Teacher Probed for Antisemitism After Parents Say He 'Brainwashed' Students

A Pennsylvania high school is facing a federal investigation over alleged antisemitism after parents accused a teacher of "brainwashing" students amid the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened a "shared ancestry investigation" into the Central Bucks School District and Central Bucks West High School earlier this month, based on an alleged violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The provision bans discrimination based on "race, color, or national origin" for any program receiving federal funding.

The investigation was launched after an unknown person complained that Central Bucks West Spanish teacher Youssef Abdelwahab and the school's Muslim Student Association, which Abdelwahab advises, are discriminating against Jewish students by promoting antisemitic rhetoric, according to a report published on Monday by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Central Bucks School District acting Superintendent James Scanlon said in a statement emailed to Newsweek that he did not "believe the district failed to respond to alleged student harassment based on national origin (Jewish ancestry)."

"OCR is investigating to determine if there is evidence of discrimination," said Scanlon. "The district is working with our attorneys assigned to the complaint to submit the information requested by OCR."

Following a school board meeting in March, the Inquirer reported that multiple angry parents had accused Abdelwahab of "brainwashing" students with an Instagram account that expresses support for Palestinians while promoting a business of his that sells head coverings inspired by the traditional Arab kaffiyeh headdress.

Parents objected to Abdelwahab's account appearing to endorse a tribute to U.S. airman Aaron Bushnell, who died in February after setting himself on fire while shouting "Free Palestine" outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., alongside a post that proclaimed "resistance is justified when people are occupied" following the surprise October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas.

The Education Department complaint reportedly objected to posts by the Muslim student group that included a Ramadan prayer to "deal with the usurping Jews and the treacherous Zionists" and an announcement that "the birthplace of Jesus is getting bombed on Easter."

Abdelwahab told the Inquirer that the student group's post referring to "usurping Jews" was "accidentally posted" by students, apologizing to the paper for "not catching it." He also said that the post did not refer to "all Jews," but rather the Israel Defense Forces, while asserting that the Easter post was meant as an "olive branch" to Christian Palestinians.

The complaint reportedly accuses Abdelwahab and the student group of perpetuating the "blood libel"—a longstanding antisemitic trope that baselessly accuses Jews of the ritualistic murder of Christians—by seeking to "align the Christian and Muslim population against the Jewish/Israeli population."

Scanlon, who has faced calls to fire Abdelwahab, previously concluded that "no policy violations" had occurred following a school district investigation of the alleged antisemitism.

Scanlon explained to the Inquirer that he was doing "everything to help kids feel safe and secure" but "cannot punish somebody for their personal beliefs."

In addition to alleged antisemitism, the school district has also recently come up against allegations of discriminating against LGBTQ+ students and those who support them.

The Central Bucks school board paid teacher Andrew Burgess $100,000 in March to settle a lawsuit that alleged Burgess had been suspended in retaliation for helping a transgender student file a bullying complaint with federal officials.

Update 4/30/24, 5:32 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to include a statement from Central Bucks School District acting Superintendent James Scanlon.