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Anti-Israel activism hits elementary school in Ithaca, NY (Update)

Anti-Israel activism hits elementary school in Ithaca, NY (Update)

Anti-Israel activists gloat over appearance of Bassem Tamimi before third graders.

See this important update: Superintendent: Third Grade event “politically skewed, inflammatory” against Israel

An uproar is brewing in Ithaca, New York, after anti-Israel activists bragged on Facebook how they managed to bring Palestinian activist Bassem Tamimi to a third-grade class as part of a presentation on the suffering of Palestinian children at the hands of Israel.

According to the activists, the event took place on Friday morning, September 18, 2015 at the Beverly J. Martin Elementary School.

Tamimi is best known for his use of children, including his own, for media purposes. The game goes like this: Tamimi’s children and other children from the village of Nabi Saleh are encouraged to confront Israeli soldiers in the hope of provoking a reaction. The children are surrounded by a phalanx of photographers and videographers waiting for the viral moment when the Israeli soldier reacts, which then is fed to the media through the Tamimi media operation and international activists who often participate.

Tamimi’s daughter Ahed (the blond girl in this 2012 video) is world famous for such staged confrontations, having been given a heroism award by the anti-Israel Prime Minister of Turkey for this performance:

Tamimi’s son, Mohammad, was the subject of a recent media frenzy after he threw rocks at Israeli soldiers and when they moved to arrest him, a soldier was set upon by local women and children, all as the video rolled. Rock throwing has become a serious problem, with numerous motorists killed and injured as a result, yet it is an activity Tamimi encourages (for which he has been arrested).

This all is a very dangerous exploitation that puts the children at risk. Yet Tamimi glorifies and encourages the use of children for such purposes, as we documented extensively in the following posts:

So why was Tamimi in tiny, geographically-isolated Ithaca, to begin with?

Tamimi’s connection to Ithaca runs through Ariel Gold, an anti-Israel activist who used to work as a community organizer for the anti-Israel Sabeel Int’l – North America. Gold now self-describes her occupation as a Community Activist “delegitimizing zionism.” Like Tamimi, Gold involves her children (ages 12 and 14) in her anti-Israel activism, promoting them through radio and speaking appearances, as well as Facebook and videos. [Note: Though Gold widely promotes her childrens’ images and names, I have removed them from photos — such as the Featured Image — and other references in this post.]

During a late 2014, early 2015 trip to the town of Bil’in in the West Bank, Gold and her family met the Tamimi family, including Bassem and Ahed. It is no surprise, therefore, that Gold serves as the coordinator for Bassem Tamimi’s national speaking tour, which is ongoing. It was that tour that brought Tamimi to Ithaca and neighboring Cortland.

And it was that connection which appears to have landed Tamimi before the third graders at the Beverly J. Martin Elementary School accompanied by Gold’s 12-year old daughter (who does not attend the school) and Mary Anne Grades Flores, a local environmental and political activist.

How precisely access to the elementary school students was arranged is not presently known, as Ithaca school officials have not yet responded to my emails seeking such information (see email later in post).

The appearance before the third graders was, according to the descriptions posted by Gold and Flores, overtly political in purpose and content.

Gold posted the Featured Image on Facebook (with her daughter’s face showing, though we blurred it) with the following text:

“Bassem Tamimi speaking about the Palestinian struggle for human rights to the third grade class at Beverly J. Martin Elementary School.”

Gold also posted a photo of Tamimi with Gold’s daughter outside the school, with this description (name redacted by me) :

“Bassem Tamimi and [________] Gold about to speak to the third grade class at Beverly J. Martin Elementary school about human rights.”

Flores posted the same class photo of the presentation (Featured Image) with the description:

“This am, at our local BJM School, 3rd grade classes listened and spoke about Human Rights for children in Palestine with Bassem Tamimi, father of 4 children, from Nabi Saleh, who’s village land has been stolen by Israeli settlers.”

In a comment to that same post, Flores wrote:

“It was amazing how clear the children were about human rights. Bassem was so gentle with them.”

