A New York City public school principal turned down a parent\u2019s request to host a talk by \u00a0Holocaust survivor Sami Steigmann, citing content in his presentation that related to \u201cIsrael and Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an email to the parent on Nov. 18, the principal of the Brooklyn middle school MS 447, Arin Rusch, said that she believed that hosting Steigman\u2019s presentation was not \u201cright\u201d for the school.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn looking at his website material, I also don\u2019t think that Sami\u2019s presentation is right for our public school setting, given his messages around Israel and Palestine,\u201d Rusch wrote in an email obtained by the New York Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rusch added that she would \u201clove to explore other speakers\u201d who could talk about the Holocaust and antisemitism. The Post did not name the parent.<\/p>\n Steigmann, 85, speaks frequently about his experiences as a child survivor of the Mogilev-Podolski labor camp from 1941 to 1944, according to his website<\/a>. During the Holocaust, he was also subjected to Nazi medical experiments and starvation, though he says he does not remember the experiences. His website describes him as a motivational speaker \u201cwho lives to tell his story.\u201d<\/p>\n While it was unclear what part of Steigmann\u2019s website Rusch allegedly took issue with, Steigmann\u2019s PowerPoint presentation, which is found on his site, features an Israeli flag as the backdrop of a number of slides.<\/p>\n There is also a slide labeled \u201cZionism,\u201d which includes various assertions about the founding of Israel, including a definition that Zionism is the \u201cRight of the Jewish people to feel safe and secure in their homeland\u201d and a bullet point calling Zionism a \u201csocial justice movement for the Jewish people.\u201d<\/p>\n In a video shared on Facebook by StandWithUs, a nonprofit that trains students in pro-Israel advocacy, Steigmann is seen urging the students to intern with the organization.<\/p>\n On Steigmann\u2019s Instagram page he has also frequently reposted commentary on Israel<\/a> and antisemitism<\/a>, including one post<\/a> from July where he wrote that \u201cPalestine was Jewish before it became Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n Steigmann told The Post that he believed it was wrong for Rusch to deny his presentation, adding that he doesn\u2019t discuss Middle East politics in public schools and would have accommodated a request for him to avoid the subject.<\/p>\n \u201cShe didn\u2019t even have the courtesy to call me,\u201d Steigmann told The Post.<\/p>\n The rejection drew condemnation from The Blue Card, a nonprofit that supports Holocaust survivors and with which Steigmann is affiliated.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is outrageous that a Holocaust survivor was denied the chance to speak to students,\u201d said Masha Pearl, the executive director of The Blue Note, in a statement. \u201cHis testimony as a child survivor of a Nazi labor camp is not political. It is history. Silencing him at a moment of rising antisemitism is dangerous and deeply wrong, and makes New York City less tolerant.\u201d<\/p>\n Pearl also called on Rusch to meet with The Blue Note to discuss Holocaust education as well as on New York City Public Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos to \u201ccondemn this act and open an investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement to the Post, the New York City Department of Education said that it evaluates every speaker to ensure they \u201cmaintain political neutrality.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe do not shy away from teaching history in our classrooms, and we are proud to have welcomed many Holocaust survivors into our schools, including MS 447, to share their stories. We thoroughly evaluate every classroom speaker and are careful to ensure speakers maintain political neutrality, especially on contentious current events, as required in a public school setting,\u201d Department of Education spokeswoman Nicole Brownstein told The Post.<\/p>\n JTA sought comment from the NYC Department of Education, Mayor Eric Adams\u2019s office and the principal, but did not receive responses.<\/p>\n