A Regents test given last week received harsh criticism from Jewish leaders for its “unconscionable and disgraceful” questions that were biased against Israel and Jews.
The Global History and Geography Regents II, which included two atrocious questions and misrepresented the Jewish people’s right to be in Israel, was denounced by Dov Hikind and others.
The inclusion of anti-Zionist propaganda in our state’s educational materials—a genuinely pitiful attempt to covertly harm Israel—comes at a moment of heightened violent antisemitism, according to Dov Hikind.
We request that NYS Education Department Commissioner Betty A. Rosa immediately remove the false questions and conduct a full audit to guarantee that such flagrant historical errors that always result in hatred for the lone Jewish person are avoided.
One of the questions asked, “Which historical event most directly influenced the development of the 1947 plan shown on map A (and showed a map of Israel from 1947)?” The possible responses were the Holocaust, the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s collapse, the Russian pogroms, the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Paris Peace Conference.
The correct response was 4, and the question’s possible options were 1, 2, and 3.
Which group benefited most from the improvements depicted on the maps, inquired the other?
The test’s correct response was “Zionists and Jewish Immigrants.”
David Bloomfield, an education professor at Brooklyn College, stated that test transparency “may raise serious issues of question appropriateness and language.”
To respectfully discuss these issues is not a sign of being “woke.”
According to Brooklyn Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, these questions are “preposterous, prejudiced, and devoid of context.
They are on par with the woke agenda and brainwashing of our young adult generation to make them think the way the biased politicians want them to think.” “It’s intolerable and needs to be fixed right away.”
According to Hikind, reducing the foundation of Israel to the Holocaust undermines all of the Jewish people’s historical, ancestoric, and biblical connections to the land of Israel.
“That link dates back a very long time.”
Hikind reportedly told The NY Post that one proctor was “beside herself” in her rage.
He added that the test covered the cliches that the Holocaust served as the primary impetus for establishing Israel and that “Zionists and Jewish immigrants” reaped the most significant benefits from the Holocaust.
Hikind continued, “The maps lack all context, particularly that boundary alterations resulted from subsequent wars started by Arab states to destroy Israel. Second, the questions, at best, encourage discussion rather than a single correct response from various options.
The former assemblyman noted that the Zionist cause truly got its start in the 19th century under Theodor Herzl: “When you present these maps and ask why the state of Israel was founded, it just assigns everything to the Holocaust.”
He also took issue with the test’s reference to Israel’s “annexation” of the Golan Heights, which was acknowledged by President Trump in 2019.
According to the Board of Regents, the two questions on Israel were “intended to assess students’ knowledge of geography,” the Post reports.
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