[Bassem Tamimi and Mary Anne Grady Flores with students at Beverly J. Martin Elementary School]

[Bassem Tamimi and Mary Anne Grady Flores with students at Beverly J. Martin Elementary School][Image via Ariel Gold Facebook]

[Bassem Tamimi and Mary Anne Grady Flores at Beverly J. Martin Elementary School][Image via Ariel Gold Facebook]

[Bassem Tamimi and Mary Anne Grady Flores at Beverly J. Martin Elementary School][Image via Ariel Gold Facebook]

Flores further posted an image of Tamimi in the class holding a poster (name redacted by me):

“Holding the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, Bassem Tamimi, father of 4, of Palestine and 12 yr old Ithacan [________] Gold spoke to BJM 3rd graders about Palestinian children struggling living under Israeli occupation. I am a witness to the gentle way the discussion happened and I am a witness to what is happening in Palestine. Denial of Human Rights by Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.”

Flores also described how Gold’s daughter told a story to the children (name redacted by me):

“What an honor to be with the 3rd grade at BJM with Bassem Tamimi, Ms Burnett, [________] Gold, and her mom, Ariel. Thank you [__________] for reading that wonderful story from a Palestinian child’s dreams, speaking with his mom, about what life could be like without the occupation wall. You were wonderful.”

There are a lot of unanswered questions here.

For example, why was this class in this school chosen? Gold’s daughter doesn’t even attend the school. Why the third grade class when the third-grade curriculum (to the extent available online) does not appear to include the highly contentious Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

If the human rights of children was the theme, was Tamimi’s own media exploitation explained to the children? And was the suffering of Israeli (Jewish and non-Jewish) children explored?

For example, Tamimi’s relative, Ahlam Tamimi, escorted a suicide bomber in 2001 during the Second Intifada to the Sbarro Pizza restaurant in Jerusalem, resulting in death and injury to numerous children:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWjNxKECkxY

[Victims of Sbarro Pizza restaurant suicide bombing][click image for video]

Were those children discussed?

Or was this video shown of Ahlam Tamimi expressing her pleasure, years later, with the damage she caused?

Ahlam Tamimi was released along with hundreds of other terrorists in the exchange for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, and now resides in Jordan. Ahlam is celebrated as a Palestinian hero for killing Israeli children:

Before Tamimi took her life, 15-year-old Malka Chana Roth was a volunteer at a youth camp organised by Etgarim, the Israeli Outdoor and Recreation Association for the Disabled. Her parents have since established a charity in her memory. www.kerenmalki.org helps young disabled kids stay at home, by providing specialist equipment and therapeutic services. And one in three of the beneficiaries are Israeli Arabs.

In sharp contrast, students at An-Najah University, unbelievably, recreated the atrocity at in a macabre exhibition to mark the first anniversary of the Palestinian intifada. According to a BBC report, ‘The room-sized installation had broken tables splattered with fake blood and body parts. A university branch of the militant Palestinian group Hamas built the exhibit, which recreates the scene of last month’s attack on Sbarro Pizza house in Jerusalem.’

Was that discussed with the third graders?

Was Bassem Tamimi asked the question framed by the parents of one of the victims of the Sbarro massacre, who note that Ahlam was not the only one from Nabi Saleh to murder Israelis:

“Bassem Tamimi, tell us in simple words: are you as delighted by your cousin Ahlam Tamimi’s massacre of Jewish children as she is? Have you criticized it ever, anywhere? Will you condemn it here and now?”

When Gold’s daughter explained to the third graders how the security barrier allegedly makes Palestinian children suffer, did the school teachers present explain that the barrier was built only after the Sbarro suicide bombing and similar attacks caused several hundred Israeli civilian deaths?

The Israeli operation and initial construction of the security fence resulted in a sharp decrease in the number of suicide attacks carried out by Palestinian terrorist organizations: in 2002 there were 60 suicide attacks, while in 2003 this number decreased by more than 50% to 26 suicide attacks. There was also a considerable decrease in the number of fatalities: from 452 Israelis killed in 2002 to 214 Israelis killed in 2003.

The barrier may inconvenience children, but it also has saved the lives of hundreds if not thousands of children.

Was this a legitimate, balanced educational endeavor, or a propaganda event meant to turn young children against Israel? And if the latter, what was it doing in a public school before children too young to balance the information presented on their own?

