NYC to Fund Group Led by Pro-Palestinian Activist as Jewish Students Leave Public Schools

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new plan to combat antisemitism, announced last week, includes funding for the Partners Against the Hate (P.A.T.H.) initiative, which includes the Arab American Association of New York (AAANY). The Washington Examiner reported this today (Tuesday).

The organization will receive a $6.4 million grant, double the amount allocated to it last year. This comes alongside additional investments in security for Jewish institutions, education, and the preservation of Jewish history and culture.

According to the report, the Arab American Association of New York is led by pro-Palestinian activist Linda Sarsour. Sarsour was recently denied entry to Israel. The organization voiced support for pro-Palestinian protests following Hamas terrorists’ October 7, 2023, terror attack, including the 2024 protest at Columbia University.

As previously reported, Mamdani announced a week ago that the city would implement a plan to fight antisemitism. According to him, the city government will fund the plan, called the "Strategy to Combat Antisemitism," with $26 million for "preventing hate crimes, establishing an interagency task force of city agencies, and investing in Jewish institutions."

In his statement, the mayor said: "Over the past year, I have met with Jewish residents across the city. Again and again, I heard the same thing: antisemitism is real, and it is on the rise. That is not only unacceptable, but something we all have a responsibility to change, and New York City will lead the way." He also announced that the city would invest millions of dollars in Jewish cultural centers and nonprofit organizations, including $2 million for the Holocaust Memorial Garden in Queens and another $2.5 million for a new Jewish cultural center in Brooklyn.

It should be noted that in his statement, Mamdani did not mention Israel or the anti-Zionist movements operating freely in New York City.

Jewish Children Leave Public Schools

Thousands of Jewish families in New York City have withdrawn their children from public schools and moved them to Torah-based programs and Jewish schools since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack. An investigation by the New York Post, based on data from Teach Coalition, found last June that enrollment in Jewish schools at various levels across the state rose by nearly 2%, about 3,100 students, in the 2025–2026 school year.

Paul Bernstein, CEO of the Prizmah education network, said a new survey shows that 60% of parents who enrolled their children in Jewish schools acknowledged that they would not have done so if not for the war that began after Hamas terrorists’ deadly terror attack. Many parents described a hostile atmosphere and a sharp change in the language and hostility directed at Israel and Jews in public institutions.

A report by United Jewish Teachers last July documented at least 250 antisemitic or anti-Israel incidents in the city’s public schools since the start of the war.