For decades, the pro-Palestinian narrative labeled any Jew living east of the 1949 Jordanian Armistice Lines a “settler.” The term was never about accuracy but about framing. “Settler” implied that Jews were foreign interlopers, distinct from Arab residents who were cast as the indigenous population. So when Jewish and Arab families from Jaffa moved to Jerusalem’s Old City, only the Jews were called settlers. The transplanted Arab was considered at home, while the transplanted Jew was branded an intruder.
Even more strangely, the label of “settler” wasn’t tied to the founding of a new community. A Jew moving into an existing neighborhood—or even just a single apartment—could suddenly transform the entire edifice into a “settlement.” Words bent reality; the label carried the weight of illegitimacy.
But the terminology seems to be shifting. Wafa, the Palestinian Authority’s official media arm, now increasingly calls Jews in these areas not “settlers,” but “colonists.” The updated lingo seems to fit better with the intellectual currents flowing through Western universities, where post-colonial studies cast Jews as Europeans imposing themselves on native lands. Never mind that Jews are the indigenous people of Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem, and that there are more Mizrachi Israeli Jews than Ashkenazi—the narrative works if repeated often enough.
Wafa website on August 19, 2025
If the key to eroding U.S. support for Israel lies in framing Jews as oppressors and colonizers, then the Palestinian Authority is adapting accordingly. By embracing this academic jargon, it aligns itself with progressive activists abroad.
Expect the United Nations, NGOs, and sympathetic media outlets to follow suit. Language is a weapon, and the word “colonist” sharpens the blade. The campaign is not just to vilify Jews east of an arbitrary line—it is to recast Jewish presence anywhere in the land as alien, invasive, and illegitimate.
Further, “settlers” is deeply embedded with an anti-Jewish narrative. A pivot to a generic smear appears less antisemitic as well as more universal in condemning the entire Western world’s imperialism and colonialism. Take on Jews everywhere in “Palestine.” Take on Americans throughout “Turtle Island.”
“Colonists” are the new cudgel in the effort to purge Jews from their homeland. It’s a deliberate term and effort, crafted so as to be easily next replicated against Americans by radicals as the new school year begins.
For Americans and Israelis, a summer vacation in Europe is almost instinctive. A relatively short flight offers a world away—new languages, different currencies, distinct cuisines. The joy is in the immersion: wandering museums, hearing street musicians in centuries-old plazas, staring up at Gothic spires, and feeling the weight of two millennia of history.
But the summer of 2025 was different. The walls of Europe’s cities told a darker story.
Alongside the usual student slogans and political tags were messages aimed squarely at one people and one country. Anti-Israel graffiti was everywhere—not just Palestinian flags but slogans in English declaring ” Smash Zionism” and “all Israeli soldiers are war criminals.” The words were not about policy disputes or borders. They were echoes of the Hamas charter, demanding the eradication of the Jewish state.
This was not the first time Europe’s streets had carried such messages. A century ago, it was pamphlets, posters, and shop signs. In the 1930s, “Kauft nicht bei Juden”—“Don’t buy from Jews”—was painted on storefronts. Nazi caricatures and blood libel imagery were plastered in public squares. These were not fringe ideas—they were mainstreamed into the civic landscape, normalizing antisemitism as part of public discourse.
Today’s slogans are more fluent in the language of modern activism, but the purpose is the same: to strip Jews of legitimacy and belonging. In the 1930s, the Jewish store owner was framed as a threat to society; in 2025, the Jewish state is framed as a threat to world peace. Then as now, the goal is erasure—economic, cultural, political, and, ultimately, physical.
What makes the present moment particularly jarring is its setting. The graffiti appears on the same walls that tourists pass on their way to see memorials to Europe’s murdered Jews. A plaque in the street may commemorate Jews deported to Auschwitz, but the wall above it proclaims “From the river to the sea,” a slogan advocating the removal of the Jewish State altogether. The contradiction is almost too much to process: “Never Again” in bronze, “Again Now” in spray paint.
Europe and the United States remain the last major powers to hold off on recognizing a Palestinian state somewhere in the Middle East. But that resistance is softening—not from a careful appreciation of the challenges of creating a peaceful, democratic state alongside Israel, but from the pressure of chants and hashtags lifted from jihadist manifestos. Politicians are not being persuaded by policy papers; they are being worn down by the relentlessness of street-level messaging and its seep into mainstream politics.
For Israeli and American Jewish tourists, the graffiti is not abstract. It’s aimed at them, personally. To walk through a city square and see your country branded as genocidal is not just uncomfortable—it’s alienating. It says: We know you’re here, and you’re not welcome IN HEBREW.
The tragedy is that many of the cities now hosting this wave of messaging were once vibrant centers of Jewish life, wiped out in living memory. The graffiti is a reminder that antisemitism, like the paint itself, seeps easily into old cracks, clings to old walls, and waits for the right political climate to dry in place.
There was scant commentary on the streets about the antisemitic genocidal group Hamas that launched the war. When it appeared, it was very small and seemingly in reaction to pro-Palestinian paint. It was a tank-versus-switchblade graffiti street brawl. The conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar and elsewhere were nowhere to be seen.
