without triggering students' emotions and how to defuse class conversations that go off the rails. Administrators are meeting with local religious leaders, and Hynes has sent out some guidance for teachers.
"Some students may want to [and likely have been] speaking about all that has happened," Hynes said in an email to staff. "If you are comfortable doing so, stick to the facts from reliable sources and encourage students to do the same."
This month, Port Washington's ninth-graders attended an in-school session where representatives of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County talked about the region's history. Students in grades 9-12 will work with the Holocaust center, including taking some field trips to the center in Glen Cove, officials said.
Shayna Blumenfeld, a junior in the district's Schreiber High School, said a debate about the war flared in her class on legal matters. The class was discussing the First Amendment when the topic came up as to whether Hamas should be called a terrorist group.
Strong opinions emerged on both sides of the debate, she said. The teacher gently moderated the group discussion, which ended with the group agreeing to speak to facts and to learn more about the history of the region, she said.
But Blumenfeld said she couldn't recall any other lessons about the war in her other classes, and she thinks teachers should talk more about it.
"It's history like anything else, and you need to learn about it, so we don't repeat history," said Blumenfeld, 16. "To truly understand American politics, you have to look at the Middle East. ... And it probably will play a role in the next election."
Middle East taught in 11th grade
The Board of Regents sets state education policy and has general supervision over all educational institutions, including elementary, middle and high schools across the state. But much of the specific instruction is left to individual districts and teachers, Singer said.
The current state framework includes exploring the Arab-Israeli conflict in 10th grade, and American interests in the Middle East in 11th grade. Current events, according to the Regents, should be studied in every grade, Singer said.
Opinions differ on how to talk about the war and hate speech. Roger Tilles, Long Island’s longtime representative to the Board of Regents, held a news conference recently to urge school districts across Long Island to provide a detailed curriculum and “action plan” regarding bigotry and intolerance.
Tilles said teachers could introduce these discussions during instruction on the Holocaust.
But Singer, the Hofstra professor, said he worries that teaching about the Holocaust might not sway certain people against antisemitism.
"When you introduce Nazi stereotypes about Jews, there is a danger that it will reinforce antisemitic stereotypes," he said.
Some students have found their own ways to engage with the issue.
Haubeil, the Wantagh High School senior, has chosen to address the war in history assignments in which he has to pick a news item and write about it.
Davis' son, Sam, said his family, which is Jewish, visited Israel last year and made friends there, including a soldier who is fighting in the war and who occasionally texts the family.
"I think [the teachers] don't want to offend anyone," Sam Davis said. "I can see that point of view, but it needs to be discussed. I think it's very important to know the actual truth."
For his part, Sam, 16, started an online fundraiser for the families of the estimated 58 Israeli police officers killed in the Hamas attack. He's raised $56,000 so far.
Craig Schneider is a Long Island native and Stony Brook University alumnus. He joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in January 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