I sent the following email to school officials on Friday and again Saturday, without any response as of this writing:

Dear Superintendent Brown and Principal Eschbach:

I run a popular politics and law website which, while based in Ithaca, has a large national and international audience.

I am writing about the reported appearance of Bassem Tamimi before the third grade class at the Beverly J. Martin School. My website has written extensively about Tamimi, who is a very controversial figure because of his advocacy of using children to confront soldiers and his media operation which uses children (including his own) confronting soldiers to create viral photo and media ops.

I am writing about this, and would like to get the school’s and the District’s position on the following:

1. Do you consider it appropriate for someone with Tamimi’s background to appear in an elementary school class?

2. How was this arranged? Was permission granted in advance, and by whom?

3. What actually took place during Tamimi’s presentation, and was it monitored in any way by the school administration? If so, how?

4. Is there a recording of the presentation? If so, would you make it available?

5. What steps, if any, were made to make sure the children received a balanced presentation and it was not a political activism event?

6. What is the school’s and District’s policy on political activism in the classroom? Was that policy followed in this case?

7. Is the Middle East conflict a part of the third grade curriculum? If so, please provide details. If not, why was this event allowed in the classroom?

8. Have there been any events this school year in which “pro-Israel” speakers were brought to elementary school classes? If so, please provide details.

9. Who, other than the children enrolled in the class, was present during the presentation?

10. Would either of you be willing to speak on-the-record? If so, at what number can I reach you?

11. If there is anything else you think I should know, or any statement you wish to make, please provide that to me as soon as possible so that I can include it in my article.

I look forward to your prompt responses.

Thanks,

William A. Jacobson
Legal Insurrection website.

In a bit of bitter irony, the day after Tamimi appeared before the Beverly J. Martin Elementary School students, Tamimi again glorified and promoted the use of young children to confront the police for the cameras.

In that case, Tamimi was promoting a rising Palestinian child “journalist” Janna Jihad Ayyad, currently age 9. Tamimi posted a viral Facebook video of her in Jerusalem, in which she shouts (at 1:15) “we will kill you.”

https://www.facebook.com/bassem.tamimi/posts/10206861775215229?pnref=story

[“We will kill you”]

(original video here)

Tamimi is no stranger to Janna Jihad (her media name). Tamimi’s daughter Ahed is co-starring in a movie to be released over the winter about the two child activists, and also appears in an anti-Israel dance video in which their heroism in the face of soldiers is glorified.

[Note added 9-22-2015: A commenter points to a UK Daily Mail article that Janna Jihad is a Tamimi and a cousin of Ahed, so she’s another Tamimi child exploited by the Tamimi media operation.]

Here is a video Janna Jihad, when she was just 5 years old, confronting Israeli soldiers. The video was produced by Tamimi Press.

Media manipulation and exploitation of young children is nothing new to the Tamimi media empire. They start them at an even younger age than the third graders at the Beverly J. Martin Elementary School.

There also are important lessons here. Many people have become aware of the anti-Israel educational activism of college professors. But it’s moving down the educational food chain, to high schools and even elementary schools.

If I hear back from the Ithaca school district, I’ll either update this post, or prepare another post.

UPDATE 9-22-2015

I received the following statement this morning from the Principal of the Beverly J. Martin School. It does not answer most of the questions I posed.

Frankly, it is nonsense. Read the descriptions on Facebook from Gold and Flores and it is clear that the goal and content of the presentation was to present Palestinians as victims of Israelis, without any counterbalancing information to the students.

It is even more troubling that the school is relying on Amnesty International (which has a known and documented anti-Israel bias), and the Dorothy Cotton Institute in Ithaca (whose Israel-related project is run by the anti-Israel, anti-Zionist Rabbi Brian Walt, who led a Dorothy Cotton delegation to visit the Tamimi’s village) to design the school curriculum on human rights.

From the description, there are no neutral or Zionist groups involved in the planning or implementation process, and there is no mention of speakers to give the Israeli perspective. The statement seems oblivious to the fact that all of the sponsors of the tour are anti-Israel. The Ithaca School District has a problem which goes beyond this incident.

Here is the school’s statement, in full:

Responding to the concerns about Tamimi’s arrival at BJM.