In the summer of 2025, Europe’s walls have become more than stone: they are mirrors that reflect not just the continent’s history, but its willingness to embrace its darkest periods. A reminder that the high brow culture frequently sinks in moral depravity.
When Moses addressed the Israelites in Parashat Vaetchanan, standing on the threshold of the Promised Land, his message was clear and urgent: Keep the commandments and you will live; abandon them and you will be driven from the land.
“You must observe His rules and His commandments that I am commanding you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, and so that you may endure in the land that God, your God, is giving to you forever.”
Deuteronomy 4:40
It wasn’t a political warning. It wasn’t about borders, treaties, or weapons. It was spiritual. Covenantal. National.
He reminded them: God didn’t choose you because you were many or mighty. He chose you because He loved you. And what does God ask in return? Not sacrifices, not empty rituals, but love expressed through loyalty. Loyalty shown in deeds—by keeping His commandments and walking in His ways.
That covenant stands today.
Amid a global spike in antisemitism, war in Israel, and growing divides between Jews in Israel and the Diaspora as well as secular and religious Jews in Israel, it’s time to return to the constitutional core of Jewish life: the Ten Commandments.
There are 613 commandments in the Torah, but these ten were spoken directly by God to the entire nation at Sinai. They were repeated again by Moses in Deuteronomy for a reason. They are not just laws—they are foundations.
If we want to stay in the Land we must invest in them.
Here are ten national action items for Israeli and Diaspora Jews alike to bring the Aseret HaDibrot back to life:
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1. “I am the Lord your God” — Reclaim Faith
In Israel: Integrate emunah (faith) into national identity, not just religion. Teach the purpose of Jewish existence in the IDF, sherut leumi, and public schools.
In the Diaspora: Strengthen Jewish schools and programs that teach belief as something deeper than ethnicity or culture. Anchor identity in divine purpose.
The Shema prayer is in this parsha, a prayer to be read aloud with concentration. Let each session of the Knesset and Jewish day schools begin with that first sentence.
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2. No Other Gods — Confront Idolatry
In Israel: Take on modern idols—power, tech, money. Demand spiritual accountability from the startup- scaleup nation.
In the Diaspora: Counter the worship of celebrity and culture with Jewish meaning and humility. Lead with Jewish ethics, not trendiness.
Focus on Humble Faith to moderate the human tendency to exaggerate our worth and blind us to God’s gifts.
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3. Do Not Take God’s Name in Vain — Elevate Speech
In Israel: Clean up public discourse. Hold politicians, rabbis, and influencers accountable for words that desecrate God’s name.
In the Diaspora: Promote reverence and honesty in all Jewish communication—online, in media, and in leadership.
We all carry a global megaphone with us at all times of the day. Beware of proclamations and defamations made in the name of Judaism.
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4. Keep the Sabbath — Build National Unity
In Israel: The Haredi community must not sit out the war. They must serve through sherut leumi by helping others keep Shabbat—cooking meals, opening homes, dancing in the streets. Make Shabbat the shared joy of the nation.
In the Diaspora: Host Shabbat for unaffiliated Jews. Create communal spaces that let people taste sacred time—no judgment, just joy.
Jews have the special opportunity to show each other and the world the special nature of Shabbat. Make it holy for you and your family. From there, let it spread outward to the community, country and civilization.
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5. Honor Your Father and Mother — Care for the Elderly
In Israel: Train Israeli youth in elder care. It’s a disgrace that our Holocaust survivors and parents are mostly cared for by foreign workers.
In the Diaspora: Create teen-elder programs that pass down memory and dignity. Jewish continuity depends on honoring the past.
Modern psychology has taught many of us to center our being on ourselves and blame parents for our situations. Even – or especially – if that’s true, spend time showing honor to parents and in-laws. It is a pathway for a healthy society.
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6. Do Not Murder — Value All Life
In Israel: Try to end domestic violence and youth crime. Reclaim the sanctity of life as a national value, not just a slogan.
In the Diaspora: Jews must lead on mental health and abortion, the leading causes of preventable death.
Every life is a world. Whether one is in favor or opposed to abortion, treat life with the utmost respect and engage in debates that are centered on life.
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7. Do Not Commit Adultery — Strengthen Families
In Israel: Fund pre-marriage education and family counseling. Healthy families are the front line of Jewish survival.
In the Diaspora: Promote Jewish relationships and marriage through values-based education—not just dating apps.
Reorient Friday night dinners away from invited company for two Sabbaths every month to focus on personal relationships.
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8. Do Not Steal — Demand Integrity
In Israel: Tackle corruption. Ethical leadership is not optional in a holy land.
In the Diaspora: Teach financial and business ethics as part of Torah. Kiddush Hashem starts in the workplace.
At an early age, allow children to reserve certain toys for personal use as opposed to sharing with friends; it allows them to incorporate the idea of ownership and space both for themselves and others.
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9. Do Not Bear False Witness — Seek Truth
In Israel: End the plague of slander and fake news in politics and media. Truth is a national security issue.
In the Diaspora: Speak with compassion and accuracy. Lashon hara is poison. Truth builds communities.
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10. Do Not Covet — Practice Gratitude
In Israel: Reduce economic resentment by promoting gratitude and generosity. Envy destroys unity.
In the Diaspora: Celebrate others’ success. Give, volunteer, and stop keeping score.
