The events, which feature children’s books and arts and crafts, have pushed narratives demonizing Israel and promoting contentious policies like the Palestinian “right of return.”

By Alana Goodman, The Washington Free Beacon

Philadelphia’s public libraries have hosted, and plan to continue hosting, anti-Israel “storytime” events that teach children that Israel “senselessly murdered” thousands of kids in Gaza, depict a map in which Israel is entirely replaced with “Palestine,” and create art projects promoting the “Palestinian liberation” movement.

The Free Library of Philadelphia, which receives both state and federal funding, has scheduled at least six “Palestine Storytime & Crafts” events this summer sponsored by an extremist anti-Israel group called Families for Ceasefire Philly.

The Kingsessing Library, for instance, has advertised one storytime event on its website alongside a photo of a child wearing a headscarf that features an image of the Dome of the Rock and the Arabic phrase, “Jerusalem, we are coming,” a slogan Hamas and Hezbollah use to call for the destruction of the Jewish state.

The library advertises the event—scheduled for Aug. 9—as being for “children of all ages.”

The Zionist Organization of America’s (ZOA) Philadelphia chapter has tracked anti-Israel programming in the city’s libraries over the past four years and found that the municipal system has hosted at least a dozen events sponsored by extremist anti-Israel groups since Oct. 7.

The events, which feature children’s books and arts and crafts, have pushed narratives demonizing Israel and promoting contentious policies like the Palestinian “right of return.”

The Lovett Memorial Library hosted a June “Palestinian Storytime” event where children heard the picture book “A Map for Falasteen” read to them.

The book states that, in 1948, Israeli soldiers “came with their tanks and guns” and “destroyed our villages and gave them new names.”

It also includes a large map that depicts “Falasteen” instead of Israel.

An event at the Moore Library last November, titled “Watermelons & Kefiyyehs: Protest Art of Palestine,” involved “imagery used in Palestinian liberation struggles” and “protest art” featuring keffiyehs and other “resistance” symbols.

Another program hosted by the Fishtown Library provided children with coloring pages that promoted the Palestinian “right of return.”

One page featured an image of a key and read: “When Palestinians fled from, or were thrown out, of their homes during the Nakba in 1948, they took their house keys with them.

The keys have been passed on from generation to generation as lasting symbols of their ‘right of return.’”

The Queen Memorial Library hosted a “Birds of Gaza” craft project in June 2024 in which organizers directed children to create paper birds decorated with the names of “martyred children of the ongoing Israeli bombardment of Gaza.”

The Families for Ceasefire Philadelphia has sponsored many of the library events.

The radical group organized an anti-Israel rally in February 2025 at which speakers declared, “all glory to the martyrs,” has promoted boycotts of Israeli products in local grocery stores, and has led seminars on how to teach children that Israel commits “genocide” and “apartheid.”

Families for Ceasefire Philly posted excerpts online from its workshop “Talking to Kids About Palestine” in September 2024. The group devoted one section to explaining “tricky concepts in kid language.”

Families for Ceasefire Philly said children should be told that the word “apartheid” means the “[p]eople in charge of Israel made different rules for Palestinians than Israelis.

They made it so that Palestinians have different things than Israelis like roads & schools, making it hard for Palestinians to get what they need.”

“The people in charge of Israel sent their army to a place that wasn’t theirs, saying ‘This is ours now!’ The people living on that land are Palestinians,” said the Families for Ceasefire workshop.

“The people of Israel make the Palestinians follow their unfair rules. They kicked them out of their homes and make it really hard for the Palestinians to get what they need to be happy and healthy.”

The group has also taught children anti-Israel slogans—some of which demand the elimination of the Jewish state—at its workshops.

During a Valentine’s Day event at which kids made cards for their “friends in Gaza,” one such card included the phrase, “From the River to the Sea,” a popular chant calling for Israel’s destruction.

Local Jewish leaders said they are concerned that the library’s events are aimed at “indoctrinating and manipulating children” by “twisting around the facts of history about the Middle East, and demonizing the Jewish people by demonizing Israel and Zionism.”

“Libraries are [viewed as] safe places where parents and grandparents can take their kids and the programming is safe as milk,” ZOA Philadelphia executive director Steve Feldman told the Washington Free Beacon.

“[They] shouldn’t be used for programming that incites Jew-hatred and other forms of social engineering . . . They’re not indoctrination centers.”

The post Inside Philadelphia public libraries’ ‘Palestine storytime’ events, where kids are taught to make ‘protest art’ promoting ‘Palestinian liberation’ appeared first on World Israel News.

‘Our detectives are actively investigating this incident to ensure those responsible are held accountable for their actions,’ said Police Chief Mike Lamb.

