A New York City teacher is back with a vengeance, publicly defending his pro-Hamas, anti-Israel views on X after sparking viral outrage and parent demands for his removal.
“I stand by everything I said in the same way I continue to stand by the oppressed people whenever I encounter them,” Gotham Tech High School teacher Mohammad Jehad Ahmad posted on X Saturday.
“Free Palestine from so-called ‘Israeli’ oppression and active genocide.”
After the Post was first to report his inflammatory comments, Ahmad told the World Socialist Web Site on Tuesday, “I think that they needed to paint the boogeyman in the education system, and so they picked me.”
“I think it’s also meant to silence me,” he said.
Last week, Ahmad made headlines when he bashed Israel as a terrorist state and called schools Chancellor David Banks a “white supremacist, imperialist scumbag” for his statement condemning the horrific terror attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7.
He doubled down on his views when reached by The Post, and then told Fox News that the terrorist attack was “a successful military campaign.”
Ahmad previously claimed the Gotham Tech principal has been “supportive” and he does not fear for his job. He said he has become a “punching bag” in what the socialist site called a right-wing witch-hunt against the “Palestinian educator.”
On Saturday, Ahmad claimed on X that he has received death threats from “hateful white people” but boasted, “I’m protected by the UFT and my rights as an American to speak out against injustice …”
He also thanked “family, friends, peers, students, colleagues, and Union representatives (but not the UFT at large) who reached out to support me.”
An homage to the Hamas terrorists who parachuted into an Israeli music festival and slaughtered more than 260 people was previously displayed on his Facebook page but has since been changed to simply say, “I stand with Palestine.”
Parents have complained to school leaders, saying the issue has drawn negative attention to the Long Island City school, and some are pleading for their kids to be removed from his class.
“Kids are already affected by his poison,” Gotham Tech parent Karla Rodriquez said at a PTA meeting on Thursday. “He applauds terrorism and violence.”
Rodriguez said parents feel disrespected and dismissed by the school’s silence on the issue. Questions poured into the Zoom chat but principal Cherylann Gill and PTA president Karla Jacome ignored them until the very end.
Linda Quarles, a member of the Citywide Council on High Schools, said the advisory group has received over a dozen inquiries from current Gotham Tech parents, prospective parents and concerned citizens expressing concern, offense and calls for Ahmad’s immediate termination.
During the meeting, Jacome — who was unfamiliar with the CCHS — questioned Quarles’ legitimacy and participation since she is not the parent of a child at the school, and muted her. Jacome then abruptly ended the Zoom call when she realized New York Post reporters were listening in.
PTA meetings are required to be advertised in advance and open to the public, according to Chancellor’s Regulations and New York State law.
The school refused to discuss Ahmad, citing an ongoing investigation, according to Jacome. A town hall meeting will be held once more information is available, she added.
Ahmad is not listed on Gotham Tech’s website as a staff member.
A City Hall spokesperson would not comment on Ahmad’s status, calling it an “internal personnel matter,” but stated, “As with all New York City public schools and districts, we continue to provide support and guidance to the school involved here. Hateful or violent rhetoric has no place in our school system.”