Being truly grateful involves the public declaration of appreciation: to God in prayer, and fellow person in thanks. It centers the interplay between ourselves and the world in a healthy dynamic.
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Conclusion: Choose Life
Moses didn’t say this for nothing. The land doesn’t tolerate injustice, idolatry, or apathy. If we want to remain in Eretz Yisrael, we must remember what kept us from here: the first tablets were shattered on diaspora rocks and we wandered in the desert for failing to believe in God’s gift.
We must also remember what brought us to the land: God’s love—and a call to respond in kind.
The Ten Commandments are not old laws. They are today’s mission.
The Old City of Jerusalem including the Jewish Temple Mount/ Al Aqsa Compound
The government is coming down hard on Columbia University for failing to protect Jewish students. It has blocked grants from the school and has come after particular international students. Some civil rights organizations and Democratic politicians have argued that such maneuvers are trouncing protected free speech and are illegal actions against people who have different opinions than President Trump.
People are entitled to have opinions – even hateful ones, and share them aloud or in print. However, such rights are not absolute and have limitations at universities.
In general, people may not stop other people from enjoying their particular rights, say to enjoy the campus and study freely.
2. Students cannot engage in vandalism. Painting red triangles which are the signature of the Hamas terrorist group to target people and breaking glass is destructive. Anti-Israel Columbia students have done this repeatedly.
Red triangles painted on Columbia University COO’s apartment
The vandalism and takeover of schools is against both of these first two principles and certainly not part of free speech. The abduction of a school custodian during the building takeover also warranted severe disciplinary action.
3. People cannot disseminate propaganda and wave flags of US-designated terrorist groups. The United States has labeled several Palestinian Arab groups as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs). Sharing propaganda from such groups can be viewed as providing material support, a serious crime.
Columbia students who are part of Students for Justice in Palestine shared statements from Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh that “contextualizes” the slaughter of 1,200 people, kidnapping of babies and Holocaust survivors, and raping of women. They lionized the architect of the October 7 massacre, Yahya Sinwar, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and many other mass murderers.
Some of the students at the Columbia encampments have been at rallies with Hamas flags and headbands, and people calling to repeat the October 7 massacre in other parts of the world to achieve “liberation.”
Being associated with designated foreign terrorist groups jumps from “free speech” considerations to the blurry definition of “domestic terrorism” to the very real and illegal area of “international terrorism” which the federal government will prosecute immediately.
4. People may not intentionally provoke someone “face-to-face” in an action likely to be met with violence. Screaming “I am Hamas” to a Jew in the aftermath of Hamas’s butchery of Jews and the genocidal group’s promise to repeat the heinous slaughter would not be protected under free speech.
5. Beyond provoking a violent response, free speech may not intimidate or harass someone or a group of people, especially if they are part of a “protected group.” For example, a mob yelling for all Zionists to get off a subway is not protected under free speech.
More generally, free speech only relates to government involvement. A private business or university may have restrictions on offensive speech that are more restrictive than federal laws. The government may then investigate the select application of free speech at private institutions when only protecting certain groups’ permitted speech while not for others.
Further, free speech does not shield someone from the ramifications of such speech. Someone may something that is protected under the government’s definition of free speech and still lose a job or opportunity because it is viewed as offensive.
The list above may overlap. For example, drawing a picture of the Islamic prophet Mohammed is protected speech but drawing it on a mosque is vandalism and harassment. Talking about an “Intifada” generally which might mean to “shake off” is okay, yet shouting to “globalize the intifada” while holding “zionism is racism” and “there is only one solution” banners before a Jewish institution is the equivalent of a bomb threat.
Free speech is a cornerstone of America—but so is liberty. The targeted harassment and intimidation of Jews across campuses and cities has crossed the line. Chanting genocidal slogans and glorifying the slaughter of Jews – at Jews – is not protected speech; it’s an assault on civil rights.
Defending the First Amendment must never come at the cost of abandoning the safety and liberty of American Jews.
In May 2024, Time Magazine ran a story decrying “How Weaponizing Antisemitism Puts Jews at Risk.” This idea has become fashionable among progressives, Islamists, and campus radicals. According to this twisted narrative, the real threat isn’t antisemitism—it’s the accusation of antisemitism, supposedly being used to “silence” criticism of Israel. They cite the House Education Committee’s task force on antisemitism as proof, calling it a vehicle to crack down on “pro-Palestinian” protests rather than protect Jewish students. They lobby to prevent the IHRA definition of antisemitism to be accepted in government cases, because Jews shouldn’t be allowed to decide for themselves what defines antisemitism.
Who gave them such privilege?
The charge against Jews is explicit and comes from Jews and non-Jews. UC Berkeley associate professor of history and Jewish studies Ethan Katz was part of the Nexus Project which put words like “Intifada” into various buckets and grades of antisemitism, in an attempt to jettison IHRA’s widely adopted definition. Katz took aim at the House Education Task Force and said “the overarching motivation for many of these people [Republicans on the committee] is to use this as a way of attacking higher education. This means that they are using Jews as a kind of pawn to play a political game.” It’s as though antisemitism doesn’t exist or politicians (read THOSE politicians) couldn’t possibly care about Jews.
We are being reeducated: Jews aren’t victims; they’re tools. Republicans don’t care; their racists using Jews to attack minorities and liberal institutions.
