NYC public school teacher who labelled Israel a ‘terrorist state’ and shared pro-Hamas paraglider photo online defends views and says ‘I stand by everything I said’

A New York City public school teacher who was criticized for labeling Israel a “terrorist state” and sharing a photo of a pro-Hamas paraglider has doubled down on his views amid calls for his resignation.

Mohammad Jehad Ahmad, a math teacher at Gotham Tech High School in Queens, shared the paraglider image on his Facebook page over the weekend.

He had already labeled David Banks, the chancellor of NYC’s public schools, as a “white supremacist imperialist asshole” after condemning the October 7 Hamas attack.

Now the unrepentant teacher continues to stand by his views, even though he has revealed they have earned him death threats. Taking to social media platform X, he said: ‘I stand by everything I said.’

Ahmad claimed that “hateful white people” were also “harassing” his workplace with calls for dismissal.

Despite allegedly receiving death threats and calls for resignation, he doubled down on his views in a series of social media posts.

Among them are Gotham Tech parents who have now reportedly started calling for their children to be removed from his classes.

At a PTA meeting on Thursday, parent Karla Rodriquez said, “Children are already affected by his poison, he is encouraging terrorism and violence,” the New York Post reports.

Meanwhile, the citywide Council on High Schools said the advisory group has received more than a dozen inquiries from current Gotham Tech parents and other members of the public, expressing concerns or calling for his resignation.

But a defiant Ahmad said: “I stand by everything I have said, just as I stand by the oppressed people whenever I encounter them. Both here in NYC and worldwide. Liberate Palestine. Free Palestine from so-called ‘Israeli’ oppression and active genocide.’

It remains unclear whether the city’s Department of Education has disciplined him in any way, or whether it plans to let him retain his role, but he does not appear on the school’s website.

The department did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s queries on Monday.

The teacher caused a stir last week when he posted a rant against Israel and then mocked Jews who found it offensive.

‘How can Jews feel safe in Mohammed’s classroom?’ asked Justin Sprio, a school social worker in New York City.

Ahmad claimed he has only received death threats from ‘hateful white people’ because of his views

Ahmad has since changed his Facebook cover photo to another pro-Palestine image that does not feature the paraglider

Gotham Tech High parents have now called for him to resign or for their children to be removed from his classes. It remains unclear whether disciplinary action will be taken against him

Ahmad hit back: “Look at this clown and the others in his answers. So-called ‘Israel’ is a settler colony invented and only continues to exist through terrorism, dispossession, ethnic cleansing and continuously increasing genocide.

“Supporting Israel is supporting white supremacist terror.”

Commenting on another outlet, Ahmad said angrily: “So-called Israel was invented in 1948 through coordinated acts of terror to depopulate and ethnically cleanse Palestinian land.

“For the past 75 years, so-called Israel has persisted through continued dispossession, ethnic cleansing, and increasing genocide.

Regarding the Hamas attack, he said: “On Saturday, Palestinians from Gaza completed a successful military campaign against that oppressor.”

Ahmad has been a teacher at Gotham Tech High School since July. He is not currently listed among teachers on the school’s website

When criticized by Jewish social worker Justin Spiro about how Jewish children could feel safe in his classroom, Ahmad mocked him by calling him a “clown.”

Labeling reports of Hamas killing children and babies as “baseless,” he continued: “So-called Israel is a white supremacist settler colony, existing only through continued dispossession, ethnic cleansing and increasing genocide of the Palestinian people. ‘

Ahmad declined to answer DailyMail.com’s questions about his comments and whether he was still employed.

Instead, he called DailyMail.com “predatory” and the reporting of his comments an “attempt by the mass media to silence anti-Zionist discourse,” which he said has led to death threats.

“I choose not to answer questions that will continue to dehumanize and harm me, my family, and people like us,” he said.

About 1,400 people have been killed in Israel since the Hamas attack earlier this month, while Gaza’s Health Ministry said 3,785 people have been killed in reprisal attacks in Gaza.

In the wake of the conflict, pro-Palestinian protests have emerged across the country, including at universities that have been criticized for going ahead despite some Jewish students asking for cancellations.

Many campuses have also reported an increase in anti-Semitic incidents during the protests, while police have been alerted to increased threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities amid the tensions.