New Brunswick High School in Middlesex County, New Jersey (Creative Commons)
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A New Jersey high school is under fire from parents for an assignment that allegedly used misleading and incorrect information about a high-profile Palestinian student activist currently facing deportation.
Educational advocates and parents said the student project was an attempt to manipulate students with false information that did not merely distort the case but also sought to spread dangerous allusions about anti-war protesters demonstrating against Israel's war on Gaza.
In the assignment seen by Middle East Eye, students in the "Introduction to Law" class at the New Brunswick High School were asked to decide whether the US government was warranted in its decision to detain and potentially deport Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil.
The student project, assigned on 18 March, was withdrawn on Wednesday after pushback from the community.
Khalil made international headlines earlier in March when masked immigration agents took him from his student housing outside Columbia University, stripped him of his permanent resident status, and slated him for deportation.
Observers say that Khalil, one of the main organisers of the student encampment against Israel's war on Gaza and who has not been accused of a crime, is being punished for his pro-Palestine activism.
But in the prompts provided by the teacher, Khalil is described as a supporter of terrorism; is accused of having celebrated the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023 on southern Israel; and students who took part in the protests at Columbia University are described as "Hamas students".
Khalil's first name is also spelt incorrectly and described as having been born in Israel. Khalil was born in Syria to Palestinian refugees.
A Muslim organiser in New Jersey, who asked to remain anonymous over fear of reprisals, told MEE the assignment repeated the accusations levelled by the Trump administration, which have already been found to be false.
"The teacher was very clearly projecting his own opinion about Mahmoud in the section he labelled 'pertinent facts' which actually is filled with lies - and misspellings - instead of truly allowing his students to 'be the judge' as he claims he wants them to be," the organiser who works in education in New Jersey, said.
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"Social studies teachers are supposed to teach their students how to be critical thinkers and make connections between the past and the present."
The organiser said the teacher was creating "a facade of critical thinking" by asking students to make a judgement call, "while not providing them any guidance on finding resources, not teaching them to wrestle with concepts such as 'terrorism', and very clearly leaving out any discussion at all about why Mahmoud was protesting at Columbia to begin with."
"We are back to a time where the concept of truth and fact is completely irrelevant, and instead, accusations are facts," the organiser said.
In response to several questions from MEE, a spokesperson for New Brunswick Public Schools said the teacher "had conducted a lesson in which personal opinions were presented as facts".
"I won’t share specific details, but the simple fact that this occurred is at odds with our district’s professional and ethical standards. Upon learning about this situation, which we understand made some students uncomfortable, we immediately removed the related assignment from our curriculum," the spokesperson said.
") rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;">A family member of a student in the class who originally came across the project and first raised the alarm about it said they were shocked at how the assignment had been framed for the class of students between the ages of 15 and 18.
"None of the information was sourced. Some of the 'facts' were just his opinion and information that could be used to try and punish him [Khalil].
"It made Khalil look like a bad person and it was pushing the students towards making a judgement against him without actually providing the truth," the family member, who asked to remain anonymous, told MEE.
The family member noted that Khalil was one of several pro-Palestine advocates who have been targeted by the US government with arrest and potential deportation.
The family member of the student said they grew concerned that the teacher, who reportedly describes himself in class as a former police officer, could use the assignment as a means to monitor those students or their families who show support for Khalil's case.
'You don't have to be Muslim to be outraged about this'
-Concerned family member of student in teacher's class
"I thought that this assignment was not just bad and problematic, I wondered if students who said they didn't think Khalil should be deported may end up getting into trouble," they said.
"You don't have to be Muslim to be outraged about this. This is about taking away someone's right to live in this country and this issue matters to me.
"We are seeing how this administration is lying about this genocide and so we can't stand by and watch a teacher do the same to students," the family member said.
MEE could not independently verify whether or not the teacher was a former police officer, and a spokesperson for New Brunswick Public Schools did not reply to MEE's request for clarity.
Calls for accountability
On Thursday, Mousa Naji from the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations told MEE the assignment "reflected an anti-Palestinian bias that has no place in our schools", and called for an investigation into the teacher's conduct.
"It is imperative that the school reassures students, parents, and the wider community of its commitment to providing an unbiased environment," Naji said.
The spokesperson for New Brunswick Public Schools said that the incident had prompted the department to implement "professional development measures to ensure this educator is aware that every lesson must be objective and free of individual perspectives".
"We’re strongly committed to providing a safe, respectful, and inclusive educational environment in which all our students’ voices are heard," the spokesperson said.
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Though there have been calls online for the teacher to be fired, the Muslim organiser in New Jersey said this was a bigger issue than one teacher's prejudice.
Several human rights organisations have routinely raised concerns about the influence of groups like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in schools.
More than 80 organisations have signed the "Drop the ADL" campaign from schools.
"I completely understand the rage. But what we also need to be addressing is how widespread anti-Muslim racism and anti-Palestinian racism is in our schools and how normalised it is. And how we can protect our students from that and ensure that other students aren’t being influenced by it," the activist said.
The activist said the impact of such poorly worded and clearly prejudiced assignments was far-reaching and damaging.
"At best, this derails a student’s path to the truth, but at worst, it creates and perpetuates anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian racism. If he has Palestinian students or students who are against the genocide in Palestine, then he just ostracised and silenced those students by making his stance very clear. How are those students supposed to feel comfortable writing an essay that would go directly against the narrative he built?" the activist asked rhetorically.