Worse, Jews are no longer victims in this reading but complicit in attacks on progressive causes. The expectation (read demand) from the socialist-jihadi alliance is therefore for Jews to accept the indignities, harassment, intimidation and discrimination lest they speak up, and victims of preference possibly be held responsible or pay a price.
This inversion of reality is extreme – and deadly.
The true weaponization of antisemitism is not rhetorical; it is literal. It is found in the chants of mobs in Western capitals calling to “Globalize the Intifada“—code for bringing the murder of Jews from Israel to the streets of New York, London, and Toronto. It is etched in graffiti that reads “Gas the Jews” in Paris and Melbourne. It is breathed into masked agitators who storm Jewish neighborhoods, businesses, and houses of worship.
Car in Australia with antisemitic graffiti
It is not new. For over a century, Arab leaders have worked to deny the Jewish people their rights. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, incited riots in the 1920s and 1930s to prevent Jews from praying at their holiest site, the Temple Mount. In 1929, that incitement culminated in the massacre of 67 Jews in Hebron. His riots from 1936 to 1939 kept hundreds of thousands of Jews in Europe to die in the Holocaust.
Fast forward to 2023 to Hamas’s October 7 pogrom—an antisemitic massacre that was a direct descendant of that same ideology. Jews, in the Hamas worldview, are not simply an occupying force—they are an infestation. Hamas’s 1988 charter calls for Muslims to fight and kill Jews wherever they may be. The 2006 Palestinian elections, in which Hamas won a majority, validated and empowered that genocidal ethos.
A majority of Gazans have always supported killing Jewish civilians in Israel, according to every Palestinian poll taken since 2000
This hatred has never been about borders or policy. It is about Jewish existence. Jewish presence.
Palestinian Arabs are almost uniformly antisemitic according to Antidefamation League (ADL) polls. They have weaponized their antisemitism and come to ethnically cleanse the land of Jews.
For calling out Muslim antisemitism, the three million-member powerful National Education Association (NEA) teacher union voted on July 6 to cut ties with the ADL. In rejecting using any materials from the ADL, the NEA stated that “despite its reputation as a civil rights organization, the ADL is not the social justice educational partner it claims to be.” NEA delegate Stephen Siegel said “allowing the ADL to determine what constitutes antisemitism would be like allowing the fossil fuel industry to determine what constitutes climate change.”
Only comrades of the socialist-jihadi alliance should be allowed to define antisemitism.
So when House Republicans call a hearing to investigate antisemitism on college campuses after mobs trap Jewish students in libraries and bar entry to Hillel buildings, outlets like Time spin it as a crackdown on speech. When Jewish students file Title VI complaints because professors and deans dismiss their fears and excuse calls for a new Holocaust as “political expression,” activists call it censorship.
Jewish students hide from mob at Cooper Union in New York City
The charge that “antisemitism is being weaponized” is not a defense of speech—it’s a shield for Jew hatred. It inverts the aggressor and victim and gaslights the world into thinking that Jews are too powerful, too organized, and too vocal in defending themselves.
It is not only in the Jewish Diaspora. The Islamic Republic of Iran – sworn to the destruction of the Jewish State which it calls a “cancer” – has literally weaponized its nuclear program. Not willing to be exterminated, Israel preemptively took out the infrastructure of the weapons of mass destruction. And the world came after Israel as if it were the aggressor.
Because there is a corrupt belief that Jews must accept their fate silently.
UN claims that Israel cannot defend itself from the political-terrorist group Hamas which rules Gaza and has 58% of the seats in parliament
The world has been trained that Jews have too much – whether power, money, land, rights – even pride. People believe that Jews should be stripped of those items and absorb the abuse. To demand basic human rights, dignity or protection is not considered defense but an assault on the attackers.
Are Jews hunting Palestinians on Western campuses or are Palestinian flag-wavers cornering Jewish students? Did Israel issue a fatwa against Arabs and Muslims, or was it Osama bin Laden who said that Jews will never be safe, Hamas that declared in its charter that it is an obligation for every Muslim to kill Jews, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas who demanded a land ethnically cleansed of every Jew?
The world knows that antisemitism has been weaponized but not by Jewish students or congressional investigators. It has been weaponized by Hamas with bullets, knives, and fire. By “anti-Zionists” who shout genocidal slogans and assault Jews in the the streets of the Global North. By media figures who gaslight Jews to stay silent to protect the indefensible in the name of free expression.
Antisemitism has been weaponized and Jews are dying. Hamas’s willing executioners are telling you to move along.
Before Adolf Hitler ever raised his voice in Munich, he walked the streets of Vienna. The year was 1908. He was a failed artist, a nobody—but he was watching. And what he saw was a master class in antisemitism, taught by none other than the city’s powerful mayor, Karl Lueger.
Karl Lueger (1844-1910), mayor of Vienna, Austria 1897-1910
Lueger didn’t scream; he smiled. He didn’t wear jackboots; he wore a mayor’s sash. But his message was clear: Jews don’t belong. He didn’t have to say it outright—he just needed to point at “Jewish capital,” “Jewish influence,” “Jewish power.” Always with a wink, always in the name of the people.