In keeping with the 3rd grade curriculum standard to study human rights, as well as the ICSD ongoing efforts to bring authenticity and local relevance to our studies, human rights activists were brought into the classroom. Operating on the local, national, and international stage the activists included a former classmate who is 12 years old, as well as Ariel Gold (a former parent and previous presenter on human rights to BJM), Mary Ann Grady, locally known anti-war activist, and Bessem Tamimi, an international activist sponsored by Amnesty International, Jewish Voice for Peace, Interfaith Peacebuilders, and Friends of Sabeel North America. BJM has also been working with Amnesty International and the Dorothy Cotton Institute to develop a designation as a Human Rights School.

During the presentation, the 12 year old spoke of her friendship with Tamimi’s daughter, and described how they shared dancing experiences with each other. She also read a story to the class. During the discussion the adults also shared examples of children’s responses to soldiers in the village, and what it means to live with a wall, as well as images of struggle.

There were many adults present in the class and at no time was there an anti-Israel, anti-Palestine, anti-Jewish, or anti-Muslim stance. The children took away from this experience several messages .”I can be an ambassador for peace.” “ You can make friends across borders and that is a good thing.” “Children want the option to live peacefully and to go to school. Children can help stand for these desires.” “Everyone should work things out to live together.” And “love will make peace, not hate.” The children had meaningful, relevant, and appropriate conversations.

This unit on Human Rights will also be followed later by a deeply resonating study of the power of reading. Two of the books in that study include The Librarian of Basra and Naseem’s Secret School. Both of these children’s books present situations where people make challenging decisions about how to live in the face of fear and to work for the rights of all, in this case, the access to education.

The fifth grade at BJM is also studying Human Rights, having recently written their own convention. Dilemmas, conflicts, multiple perspectives come to bear in all of this work. If there weren’t conflicts to critically analyze, there would not be a need for human rights.

The Beverly J Martin community works with a global perspective in a local microcosm of our world.

UPDATE 9-24-2015

I have received no response from the Superintendent, but The Blaze did, New York Elementary School Invites Palestinian Activist Who Incited Attacks on Israelis to Speak to Third-Graders:

In the wake of the controversy, the Ithaca City Schools superintendent said Thursday he is now reviewing the school visitor policy….

***

Ithaca City Schools Superintendent Luvelle Brown told The Blaze Thursday that he is reviewing the school visitor policy in the wake of the Tamimi visit.

“I have asked for an immediate review of current visitor policies and procedures,” Brown told TheBlaze via email in response to questions about Tamimi’s visit.

Brown said that Tamimi was “not an invited guest” but rather had accompanied two others who had been invited to speak about “universal human rights” which is part of the New York State third grade curriculum.

However, the school’s earlier statement sent to the Legal Insurrection blog said that Tamimi was one of the individuals “brought into the classroom” to “bring authenticity and local relevance to our [human rights] studies.”…

***

The superintendent on Thursday addressed some of those issues which TheBlaze forwarded him.

Brown said that it was his understanding that the suffering of Jewish children was not discussed with the third grade children; nor was the issue of Tamimi’s relative Ahlam Tamimi raised. Ahlam Tamimi was an accomplice to a 2001 suicide bombing in Jerusalem that killed 15, including 7 children and a pregnant woman. Nor were the children told that Israel’s security barrier (which Palestinian activists usually call a “wall”) was erected in order to keep suicide bombers out of Israel and that since then suicide attacks have virtually ended, saving scores of children’s lives.

Asked if any pro-Israel voices were invited to the classroom, Brown said, “No other speakers have been into this classroom to talk about human rights at this time.”

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Comments

In most countries, these pathetic people would be considered child abusers for exploiting their children.

This is an outrage! Thank you for covering this, Professor Jacobson. I look forward to your update. If nothing else, the principal and administrators in the school district owe you an explanation. This is totally borderline child abuse, as I see it.

    ‘Explanation?’ – They should be fired.

    How can parents send their kids to schools like this? And if they have to for whatever reason, why do they tolerate these rabid leftist monkeys indoctrinating their children?

[Class] diversity or colonization?

