The Queens Jewish Alliance held a rally outside of city Department of Education district offices Monday to protest the department's handling of a chaotic incident at a Queens high school sparked by students discovering that one of their teachers attended a pro-Israel rally.

A video posted to TikTok showed hundreds of students causing a disruption in the hallways of Hillcrest High School last Monday. Students were running, chanting and waving Palestinian flags.

What You Need To Know

  • Last week, students took to the hallways of Hillcrest High School in Queens after finding out a teacher attended a pro-Israel rally
  • Students were running, chanting and waving Palestinian flags
  • Mayor Eric Adams called the incident "a vile show of antisemitism," and pledged that it will not be tolerated
  • The Queens Jewish Alliance held a rally outside of city Department of Education district offices Monday, calling for accountability for students involved

The Hillcrest teacher had a Facebook profile photo that showed her at a pro-Israel rally and holding a sign that read "I stand with Israel."

"What's going on overseas is not a license for anyone to hate anyone," said Bronx City Councilmember Eric Dinowitz.

The 45-year-old longtime educator reportedly hid inside of a locked office while students attempted to force their way into her classroom.

"This is not the way that you treat teachers. We do not riot. We do not harass. We not destroy property because of our beliefs or because of someone else's beliefs," said state Assemblymember Samuel Berger, who represents Assembly District 27 in Queens.

The Queens Jewish Alliance said that despite the NYPD being called to restore order and escort the teacher out of the building, there has been little disciplinary action against the students involved.

"Are these students going to be expelled? Are they going to be punished? There should be a total investigation as to who caused this riot," said state Assemblymember David Weprin, who represents Assembly District 24 in Queens.

Mayor Eric Adams called the incident "a vile show of antisemitism" and pledged that it will not be tolerated.

At a press conference Monday afternoon, Schools Chancellor David Banks said that "violence, hate and disorder have no place in our schools."

"The teacher at Hillcrest High School was targeted based on her support for Israel expressed in a permissible way outside of school hours and her Jewish identity. And that is completely unacceptable that she would be targeted for that," Banks said.

Earlier in the month, three Hillcrest High School students were taken into custody over an unrelated altercation with school safety agents.

And a day after last week's incident involving the teacher, an 18-year-old student at the school was arrested for an alleged threat in a group chat.

Police have not confirmed that the arrest was connected to last week's incident at the school.