Hitler later said Lueger was one of the greatest German politicians of all time. Not because he was a fascist but because he knew how to mainstream hate. He made antisemitism a component of civic reform.
Sound familiar?
Over a century later, in Queens, New York, Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani is walking the old path in new shoes. Like Lueger, he’s building a political brand on a foundation that isolates Jews—especially those who support the Jewish State—as outside the moral community.
Criticize the Israeli government? Fine. Hold them accountable? Of course. But Mamdani goes further. He doesn’t criticize Israeli policies. He calls for Israel’s erasure. He doesn’t debate Zionism. He demonizes it. And anyone who affirms the Jewish right to self-determination is labeled part of the problem. AMCHA Initiative has long shown how Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on campuses – a group which Mamdani is proud to help found at his college – correlates to a steep rise in attacks against Jews.
We all see the impact on Jews today.
It’s Lueger’s method, just in post-colonial language.
Just like Lueger – and others like disgraced politician Jamaal Bowman – Mamdani claims he’s not against Jews; he’s just against the wrong kind of Jews—those who won’t denounce their homeland, who won’t apologize for their peoplehood. Like Lueger, Mamdani gets to decide who counts as a “good Jew.”
Zohran Mamdani (right) being endorsed by disgraced former Congressman Jamaal Bowman
And here’s the haunting echo: who’s watching today?
In 1908, Hitler was a quiet observer of Lueger. Who’s listening to Mamdani now?
Who’s the radical activist or ideologue soaking up the message that Jews are oppressors, that Zionists are the enemy, that the Jewish state is a crime? Who’s internalizing this polite, polished, progressive bile and dreaming of taking it further?
No, Mamdani isn’t directly inciting genocide. But Lueger didn’t either. History tells us you don’t need to pull the trigger to light the fuse. Lueger mentored Hitler without even knowing him.
We remember how it started last time. We worry who might be watching this time.
We have reviewed the terrible anti-Israel bias ingrained in public schools in Talking About Local School Boards in New York State, and socialists’ activist influence in public school unions and school boards in Anti-Israel Socialists Are Coming For School Boards. This article will discuss a particular school district – White Plains, NY – as a basis for you to get involved in your own district, and will compare it to New Rochelle, a similar district nearby.
Basic Statistics
Start by understanding some key statistics about the school district before wading into the school board itself.
Greatschools.org is a good place to familiarize yourself with your school district. White Plains has seven schools: 5 elementary, 1 middle school and 1 high school. In their assessmnet, compared to New York State, 57% are performing below average and 43% are average, a pretty terrible score.
Digging into the data deeper, provides some understanding of the poor scores.
The student body of 6,887 is 58% Hispanic, 21% White, 10% Black, 4% biracial and 3% Asian. Roughly 17% are learning English and 50% are from low income households. The demographics are similar to New Rochelle which is a bigger school, with a greater percentage of Blacks students. White Plains has more students learning English (17% to 12%), while New Rochelle has a slightly greater percentage of students from low income households (55% to 50%).
While all of the racial groups perform well on U.S. history tests, the Hispanic and Black students perform below New York State average in English (30% and 29%), and Black students grossly underform in science (16% with proficiency), even compared to those same ethnic groups around the state. Curiously, each group performs well on standardized regents exams, making one wonder whether teachers are simply teaching to pass the regents rather than basic skills.
The dynamics are not unusual for the state. According to the GreatSchools site, Black students typically only have 22% average proficiency in science around the state, and Hispanics are at 23%. White and Asian students are at 43% and 55%, respectively, considerably higher. However, in White Plains, only Black students trail the state average.
The scores for Black students in New Rochelle in English were significantly better, with 43% being proficient, significantly higher than White Plains Black student body at 29%.
The figures in Ballotopedia are different, but also show that White Plains’ Hispanic and Black students do not cross 45% proficiency in Math, while White and Asian students have 73% and 75% proficiency, respectively. New Rochelle Hispanic and Black students each have 57% proficiency in Math, considerably higher than White Plains.
White Plains (WP) far exceeded New Rochelle (NR) and state averages in other categories like graduation rates (91% versus 83% and 87%, respectively for NR and state averages) and those taking Advanced Placement courses (AP), with 29% compared to 18% and 21% for NR and the state, respectively. Overall, 79% of White Plains’ graduating students went on either to college or vocational school, compared to 75% and 68%, respectively for NR students and the state on average.
This WP performance came at a cost.
Enrollment in the WP schools was roughly 6,900 students and projected to be relatively flat for the next year, despite 8,000 apartment rental units coming online over the next few years. With a 2025-6 budget of $278 million, the average cost per student is roughly $40,000.
With 595 teachers, the WP student-to-teacher ratio was roughly 11.6:1, well below the stated goal of under 20-to-1. The overall WP district headcount including administrative positions was 1,196, or 5.7 students per school staff. This compares to NR with 767 teachers and 1,643 in total staff, or 12.6:1 student to teacher ratio and 5.9 students per staff.
On average, school districts in the state are funded 50% by local taxes, 46% by state subsidies and 4% from the federal government. White Plains is 78% locally funded (74% property tax and 4% other taxes).
The actual WP budget submitted for approval shows a breakdown for the budget as: 50% for instruction, 25% for employee benefits, 15% for general support, 5% for student transportation, and 4% for debt service. Why is only half of a school budget going to education?
