Staff Reports
Catherine Massalha, a high school history teacher from Virginia, has informed the Washington Examiner that she will not be resuming her position at Deep Run High School following a 12-minute classroom tirade in which she accused the United States of financing "genocide" in Gaza. In her tirade, which was detailed in the exclusive report, she implored students to assume activist stances. Following an investigation, Henrico County Public Schools determined that Massalha had violated school policy. Her remarks, according to the school district, were not included in the curriculum and ran counter to directives issued to all high school history departments. The school division extends an apology to students and the school community for the distress that her remarks have caused and condemns the manner in which they were delivered.
https://twitter.com/dcexaminer/status/1762939504275366128?s=20
The nature of Massalha's continued employment with Henrico County Public Schools remains unknown. Regarding this, Deep Run High School made no statement. Massalha levied allegations against Israel of war crimes, labeled Hamas terrorists "resistance fighters," and asserted that the United States is "financing a genocide in Gaza" in the audio recording of her remarks to students. On February 8, approximately thirty parents from the school district demonstrated outside the high school in response to this.
Robert Eitel, president and co-founder of the Defense of Freedom Institute, expressed his approval of the decision to remove Massalha from the classroom. He stated, "This teacher disregarded the directives of the school district to present facts in an objective and impartial manner when instructing high school history by delivering an unrelenting pro-Hamas, anti-American, and anti-Israeli tirade to a captive classroom."
The school district's initial response defended Massalha's remarks on the grounds that they were generated during a routine classroom discourse and exemplified how "real-world learning opportunities" could be derived from current events. Nevertheless, this situation generated concern among parents, as evidenced by the statement made by one parent, Tiffany Sweetser, who claimed that Massalha presented only one perspective due to her religious and political convictions, omitting the fact that Hamas is a specifically designated terrorist organization. Additionally, Eitel noted that the audio recording unveiled a fervently pro-Hamas instructor whose primary concerns were indoctrination and intimidation rather than productive classroom discourse and debate.
In its entirety, it is indisputable that Massalha's partial and prejudiced discourse infringed upon decorum and contravened institution-wide regulations. Placing her outside the classroom is a positive step toward guaranteeing that students are provided with an unbiased and objective education. It is essential for us as conservative Republicans to uphold the principles of impartiality and equity in education, devoid of any political sway or indoctrination.
