NYC students expected to rally, walk out of class in protest of Israel-Hamas war
By Janice Yu
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NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — Students across New York City are planning to rally in the streets as pro-Palestinian groups have organized a demonstration that will end in Bryant Park.
In an email to staff, New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks reminded them about the Education Department’s rule on political speech, asking them to keep personal political beliefs out of the classroom.
The demonstrations come as police in New York City are tracking an increase in bias crimes targeting Jews in the month since the Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war.
The total number of bias incidents investigated by the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force increased by 124% (101 v. 45) in October, led by a 214% (69 v. 22) spike in anti-Jewish incidents, the NYPD said.
Overall hate crime investigations year to date, however, trended down with a decrease of 9% (485 v. 531).
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg proposed new legislation this week to increase the list of hate crime-eligible charges from 66 to 97.
“We’re going to charge a crime, there’s a crime in the penal law. But it doesn’t reflect that it’s a hate crime. And I think that’s really important. We hear that from survivor after survivor, victim after victim, and community,” Bragg said.
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