New Rochelle’s school budget is $360 million serving 9,700 students ($37,100 per student) and property taxes account for 67% of the budget. New Rochelle has a budget line for the high school principal of over $1 million and the department chair and supervisor each with $700,000.
Data Assessment
The data is not consistent between sources but overall, it seems that White Plains spends more for students than New Rochelle. The reasons seem to be a relatively higher number of teachers as well as costs for more upgraded facilities. Despite spending more, the results for Hispanics and Blacks are worse on test scores but better on regents and high school graduation rates (92% to 83%).
Other Students
A total of 1,132 students in White Plains do not attend public schools, or over 14% of the total. These students do not receive funding for education, food, transportation or tutoring services.
There are no charter schools in either White Plains or New Rochelle, making the public schools the sole recipients of all funding, despite one in seven students being educated outside of the schools.
WP School Board
The White Plains school board is made up of seven people, each serving a three year term. In 2025, two of the most tenured board members have terms coming up.
Name
Assumed Office
Term Ends
Jessica Buck
2024
2027
Craig Mondschein
2024
2027
Cayne Letizia
2015
2027
Valerie Daniele
2023
2026
Rosemarie Eller
2005
2026
Sheryl Brady
2007
2025
Charlie Norris
2007
2025
As seen in the table above, there are three people on the board who have been serving for almost two decades, and three people serving in their first terms. Ideally, a board should have a mix of current parents together with people with historic knowledge.
There are four people running for the two seats. Sheryl Brady and Charlie Norris are both seeking reelection. Newcomers Julia Oliva and Dr. Mohammed S Chowdhury are also seeking the board positions. They all submitted responses to a questionnaire submitted by the League Of Women Voters of White Plains, which will be hosting a forum on May 13 at 7:00pm at the WP High School.
I spoke to the four candidates about their interest in the school board. Below is a snapshot.
Sheryl Brady:
She grew up in Westchester and is passionate about education and continues to keep up to date with seminars.
She had four kids go through the public school system and was very involved in the PTA. She is also very involved in Kol Ami in addition to the public schools.
She thinks the superintendent Dr. Joseph Ricca (Josephricca@wpcsd.k12.ny.us 914-422-2019) is fantastic and always available for questions. She believes he is also well known at the state level.
Brady believes the school board is about setting tone and policy which is focused on the intrinsic value of every person.
Her focus is on targeted, individualized instruction for the students.
She thinks the school facilities are amazing and acknowledged the community support for a $60 million bond issue to fund the improvements to the schools and athletics fields.
She is supportive of the cellphone bans in schools but likely would have been more permissive for high school students than the state mandate.
She thinks the governor’s mandate on teaching gender identity in all grades including lower grades should be age appropriate
She does not think antisemitism is a big issue in the district, and whenever there is an incident, to use it as an opportunity to bring the students together to learn empathy and Jewish history of persecution, and the Holocaust in particular.
In regards to teaching about the Arab/Muslim-Israeli conflict, she thinks teachers should not take sides and try to maintain respect.
Charlie Norris:
He grew up in Hartsdale and is passionate about education. His two children were fourth generation in WP public schools
He was the first male head of the PTA in 1993 and that got him involved in the school and ultimately the board in 2006. He has seen the schools change to be much more Hispanic and pivot according to their needs as well as special needs students which are much more numerous now than when he was a parent of a student.
He is very proud of where WP is now, while other schools in Mount Vernon and New Rochelle need to lay off teachers and cut programs.
He loves the state-of-the-art facilities already constructed the last few years as well as the new $35 million building going up to expand the high school. It is going up without an increase in taxes.
He is in favor of banning cellphones for kids in school.
He is in favor of teaching gender identity in schools and all types of family structures in an age appropriate manner.
He thinks antisemitism in schools is a function of general society and children pick it up (rather than it being introduced in schools). When there are incidents, they bring in rabbis to have meaningful discussions.
For the Arab/Muslim-Israel Conflict, he thinks it is important to be informative without taking sides. It is for educators to choose materials for the students and only sometimes does that come up to the board level.
Julia Oliva:
She moved to White Plains in 2007. She has one young child in the elementary school and a second one will enter in a year.
She has gotten involved in the school because she felt there were issues not being addressed. The open mic at the school board sessions allowed her to have a one way discussion but never heard back from anyone.
She is in favor of banning phones and wants teachers to be equipped with how to handle situation.
She wants to see more vocational instruction in high school as many students are probably not situated for college. She wants courses to prepare students for jobs in technology and cybersecurity, as well as healthcare with the number of expanded medical facilities opening in White Plains.
She thinks that too much money is being spent on non-essential capital projects rather than services. She thinks it’s a poor decision to drop some courses to have state of the art bleachers at the athletic fields.
Dr. Mohammed S Chowdhury:
He has been a White Plains resident since 2002. He is a physician.
He has not been involved in the school and was not knowledgeable about any of the metrics or issues mentioned above. His one son graduated from the school last year and he is seeking to volunteer now. He mentioned that he would tutor.
WP School Board Assessment
Sheryl Brady and Charlie Norris are pretty interchangeable. Both are liberals who have lots of institutional knowledge and having one of them is enough. Julia Oliva seemed very engaged but it is unclear how she would function in a committee setting. Dr. Chowdhury is ill-prepared to serve on the board with no involvement in education and no child at the school.
