NYC School Under Investigation After Antisemitic Harassment at Basketball Game

The US Department of Education has opened an investigation into a New York public school over antisemitic slurs and pro-Hamas rhetoric at a school basketball game.

The federal investigation was initiated after female basketball players from Leffell, a Jewish high school in Hartsdale, were subjected to harassment by the opposing team at Roosevelt High School in Yonkers during a basketball game in January.

From the beginning of the game, players from Leffell were bombarded with antisemitic verbal abuse by the Roosevelt High School team, according to The New York Post, Among the insults, one player shouted, “I support Hamas, you f–king Jew.” The players had to be escorted off the court by security guards after the verbal harassment gave way to physical violence,

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano apologized to the Jewish students for the painful and offensive comments made.

“Collectively, we do not and will not tolerate hate speech of any kind from our students and community. The antisemitic rhetoric reportedly made against the student athletes of The Leffell School are abhorrent, inappropriate and not in line with the values we set forth for our young people,” he said.