Protest truck vs. teach
Queens HS educator has been critical of Israel
The “doxxing trucks” that targeted pro-Palestinian students at Columbia, Harvard and other universities are now focusing on a teacher at a Queens public high school who’s come under fire for his vocal anti-Israel stance.
The mobile digital billboard circled Gotham Tech High School in Long Island City, Queens, on Wednesday, referring to Palestinian-American math teacher Mohammad Jehad Ahmad as “New York City’s Leading Antisemite.” Ahmad was at the center of a conservative national media firestorm in the fall after he called Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel a “successful military campaign” on Fox News.
The group behind the trucks, Accuracy in Media, broadcasted his social media posts against Israel and directed onlookers to “take action” at a link with his name. The website covers a lengthy history of Ahmad’s comments on the current war and decades of conflict.
“Zionist’s [sic] ‘play’ is to disrupt education by flooding inboxes & making it difficult for people to do their jobs, disrupting education by harassing school communities, & disrupting education by literally spreading misinformation and lies,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Anyway, I stand by what I said: Zionism=bad.”
Close to 200 students attend Gotham Tech, a growing robotics-focused high school now in its second school year, city data show. The school temporarily shares a building with another program tailored to immigrant students.
Ahmad, who did not return a request for comment, has been a vocal critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza and Schools Chancellor David Banks’ response. He was among the speakers at a student walkout demanding a ceasefire last fall.
In recent weeks, he’s taken to social media to accuse Banks of pushing administrators to punish pro-Palestinian staff and been the target of at least one other digital billboard saying he “support[s] Hamas’ genocide.”
“This can be really stressful because now families are contacting [the Gotham Tech principal],” Ahmad said in an interview with a socialist website. “They’re worried and they want to pick the kids up early. They are concerned that the school building is not safe, and crazies might want to come for me, then they might be coming to the building and that puts children in danger.”
Accuracy in Media confirmed to the Daily News that the truck was the first it’s sent to a New York City high school.
“Racist antisemites everywhere in education need to look out for the fact we’re going to expose their hatred to their community and to their school,” said Adam Guillette, the group’s president. “And I think it’s morally outrageous that a racist antisemite would be involved in the education of children.
“We met a lot of people who really were aware of the situation and outraged about it. Some of the staff we spoke with were not thrilled about having to work with an antisemite, either,” added Guillette, former veep of controversial rightwing media group Project Veritas.
In a video taken outside the school and shared on social media, Guillette, a Florida resident, said that “usually” people complain the city’s schools “because the students don’t learn anything.”
“Well, at one Queens public school, they’re learning antisemitism,” he alleged.
Since the war began in October, some parents and teachers have accused Banks and other top education officials of not doing enough to protect pro-Palestinian advocates. A local education council in Brooklyn of parents, who have publicly called for a ceasefire, said they received death threats and even a box of feces to their office in an elementary school.
Other families point to a series of high-profile incidents in which Jews felt unsafe, including a Queens teacher who was targeted by students because she attended a pro-Israel rally days after Oct. 7. The protest at Hillcrest High School and other episodes prompted the chancellor to deliver a speech last month about the school system’s response and intent to hold disruptors accountable.
Kenita Lloyd, the deputy DOE chancellor of family engagement, said Tuesday night that she has 85,000 emails in her inbox, including those related to tensions over the war.