Local politicians fumed over a Brooklyn elementary school’s classroom map that left off Israel and instead labeled the region “Palestine.”
Electeds demanded answers after photos revealed the controversial “Arab World” map on display for kids at PS 261 in Brooklyn as part of educator Rita Lahoud’s Arab Culture Arts program.
“I am deeply concerned about this issue and we are working to determine why this map is on display, if the map was approved by the [Department of Education], and whether the exclusion of Israel is a part of the class’s curriculum,” Rep. Dan Goldman, D-Brooklyn, said.
“With the shocking rise in antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment in the city and around the country, it is imperative that our public schools accurately and fully teach our students about the history and origins of the state of Israel,” Goldman added.
City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, R-Brooklyn, blasted the map and demanded educators teach “the truth.
“They’re not supposed to be inserting politics into the school system,” Vernikov said. “Tell kids the truth. There’s a State of Israel on the map.”
City Councilman Eric Dinowitz, who chairs the Jewish Caucus of the City Council, called the map “awful” and pushed for answers. Joseph Potostanik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis, told the Post that “Wiping Israel off the map” is “preposterous.”
The Arab Culture Arts program is funded by Qatar Foundation International, the American wing of the Qatar Foundation, a nonprofit owned by the country’s wealthy ruling family.
The map, which was first exposed in an article by The Free Press, was manufactured by Arab education company Ruman and features Islamic landmarks in each of the countries in northern Africa and the Middle East.
At the school, the map is posted under the heading “Arab World” with hand-drawn labels marking each country, except for Israel which Lahoud labeled “Palestine.”
The map has since been removed, according to sources, but when The Free Press first reached out to the DOE a spokesperson reportedly said it was still on display.
“Why would it not be? This is a map of countries that speak Arabic,” spokesperson Nathaniel Styer said, according to the publication.
Styer responded told The Post Thursday that the map was taken down.
“As soon as we were made aware of concerns regarding the map it was removed,” he said.
The department aims to “foster a welcoming environment for all cultures and communities at New York City Public Schools,” the statement said.
Asked why the DOE had backtracked on its original comments to The Free Press, he pointed The Post back to the statement about its removal.
“What I find most troubling is the fact that it took outside forces to create an environment in which administrators in New York City public schools finally took action,” Tova Plaut, a New York City public school instructional coordinator for preschool through fifth grade, told the Post.
Inside the classroom where the map appears, Lahoud, a Palestinian-American who was born in the US but moved to the Middle East at the age of 7, teaches lessons “about the art and culture of the Arab world” in Arabic, according to the QFI blog.
When reached for comment, the principal of PS 261 and the PTA directed the Post to the Department of Education. The Post contacted Lahoud by email and phone but she could not be reached before publication.
QFI funded the program as part of more than $1 million given to the NYC Department of Education over the past four years, public records show.
The foundation donated about $241,000 in 2019 and 2020, $275,000 in 2021, and $513,000 in 2022. Records for 2023 are not yet available.
The Post has contacted QFI for comment.
Parents picking up their children outside PS 261 had mixed reactions to the map.
“You’re in the public school system and my opinion is they should represent everyone,” said a Jewish mom, who did not wish to be named, whose daughter is in the class.
Another mom, who also wished not to be named, called the teacher “amazing” and “enthusiastic.”
The mom said the school has a large Arabic population and defended the map by saying it was “referring to Arabic-speaking countries.”
Plaut vehemently disagreed, saying that the map represented a dark reality of the political landscape and a dangerous future for U.S. school students.
“It was a perfect example of Jewish erasure in New York City public schools,” she said.
“There is a country there called Israel. We don’t have maps that still say USSR in classrooms.”
Plaut said Campus Watch reports that QFI funds programs at least three schools in New York City including PS261, PS30 and the global language project in New York City.
It remains unclear whether the map has been used in PS30 or as part of the global language project, but did appear in a post on X last month in a Texas classroom.
A different map, also labeled the eastern district ‘Palestine’ with no mention of Israel at Manara Academy in Irving, Texas.
Photos posted by QFI showed a teacher wearing a hijab and hand-painting the map followed by the finished piece being hung on a wall.