‘Long live Yahya Sinwar!’ – NY teacher glorified Oct. 7 mastermind

Former politician Dov Hikind called for the teacher’s dismissal over his support for Sinwar.

By World Israel News Staff

A teacher at a New York City public elementary school praised slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel, according to allegations cited in a recently publicized lawsuit.

Damien Neva, 48, who previously worked as a prominent fashion photographer and now teaches at PS 77 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, wrote, “Long live Yahya al-Sinwar’’ in a group chat, according to the lawsuit.

Sinwar was the architect of the October 7 massacre, in which Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and abducting hundreds of others. The assault was accompanied by widespread atrocities, including rape, mutilation and other acts of brutality.

According to the New York Post, Neva’s comments were included in a lawsuit filed by members of a Brooklyn co-op grocery store. The store was sued by Jewish members after its board voted to prohibit Israeli goods from being sold.

Neva’s alleged praise of Sinwar has drawn attention to his broader social media activity, which reflects strongly anti-Israel views.

A review of Neva’s social media profiles reportedly found posts comparing “Palestine” in 2024 to the Warsaw Ghetto in 1944, when Jews were imprisoned by Nazi Germany before the ghetto was destroyed during the Holocaust.

The allegations have prompted criticism from StopAntisemitism, a watchdog group that accused Neva of engaging in anti-Israel activism that it said was incompatible with his role as a public school teacher.

“Roughly 157,000 Jewish children live in Brooklyn. Imagine being one of them in Neva’s classroom,” the NGO said in a social media post.

Dov Hikind, a former New York politician and longtime advocate for Jewish communities, told the Post that Neva’s alleged support for Sinwar should result in his dismissal from the school system.

“Sinwar designed what happened on Oct. 7 — the massacre, the barbarism, the rapes and cruelty,” Hikind told the outlet.

“The idea that anyone connected to education — who believes Sinwar is a hero — could be teaching in the classroom is incomprehensible. How would we react if a teacher said Adolf Hitler was a great leader?” he added.

“This teacher needs to lose his job. He needs to be fired — period.”