I suppose this is how social activists shift awareness from their activities.

In Europe, and America, the activists are demanding that the native people assimilate the culture of invaders and “refugees.”

And the parents of those third graders? They had no say in this?

    DuraMater in reply to gasper. | September 20, 2015 at 10:07 pm

    Yes, I was wondering the same thing. While I, too, will be interested in follow-up post from Dr. Jacobson, the parents of these children should be lighting up the phone lines of the offices of the Principal and school superintendent or better, assembling in front of their offices, demanding answers.

    rinardman in reply to gasper. | September 21, 2015 at 8:51 am

    From the school’s website: The school culture fosters a love for learning and values education as a human right. Together, students, staff and families focus on continued growth and change. Home and school collaborate to positively impact learning and to deepen our understanding of all cultures.

    BJM Elementary hosted their first Multicultural Bookfest Day on May 7.

    My guess is, most of the parents support the liberal indoctrination of their kids in this school, and see nothing wrong with a little brainwashing in third grade. Part of “understanding all cultures” don’t you know.

““Holding the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, Bassem Tamimi”
A document that Hamas would use to light the fuse to a bomb in a children’s hospital.

Ithaca is such a shit town and it physically pains me to live here for four years. But, I don’t have a problem with Tamimi speaking at the elementary school if a few conditions were met: that an pro-Israel activist was also present or will be speaking to the students in the future; Israel/human rights had some relation to the subject matter, and if it did not, the speech was voluntary and did not take away from actual curriculum time. It appears none of the aforementioned conditions were met. But, if the aforementioned is true, I don’t think you can legitimately contend that they don’t have a legitimate reason to be there.

    cornell_2016 in reply to cornell_2016. | September 20, 2015 at 10:36 pm

    Someone downvoted me, so let me clarify this further: Tamimi is an idiot. Tamimi represents views and an ideology which I find dangerous and deeply antagonistic to my personal beliefs. But, that is not enough to say that Tamimi cannot speak to the kids if there is a relevant reason for him to be there and it is presented in a balanced manner. If you disagree, it would seem that you’re more interested in presenting and enforcing YOUR ideology rather than letting children decide on their own what is right. If a pro-life advocate came to speak to a group of kids about heath/morality that is related to the curriculum, you’d laud the school for being so tolerant. Don’t be a hypocrite, I’d hate to see Ithaca get more credit than its due.

      But it is not a question of dueling ideologies and “balance” surely? It is a question of judgment, is Tamimi a person with credibility to speak on human rights and non-violence, (ostensibly the topic)? Furthermore, extremists like Tamimi are focused using propaganda not to promote Palestinians but to demonize Israelis. What relevant reason could there possibly be for him to be present in the school? And how do elementary school kids decide on their own what is “right”?

      Would you let Charles Manson, or Mummia Whatshisname, or an ISIS member, tell 3rd-graders why they were right to commit their crimes?

      Children do not get to decide on their own what is right. School is there to teach them what is right, and absolutely not to “balance” right and wrong. When you have a policeman talk to children about staying on the straight and narrow, you don’t have a gang representative come in to talk about the joys of drug dealing. When you teach about not stealing you don’t have a burglar come in to give balance. When you teach about 11-Sep-2001, or the Holocaust, you don’t have an al-Qaeda or Nazi Party representative come in to give their perspective.

    These are third-graders, at a government school. Why is it the government’s role to politically indoctrinate third-graders anyway, rather than simply teach them the non-political basics like spelling, geography, science and math?

    And no, I wouldn’t support a pro-life advocate going into a government elementary school and trying to convert third-graders to their ideology either. These are things that parents should be talking to their children about if they’re so inclined. Our children in government schools aren’t doing so well on core subjects that time can be spared for political indoctrination classes.

    stevewhitemd in reply to cornell_2016. | September 21, 2015 at 9:23 am

    You were down-voted because you missed the point: third-graders do not deserve to be a target for crass political indoctrination. They should be shielded from this nonsense. There is a time and place for older students to consider political views, but not for third-graders.

    The progressive left, however, thinks otherwise, and that’s why Tamimi was invited to be there. It displays the deep, deep rot in the public schools.

