A study guide for the 10th-grade New York State Regents exams drew a firestorm of controversy this week over content widely criticized as antisemitic.
The guide, originally exposed by StopAntisemitism, includes statements viewed as defamatory to the State of Israel and harmful to Jewish students. It characterizes Zionism as “extreme nationalism,” claims that “every war ended with Israel gaining more land,” and equates the actions of Israeli forces with Palestinian groups by labeling both as “terrorists.”
New York State 10th grade Regent Exam study guide – this is straight out of a Hamas propaganda playbook @NYSEDNews
Who compiled and approved this garbage? pic.twitter.com/nK7gmA2DAd
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) June 9, 2025
The controversy was brought to light when a New York Jewish mother reported that her daughter had received the handout. The review sheet, titled “Unit 10.7 – Decolonization and Nationalism, subsection Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” was distributed in a 10th-grade social studies class at Half Hollows Hill/Hills East.
The sheet defined Zionism as “an example of extreme nationalism” and states that the ideology focuses on “taking land from Palestinians.”
The mother described the material as “factually incorrect” and “propaganda” with no place in educational settings.
“This is the review sheet for 10th grade Half Hollows Hill/Hills East,” she said. “Not only is it factually incorrect, it is propaganda and does not belong in a review for the New York State Regents.”
The handout also claimed that “every war ended with Israel gaining more land,” described “acts of terrorism by Israel and Palestine,” and accused Jewish “settler movements” of “taking land away from Palestinians.”
Furthermore, one section reduced the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a mere “conflict over land ownership.” Many critics argue this oversimplifies the issue and ignores the complex historical, political, and cultural factors at play.
While the Half Hollows Hill Central School District confirmed that it was not created or approved by the district, there were claims from Facebook users that the packet was produced by a teacher.
In a statement to The Jerusalem Post, Interim Superintendent Brian Conboy clarified that the review sheet was created outside of the district, prior to the October 7th Hamas massacre in Israel, at a time when districts were transitioning to a new Regents exam format.
However, the district acknowledged the error and vowed to take corrective action, with plans for all educational materials to be vetted by an outside group of experts moving forward.
U.S. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) condemned the study guide as a “total amoral abomination,” and Congressman Mike Lawler (R-NY) called for immediate action by New York Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Education Department to “rectify this insanity.”
This is precisely why I fought to pass legislation in NY — over the objections of Assembly Democrats — to make sure NY taught the Holocaust and to determine what materials were being used. And it’s precisely why I’m fighting to pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act, to ensure we… https://t.co/ohvubwZpnn
— Mike Lawler (@lawler4ny) June 10, 2025
Congressman Ritchie Torres (D-NY) noted, “Anti-Israel indoctrination under the guise of academic instruction is one of the pathologies of modern education.”
A New York State 10th grade Regents exam study guide demonizes Zionism—the belief that Jews have a right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland—as “extreme nationalism.”
Yet it does not label as extreme the anti-Zionist ideology that inspired the October 7th… pic.twitter.com/r2r2OTZyQW
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) June 10, 2025
Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) CEO Sacha Roytman said, “On the very week that New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed an executive order recognizing the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, it is both outrageous and painful to encounter something like this. The massive wave of antisemitism sweeping across the United States into every aspect of society, particularly the educational system, which is the foundation of everything.”
“It is shocking to see high school students being taught to view Hamas’s murderous ideology, which led to the October 7th massacre, as legitimate, while the clear and self-evident right of Jews to an independent state and self-determination is defined as ‘extreme nationalism,'” Roytman added. “The fight against antisemitism is ongoing and daily, and American leaders must do everything in their power to combat this ugly phenomenon, which leads to violence and terrorist attacks, as seen recently in Washington, D.C. and Boulder, Colorado.”
