The School District of Philadelphia building. (Photo by It’s Our City courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
The School District of Philadelphia is facing scrutiny from Jewish organizations that say it isn’t doing enough to curb antisemitism from its employees.
Ismael Jimenez, director of the social studies curriculum for the school district, as well as the district itself, are under fire from the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and other local Jewish organizations for statements that Jimenez made in a video clip and on his social media accounts that the organization says “appear to rationalize the Hamas-led massacre of Israeli civilians on Oct. 7.”
On June 4, three days after a man attacked a group participating in a demonstration for Israeli hostages in Gaza, killing one, Jimenez posted a blank red square on Instagram that reads, “The groups who align themselves with American savageness should not be surprised when the savageness is turned on you.”
Jimenez did not offer any further context for this post, although he also made comments when he appeared on a podcast in 2023 that the Federation said are part of “a pattern of denying the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel, refusing to speak about peace or coexistence and downplaying the lived experiences of Jewish people in the face of violence.”
“This is a statement that appears to excuse or even condone violence. It sends a dangerous message to Jewish Philadelphians: that violence against them is to be expected. Words matter – especially from leaders who shape what our children learn,” said the Federation in reference to the post.
Jason Holtzman, chief of the Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Council, said that the organization supports freedom of speech, but that doesn’t excuse hate or discrimination.
“I very much believe that these individuals have the First Amendment right to say whatever they want and express whatever they want, but we know very well that speech can have consequences, and spreading vitriolic hateful content on social media is something that I think shouldn’t be ignored,” he said.
In a November 2023 episode of the Freedom Friday Podcast, Jimenez said that “Oct. 7 … didn’t happen out [of] the blue — this is a generations of folks who feel like their voice has been denied.”
The Federation says that that comment amounts to Jimenez sympathizing with those who committed the attacks of Oct. 7.
The Federation noted in its letter that there is a “response from [podcast host] Citizen Stewart, who offers a clear and moral rejection of such rhetoric,” when he said that “If you can look at Israeli people being gunned down at a festival and think to yourself, ‘Well, they somehow deserved it,’ there is something wrong with you.”
Although the original version of the letter said that that response was “immediate,” it has since amended the letter to reflect that there was an approximate 14-minute gap in time between Jimenez’s comment and Stewart’s comment.
Stewart added more: “Imagine you, having nothing to do with any of [this] stuff, being at a festival, being shot down or kidnapped,” he said, likening it to those who sympathized with the attackers of 9/11.
Neither Jimenez nor the School District of Philadelphia responded to a request for comment for this story.
The letter asks Jimenez if he “[believes] the 350+ young people — many of them peace activists — murdered at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7 deserved their fate?” and if he “[justifies] the kidnapping of civilians, including elderly Holocaust Survivors and foreign nationals, who were taken simply for being present?”
The letter was published by the Federation and endorsed by Philadelphia’s branch of the ADL, as well as AJC Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey, Gratz College, the Jewish Community Relations Council, StandWithUs Mid-Atlantic and the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History.
Holtzman said that the organization has been in contact with the school district about antisemitism and that the district has not been able to provide much comment as to any internal investigations or processes on this matter.
“We’ve been having conversations with the Philadelphia school district for quite a while now about antisemitism happening inside of the school district,” he said. “It’s just completely appalling that there is somebody who’s responsible for public education, a high-level administrator who outright spreads hostility against Jews, hostility against Israel. [There are] concerns about him possibly bringing this into the classroom.”
In that same podcast episode, Jimenez said that quality teaching on a sensitive issue like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict teaches students to think critically — it doesn’t tell them what to think.
“You should be able to talk about sensitive issues without basically imposing your views onto other people, or feeling like their experience should measure up to yours,” he said. “Because you’re really engaging in a dialogue about how we’re interpreting the world.”
Holtzman said that this isn’t just an ideal; it’s the school district’s policy.
“From their own policy, it says, ‘The board permits the introduction and proper educational use of controversial issues provided that their use in the instructional program does not indoctrinate or persuade students to a particular point of view, encourages balanced presentations and open mindfulness and does not offend on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, age or disability,’” he said. “So that right there is a clear example of school district policies that aren’t being enforced.”
Unfortunately, Holtzman said that often that rule has not been followed in public schools in Philadelphia when it comes to teaching about Israel.
In December 2024, the U.S. Department of Education found that the district failed to show it provided adequate protection for Jewish students from harassment from other students, teachers and administrators who engaged in antisemitic behavior.
The department announced that it would require the district to “review its policies and procedures,” “develop or revise its procedure for documenting each report or complaint of harassment” and “conduct an audit of each school … to review the consistency of the application of and compliance with the district’s policies and procedures regarding non-discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin.”
Holtzman said that, ultimately, this issue requires everyone to take a stand — not just the school district.
“We’d like to see more moral clarity from leaders across our society, definitely from school leadership, but also from political officials, clergy and policy makers,” he said. “We need to stop going with moral equivalencies and go towards moral clarity. People shouldn’t always do what’s easy and convenient — they need to do what’s right, and stick to morals and stick to values.”