      Another Voice in reply to stevewhitemd. | September 21, 2015 at 2:58 pm

      “The progressive left, however, thinks otherwise, and that’s why Tamimi was invited to be there. It displays the deep, deep rot in the public schools”

      And why Superintendent Dr. Luvelle Brown needs to respond ASAP to how this person with an agenda was allowed to have a “captive” audience with 8yr. olds in a public classroom.

      Not just respond here, but also the community local paper, The Ithaca Journal / A Gannett/USA holding.

If this was the idea of one teacher, I wonder what other kinds of drivel she’s pouring into these kids’ minds ignorantly or deliberately.

(Would it be appropriate to demand equal time for a presentation about little Israeli children and their bomb shelters?)

Tamimi’s travelling circus would not be welcome in third-grade elementary school classrooms in Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, etc.

In Japan:

The kids go to school 6 days a week.

Their school days are longer than ours.

Their summer vacation is half as long as ours, and, they have homework assignments and projects to do during their short summer vacation.

Most students attend private juku cram schools for supplementary instruction in most subjects after school until into the evening. They then return home to have dinner and study until around midnight or 1:00 a.m. before awakening around 6:00 (according to most of the kids I talked to).

So, even though they have many more school hours per year than American students … they have no time for nonsense such as Palestinian political activism.

Make of that what you will.

I would only add that they beat the pants off our kids in international academic testing.

    While I agree that 3rd graders should not be exposed to political thought, and should be focusing on basics, I don’t think using Japanese students is a good example.

    http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2007/06/15/editorials/worst-student-suicide-rate-yet/

    “…the number of suicides among students, 886 — up 25 (2.9 percent) from 2005 — was the worst since 1978 when the NPA started compiling statistics.”

      LukeHandCool in reply to Clinger. | September 21, 2015 at 2:48 pm

      I agree they overdo it … just as we underdo it.

      If I remember correctly though, suicide is more common in Japan across all age groups compared to the West.

      It’s a cultural thing.

      I think most university kids are too immature and inexperienced to intelligently wrestle with the Palestinian/Israel issue, let alone third graders.

      This is brainwashing pure and simple and disgusting.

      Gross educational malpractice. I’m not a litigious type person, but I think some good lawsuits to keep this crap out of the K-12 education system is all these people will understand.

        We don’t “under do it”. We do it wrong. Our government monopoly bureaucratic school system is a violation of the establishment clause of the first amendment. It is deeply pervaded with a religion which doesn’t happen to be yours or mine.

        Consider your priorities and get your children out.

As Roseanne Roseannadana might say, “Mr. Jacobson, you sure ask a lotta questions.” Unfortunately you’re not likely to get a lot of answers.

Maybe try to arrange to have Pamela Geller or Robert Spencer talk to the same tykes? Maybe they could even bring along a child victim of a Hamas attack.

Excellent post, Professor. Once again, you demonstrate that you’re not just a pajama-clad Cheezel-eating internet talker, but someone invested in effecting real-world change. I look forward to reading the follow-up on this one.

[…] In an absolutely outrageous incident, the terrorist patriarch of a violent terrorist family, Bassem Tamimi, was invited to speak to 3rd grade pupils at an Ithaca school, as Prof. Jacobson […]

With their well-documented backgrounds Bassem Tamimi and the anti-Israel activists should have been the ones subjected to an arrest (these adults could have been carrying bombs on their person)and not the boy with the science project.

Were these people searched before entering the school by a police officer?

Were the parents notified of their appearance beforehand? Was the the school board notified?

What follow up assignments were given to the kids to “remember” this event?

It would appear that Tamimi and the anti-Israel activists knew exactly who you are professor. They went about doing their evil deed right in your face. LI is having an effect.

As was questioned above, what is the context or justification for these activists to subject children to sinister political recruitment via a perverse propagandized empathy? Humans rights involves all humans across the globe and not just a select few who make the most noise.

If the administration does not respond then FOIA might be required to shake the bad apples from the tree.

That is funny as hell. Liberals who want to ban all guns ‘because of the children’, invite a child killing terrorist to talk to them. What we need is an integrated effort to put Jewish students in private schools that are not solely under the control of the Orthodox. Then let the public schools become terrorist training centers if they like.

