A Staten Island boy was beaten in a schoolyard by kids who spewed antisemitic hate — and school officials did nothing to stop the abuse, his family said in a lawsuit.
The Jewish student went out for recess at Egbert Intermediate School in Midland Beach on Oct. 25, 2023, when he was chased by a gang of kids, pushed to the ground, while screaming ‘F–k Israel! It’s all your fault!,” his mom said.
The beatdown of the 4-foot-8, 85-pound boy came two weeks after the Hamas massacre of 1,200 innoncent Israelis.
“They kicked his face, they kicked his knees,” the mom told The Post.
The boy told a teacher, who reported it to the assistant principal and principal, but “school employees did not seek medical attention” for him or immediately inform his mom, she claimed.
Instead, a school official allegedly sent the victim, identified in court papers only as B.A., home on a city bus.
B.A. was so traumatized, he never returned to the school.
“It was definitely mentally traumatizing for all of us and it made us change our whole life. We ended up moving out of the state,” the boy’s mom, who requested anonymity because she fears retribution, told The Post.
The family now lives in New Jersey.
The boy, now 13, believes he was targeted because he’d mentioned he wanted to join the Israel Defense Forces when asked in class about future careers.
“The fact that they assaulted me just because of my religion is baffling,” he said.
Samantha met with police the day after the incident to put “the school on notice,” but did not press charges against her son’s tormentors, her lawyer, Anna Livshits said.
The Staten Island Supreme Court lawsuit against the city and the Department of Education seeks unspecified damages.
“That our client was targeted and beaten for being Jewish in a New York City public school is extremely disturbing and reflects an increase in anti-Semitism following the terrorist attack in Israel on October 7, 2023 and its aftermath,” Livshits said.
“Hate has no place in New York City Public Schools, and all students and staff deserve to be safe at school and in their communities. We will review the lawsuit when we receive it,” a city Department of Education spokesperson said.
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