P.S. 261, a public elementary school in Brooklyn, is receiving backlash for showing students a map that displays all countries in the Middle East except for Israel, which was instead labeled as Palestine.
The map is titled the “Arab World”, and was used by teacher Rita Lahoud who was giving her students lessons in the Arab Culture Arts program, which is funded by Qatar Foundation International, the American wing of the Qatar Foundation, a nonprofit owned by the country’s ruling family.
Regarding the map’s origin, it was created by the Arab education company Ruman, which allocates academic resources for students who need it. The “Arab World” features Islamic landmarks in each of the countries in Northern Africa and the Middle East.
Tova Plaut, a New York City public school instructional coordinator for preschool to fifth grade, expressed her grievances with the map, “It’s not just that we’re experiencing Jewish hate in NYC public schools, we’re actually experiencing Jewish erasure, and here is proof of that,” she told the Free Press .
She went on to claim that the map is spreading misinformation to children at the school, and that it is an “example of how you embed implicit bias into children.”
”What it does is it to create this inner instinctive knowledge that they internalize that this land belongs to the Arab world; that it does not belong to anyone else,” she added.
City Hall noted that the map was removed “as soon as we were made aware of concerns” about its contents, yet, DOE spokesman Nathaniel Styer denied that the map will be taken down, and also clarified that the “Arab World” is only meant to display countries that speak Arabic as a national language, which would naturally not include Israel.
Plaut is also the founder of the New York City Public Schools Alliance, a group of educators and parents whose proposed objective is to fight antisemitism and other forms of hate in city schools after the Oct. 7th Hamas attack on Israel, which heightened the already existing hostility stemming from the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
However, on other sides of the issue, this map is an emblem of pride for many Arabs and Muslims who are mourning for the many Palestinians affected by the war in Gaza and believe that Palestine has a right to sovereignty.
”We love seeing #Arabic classroom decorations!” The QFI wrote on X.
The QFI donated over $1 million to the Department of Education between 2019 and 2022.
Lahoud, a Palestinian-American teacher who was born in the U.S. but moved to the Middle East at the age of 7, and lived in Palestine and Saudi Arabia before moving back to the states, has devoted much time to teaching lessons “about the art and culture of the Arab world,” according to the QFI blog.
“Even if my students do not grow up to be Arabic language experts or even fluent in the Arabic language, they will have deep knowledge and respect for Arab culture and art,” Lahoud said. “This is so important in today’s political and social climate.”
“Education programs like ours can go a long way in changing perceptions, and in giving children the necessary tools to refute stereotypes,” she added.
