TX teacher fired for ‘kill Jews’ tweet
The Algemeiner Journal reports that Nancy Salem was among 24 anti-Israel activists protesting at the University of Texas-Arlington. The group expressed racist and violent beliefs online, which is what brought attention to Salem.
On her now-defunct Twitter account, Salem tweeted a friend headed for Palestine to “kill some Jews.”
Tammi Rossman Benjamin, director of the pro-Israel organization AMCHA Initiative, says anti-Semitism is growing and it’s important when such incidents are brought to light.
“I believe their moral obligation is to show exactly why anti-Semitic statements and behaviors are wrong,” she says, “even if they’re acceptable under the law, even if they are protected by the First Amendment and free speech.”
Salem, a Palestinian, was employed by The Children’s Courtyard, which took action after its Facebook page was flooded with complaints about her.
The Dallas Morning News reported another online comment Salem retweeted read, “How many Jews died in the Holocaust? Not enough!”
In a statement, Salem said she made the comments as a high school teenager – both comments above were made in 2013 – but apologized for their content and said they don’t reflect her views today. She also wrote she “respects” the Courtyard’s decision to fire her.
Benjamin says what often happens is students engage in such behavior and then graduate into the real world.
“And then they’ll be hit by reality,” she says, “and they’ll see that they can’t express themselves in the way that they have at college and still not suffer any consequences.”
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