With 14% of the WP student body not attending public schools, I suggest someone with students in private school run for the school board next year. There are no monies going to compensate students at other schools for their transportation, tutoring or food which happens for the public schools. The 78% of the budget being borne by residents must get pushback from someone at the board and the two incumbents are unlikely to so.
The White Plains Teachers Association bargaining agreement ends in June 2026. It is important to have someone looking out for taxpayers on the school board.
Be involved in the budget process and get information at (914) 422-2071 or email budget@wpcsd.us. There is a Board of Education meeting on May 12 at 7:30 at the High School Auditorium and a League of Women Voters meet the candidates on May 13 at 7:00pm at the WP High School Library Media Center.
New Rochelle School Board
New Rochelle has a nine member board serving five year terms. Two spots are available in 2025 and five people are competing: Myriam Decime, Elana Jacob, Jessica Klein, Dr. Rosa Rivera-McCutchen, and Keith Singletary.
Jacob and Klein are both from the local Jewish community which is looking to continue to build on its grassroots activism which helped get rid of Congressman Jamaal Bowman in the 2024 Democratic primary. Rivera-McCutchen is closely aligned with Bowman and Decime is also part of the Black “progressive” movement. The school board election is a mini rematch of the heated NY16 congressional contest. Singletary is a CPA and focused on risk assessment and a much more reasonable choice than the other Black candidates as the NR public schools are in bad fiscal health.
The League of Women Voters will hold an in-person candidate forum on Monday, May 12, at 6 pm at City Hall and the New Rochelle Chapter of the NAACP will hold an online forum with the Board of Education candidates on Sunday, May 18, at 4 pm on Zoom (Meeting ID: 997 9688 1792, Passcode: 607622). To speak at a public hearing contact mbonilla@nredlearn.org, 914-576-4219.
Conclusion
White Plains: WP residents are paying an astronomical $40,000 per public school student, and are covering 78% of that cost – well in excess of the state average of 50% or New Rochelle’s 67%. The WP board budget presentation that “staff salaries are in line with collective bargaining agreements” and that the taxes are not as high as they could have been, is grossly misleading. The school board has been pouring money into professional quality facilities and an incredibly high number of teachers relative to the student population, while Black students are doing terribly in English, Hispanic students are doing poorly in science, and 14% of the students not in public school are getting nothing.
Reject the budget to lower the budget by $3.4 million.
Remove one of the long-serving board members with Julia Oliva to reorient the schools more to services than gold-plated facilities.
A parent from the private school community should run in the 2026 election – all that’s needed is 100 signatures from within the district.
New Rochelle: The vast majority of the nine member school board is from the Black community which makes up 19% of the student body and overall population. It would be a terrible outcome to see members of the far-left get seats on the school board.
Vote for Jacob and Klein to get proper representation and overall balance on the board.
The Passover Haggadah has a 15 line song called “Dayenu,” which means “enough” in Hebrew. The song reviews fifteen actions that God did for the Jewish people, any one of which would have been amazing on its own. The point of the song is to recount the many fantastic blessings God gave the Jewish people so that there is no way to show proper appreciation.
Jews around the world might ponder their various actions and contributions, and wonder why they not only don’t get appreciation but scorn.
Despite Jews being instrumental in the creation of Hollywood, they were deliberately omitted from the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
Despite Jewish scientists creating many life-saving drugs, people accuse them of doing so only for profit.
Despite the Jewish State making tons of technological innovations that permeate everyday items and lives like smartphones, anti-Israel agitators try to promote a boycott of the country even as they use the country’s technology.
Despite Jewish philanthropists pouring billions of dollars into American universities, the school administrators allowed systemic antisemitism to take over the institutions.
Despite Jews being at the forefront of the civil rights movement, few Black leaders have come out and denounced antisemitism today.
Despite Jews allowing the Jordanian Islamic Waqf to administer the Jewish Temple Mount and continue Islamic prayer on the site, the Waqf denies Jews the basic human right to pray at their holiest site.
Despite Jews being the most targeted group of hate crimes in the US by a significant margin every year, they were never afforded protection because they are considered “white” and “privileged.”
Despite Jews having 3,700 years of history in the holy land and whose homeland is central to its religion, antisemites and university professors call them “colonizers.”
Despite Jews contributing a disproportionate amount to the entire world in regards to medicine, science, technology, and economic matters, antisemitic politicians call them “racists” and “profiteers.”
Despite the Islamic Arab armies’ invasion of Israel in 1948 and ethnically cleansing all Jews from the territories it illegally seized, Israel granted citizenship to all non-Jews including Islamic Arabs in the remaining land it ruled.
Despite Judaism not seeking to convert people around the world and believe that non-Jews go to heaven, antisemites say Jews suffer “Jewish Superiority.”
Despite Israel ceding land several times in an effort to make peace with its neighbors – which its neighbors never have – antisemites at the United Nations claim that the country is seeking to build a “Greater Israel.”
Despite Israel not wanting or starting wars, offering numerous ceasefires that were rejected, and would stop the current war immediately if terrorists surrendered themselves and the hostages, the international courts have deemed Israel’s actions a “genocide.”