As a retired teacher I would say that you need to let parents in that district know what is going on. Find a supportive teacher, or parent and have them go the board meetings with others who support your view. Get locals involved and you will succeed.

Best wishes!

For third graders having to choose between activists, as suggested by cornell_2016 | September 20, 2015 at 10:17 pm,
Is pointless because kids of that age don’t have the required knowledge and experience to analyse and criticize the material presented.

[…] Legal Insurrection reported that Palestinian activist Bassem Tamimi visited a class of children Friday at the Beverly J. Martin Elementary School in Ithaca, New York, according to photos on Facebook. […]

Dr. Jacobson must have the attention of Ithaca City School District Superintendent Dr. Brown. As of late this afternoon, Administrators and staff are in lock down to take any phone calls or make public comments.

i called governor Cuomo’s office as well as superintendant Brown’s office. his secretary’s number is 607-274-6845. she told me the superintendant is aware of it and parents have complained about it. she said she will follow up with me about this matter.

kay gardner wrote this about your post
“Outrage in Ithica, NY, as a “professor” pens a false and slanderous incendiary article about Bassem Tamimi and Ariel Gold. I would say “unbelievable”, but it’s not. Any education about the truth that is Palestine, is evidently “antisemitic”. Check out the comments under the post.”

[…] elementary school in New York last week, Prof. William Jacobson of the Legal Insurrection blog reported […]

The mass-murdering Tamimi mentioned in this excellent piece (convicted and sentenced to 16 life terms but now free as a bird and living in Jordan) is named Ahlam. It’s unfortunately mis-written in the article.
We really want people to know her name, to Google her “achievements”, to know how much evil she does day after day now that she is free to travel around the Arab world, free to broadcast her hateful TV program throughout the Arabic-speaking world every week.
So it’s Ahlam with an M at the end.
Our desire to have her better known, particularly as the favorite daughter of the peaceful “non-violent” village of Nabi Saleh whose little children serve as human shields for the industry of lies conducted from there, is related to the fact that she’s the murderer of our daughter.
Please read
* “13-Sep-15: A roadshow and its groupies” (who is funding the shameful Tamimi roadshow) http://thisongoingwar.blogspot.com/2015/09/13-sep-15-roadshow-and-its-groupies.html
* “11-Sep-15: How devoted to non-violence are the villagers of Nabi Saleh really?” (some candid admissions by blood-lusting Tamimi clan members)
http://thisongoingwar.blogspot.com/2015/09/11-sep-15-how-devoted-to-non-violence.html

    William A. Jacobson in reply to ThisOngoingWar. | September 23, 2015 at 10:01 pm

    Thank you for calling the misspelling to my attention. I have seen it spelled both ways, but you are correct that it should be spelled “Ahlam,” and I have made the correction. Also, please accept our condolences on the loss of your daughter Malka in the Sbarro massacre.

      I appreciate your kindness and civility, and very much appreciate the sterling work you are doing here to expose the shabbiness of the Nabi Saleh/Tamimi phenomenon. In a true sense, the Tamimis and their baseless non-violence mantra serve as camouflage for the lethal hatred in this area that from time costs actual lives. The gullibility of the many news channels and professionals who make this possible is astounding.

[…] event was first brought to light by Legal Insurrection, a conservative site run by law professor William Jacobson of Cornell University, which is also in […]

[…] The presentation was arranged by Ithaca local Ariel Gold, a self-proclaimed “community activist” committed to the goal of “delegitimizing zionism.” Gold serves as the coordinator of Tamimi’s national speaking tour, and is also known to use children for political purposes. You can read the original coverage over at Legal Insurrection. […]

[…] Bassem Tamimi, father of the infamous Pallywood star “Shirley Temper,” was invited to speak to a classroom of third graders in Ithaca, New York. Legal Insurrection broke the story: […]

[…] Bassem Tamimi, father of the infamous Pallywood star “Shirley Temper,” was invited to speak to a classroom of third graders in Ithaca, New York. Legal Insurrection broke the story: […]

[…] added 9-22-2015: A commenter points to a UK Daily Mail article that Janna Jihad is a Tamimi and a cousin of Ahed, so she’s […]