By Peter Reitzes, The Algemeiner

Police in Asheville, North Carolina, have made one arrest and shared photos of nine people of interest since two Jewish residents and a senior citizen were beaten and dragged out of the West Asheville Library during an anti-Israel event on June 29.

The three victims are pro-Israel. The event — which was labeled an “Anarchist Bookfair” — attracted about 60-80 anti-Israel activists.

The two Jewish victims, David Moritz and Monica Buckley, along with 79-year-old Bob Campbell, were interviewed by The Algemeiner.

Moritz posted on social media, “All three of us have met separately at police HQ to go over footage of the attack from the library cameras in order to identify the violent perpetrators.”

Moritz, the son of Holocaust survivors, told The Algemeiner that the police are “working the case hard.” He continued, “We are happy that the police are taking this seriously and have escalated this to the Major Crimes Division.”

The police confirmed to The Algemeiner that “the Major Case Unit is handling this investigation.”

The June 29 event, “Strategic Lessons From the Palestinian Resistance,” was hosted by Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair at the public library, and was one of multiple anti-Israel sessions that took place during the three-day anarchist book fair.

The event glorified Hamas’ massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, when the Palestinian terrorist group killed 1,200 people and kidnapped approximately 250 hostages.

In a statement, Police Chief Mike Lamb said, “We at the APD [Asheville Police Department] remain steadfast in our commitment to reducing all acts of violence in our community, particularly those targeting vulnerable groups like our Jewish community. Our detectives are actively investigating this incident to ensure those responsible are held accountable for their actions.”

Lamb continued, “We are working alongside the District Attorney’s Office and we appreciate the information that members of our community have provided thus far to help identify the offenders.”

The city’s mayor, Esther Manheimer, issued a statement: “The members of the Asheville community deserve the right to enter any community spaces with a feeling of security. We will not tolerate violence, either against or carried out in our community. Asheville is a city that has thrived and honored the diversity of all its residents. We will continue to do so and not be cowed by individuals resorting to violence.”

As reported by The Algemeiner, Mortiz, Buckley, and Campbell were quietly seated along a far wall at the library on June 29, when a presenter stopped the event to express concerns that it was being live streamed by “Zionists.” Buckley was streaming the public event.

The presenter drew everyone’s attention to the three pro-Israel attendees and asked the other, mostly masked attendees how to deal with the “Zionists” in the audience. The presenter joked about the possibility of a “murder here.”

The pro-Israel attendees were told to leave with multiple people yelling out “bye.” One attendee said, “They are not f—king welcome here,” and another was heard saying, “I don’t trust them.”

A video that was circulated on social media shows that Moritz, Buckley, and Campbell were then surrounded by large men who were chanting “Free Palestine” and clapping their hands directly in the victims’ faces. Buckley’s phone was then stolen.

Buckley told The Algemeiner that when she attempted to retrieve her phone, she came under mob attack, as did Moritz and Campbell.

All three reported being attacked and violently dragged out of the public library. Some of this is visible on the video footage.

Campbell, a 79-year-old veteran with cancer and a heart stent, was badly beaten with large bruises clearly visible on his body. Local police encouraged Campbell to see a doctor, who found he had “severe contusions.”

Campbell told The Algemeiner that when he was on the ground being assaulted by a large man, a librarian made eye contact with him and “didn’t do a damn thing. Didn’t call the police.”

During the assault, Campbell’s phone was also taken. Both phones were later found nearby.

Mortiz left the event with a huge welt clearly visible on his forehead.

In a social media statement made after the attacks, Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair called Buckley and Moritz “fascists” and “white supremacists,” and blamed them for provoking a “brawl.”

Buckley believes that the statement did not mention Campbell because the anarchists likely think they can defend the beatings of two Jews, but not the beating of a senior citizen with cancer.

In the statement’s comments section, a supporter of the anarchists chastised the book fair: “We look like the bad guys and the cops are hunting anarchists. That’s sloppy work on our part and we should know better. I hope we do better in the future.”

North Carolina Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein posted on X/Twitter: “Antisemitism like what apparently just happened in Asheville is unacceptable in any form. We have to make our state a place that is welcoming to people of all faiths and backgrounds.”

Moritz told The Algemeiner that, so far, “the only politician that has reached out to the three victims is Democratic Congress[ional] candidate Caleb Rudow.” Rudow currently represents western North Carolina in the state’s General Assembly, which includes Asheville.

Moritz reported telling Rudow, “We need a press conference at the library with every politician that believes this behavior is unacceptable.”

Buckley agreed that officials in public office should be speaking out.

“Every politician who believes in peace, law and order, and democracy in America needs to stand with us and publicly condemn this horrific act of violence and hate,” Buckley told The Algemeiner.

The Algemeiner has reached out to Rudow, Stein, and the North Carolina Department of Justice for comment.

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