Despite Jews thriving on debate and inquiry leading various intellectual and political movements across the spectrum, antisemites vilify Jews as a single shadow power attempting to control the world.
Despite Jerusalem being the center of Judaism, the United Nations passed a law making it illegal for Jews to live there.
Whereas Dayenu is a song to God that Jews appreciate every single item done on their behalf, Despite is a chilling reminder that nothing Jews do will satisfy the antisemites.
Watching the United Nations trip over itself to not call out Hamas and other Stateless Arabs from Palestine (SAPs) terrorist groups who should be brought to justice is a spectacle in rife antisemitism. Sometimes, watching the UN Security Council call out heinous attacks in other parts of the world serves as a reminder as well.
On March 21, 2025, terrorists from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), an ISIL offshoot, shot at worshippers in a mosque in Niger. At least 44 worshippers were reported killed and 20 injured. The UNSC issued a statement less than one week later. I include it below in its entirety with bold for emphasis:
The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the cowardly terrorist attack by Islamic State in the Greater Sahara in Kokorou, Niger, on 21 March, which resulted in the deaths of at least 44 civilians and 13 severely injured.
The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and to the authorities and the people of Niger, and they wished a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured.
The members of the Security Council reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.
The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice. They underscored the importance for all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate with the authorities of Niger as well as all other relevant authorities in this regard.
The members of the Security Council reiterated that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed. They reaffirmed the need for all States to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other obligations under international law, including international human rights law, international refugee law and international humanitarian law, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.
UN Security Council
It seems pretty straightforward to condemn the murder of 44 people. So why couldn’t the UN Security Council get it together after the October 7, 2023 murder of 1,200 people in Israel?
Eleven days after the attack, on October 18, the UNSC tried to get a resolution passed – and failed to do so. Why couldn’t the condemnation happen on October 8? 9? 12th? 15th?
Because there was no consensus.
The UNSC played with resolutions for days, including on October 16. Activity began to heat up after a hospital in Gaza was hit on October 17, and the world incorrectly jumped to the conclusion that Israel launched the missile. The United States vetoed the proposed resolution because “the draft did not mention Israel’s right to self-defence.”
There is no pathway for Israel to obtain basic rights and consideration through multilateral venues. It must pursue its interests on bilateral bases with countries around the world.
I have written in the past about the foolish views of liberal Nicholas Kristof about Israel. His idealized view of Palestinian Arabs are disconnected from reality and leads him to propose stupid plans for the Israeli-Muslim Arab Conflict.
It’s worse than that.
Kristof’s latest opinion pieces, “Our Beloved Gaza Is Gone”, showcases why his views are vulgar and promote antisemitic jihadists.
Rather than quote the popular Hamas leadership of Gaza which seeks the destruction of Israel or cite the polls of Gazans who want to kill Jewish Israeli civilians, Kristof quotes a “linguistic scholar” in Gaza who wants peace, as if this voice has any power or influence or represents Gaza in any way.
Yet Kristof started the first five paragraphs as well as the headline from this powerless, minority view. He ends with a quote “pray for us”, asking his readers to side with Gazans, to side with antisemitic genocidal jihadists.
When Kristof moved on from his angelic mask to the political-terrorist group Hamas, he whitewashed the entire episode. Lost was the brutal murder and raping of 1,200 people and Israel and seizure of 250 hostages, initiating a full scale war with Israel. Instead the pivot from “horrific atrocities in October 2023” – making the brutal war seem historic and momentary – turned immediately in the same sentence to “didn’t empower Palestinians but left them in misery.” Even though Palestinians initiated and supported the war, they were flipped to the victims.
And Kristof lies that Israel launched a war in response to the attack. The ruling authority of Gaza started the war, no one else. The “tens of thousands” of Palestinians killed is because of Palestinians, not Israel.
Kristof piled onto his fake telling of history that “Americans enabled this killing” by providing Israel the means to defend itself and bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice. He inverts morality and justice by claiming that it’s the people who want to slaughter civilians in their beds as needing protection.
When Kristof mentions Yahya Sinwar, he’s not described as a genocidal murderers who launched the October 7 massacre but only that he was “killed by Israel in October,” seemingly another victim of Israel’s war machine.
And amid all this distortion, Kristof places himself as the dove who bemoans “sustainable peace in the Middle East seems no closer,” as he simply refuses to acknowledge that Gazans want to see Israel destroyed.
Kristof then says that Israel and Hamas are much the same. Both engage in “dehumanization.” Both don’t care about children. For Kristof, the most liberal democracy in the entire Middle East is no different than genocidal jihadists who are intent on killing as many Jews as possible. The Israeli declaration of independence and system of laws calling for equality and peace are somehow no different than the Hamas Charter which calls for the annihilation of Jews.
With his jaundiced view, Kristof once again calls America to pressure Israel rather than the United Nations and the Arab world to coral the Palestinians. And he concludes that he didn’t really say everything he just did, and that Israel and Hamas aren’t really equivalent.
Doves pretend that Palestinian Arabs do not want to kill Jews and destroy Israel and demand that Israel accept whatever punishment and demands that the Arabs have. They do this while claiming they hold the moral high ground, even as they demand that Israel pay the full price of their largess.
First One Through 