Fired History Teacher's Letter in The New York Times

Jewish high school history teacher JB Brager was fired this month from the Fieldston School in the Bronx after they made statements critical of Israel and Zionism.

On January 21, Brager published a letter to the editor in The New York Times regarding their firing:

I am a practicing Jew and the grandchild of Holocaust survivors, in addition to being a scholar of the Holocaust and settler colonialism. On Jan. 9, I was removed from my position at the Fieldston School amid allegations, driven by conservative media outlets, that my criticism of Zionism and my trans identity made me unfit to teach.

Teachers should not have to appear “neutral” when teaching about grave injustices and violence. Young people must learn to contend with challenging discourse in the classroom, and devastating events in our world, including in Israel/Palestine and the United States.

I do not believe that it is the right of any denomination or faction of the Jewish community to declare itself the mainstream. There is not only one way to be Jewish, and Zionism is increasingly recognized as de facto racist politics. I am a proud Jewish anti-Zionist teacher, and I belong in the classroom.

Read the full letter at the NYT.

Palestine Legal, together with co-counsel Jethro Eisenstein, is providing legal advice to Brager.