UJT sends letter to NYC public schools' chancellor over use of image by anti-Israel illustrator

United Jewish Teachers (UJT) sent a formal complaint to New York City Public Schools Chancellor Kamar H. Samuels over the school system’s inclusion of a vocabulary card featuring artwork by a political cartoonist criticized for allegedly using antisemitic tropes.

The letter, sent on Sunday, focused on an instructional card used to teach the word hug to kindergarteners within the city-approved NYC Reads curriculum.

The card, available digitally via the educational platform Kiddom through the city’s ClassHub system, displays the word hug alongside the definition: “to part your arms around someone lovingly.” The accompanying black-and-white illustration depicts a child wearing a kippah embracing an adult male wearing a keffiyeh-style head covering.

According to the group’s letter, the graphic is a public-domain image created in 2004 by Brazilian political cartoonist Carlos Latuff as part of his Forgiveness series.

UJT asserts that Latuff has a recorded history of antisemitic works

The letter noted that Latuff has a “documented history of cartoons that equate Israeli actions with the Holocaust and have been cited by the Simon Wiesenthal Center and others for antisemitic tropes.”

The group also called for an “immediate review and removal or replacement of the card if it does not meet DOE standards for age-appropriate, non-political instructional materials.”

UJT’s President Moshe Spern highlighted the material on social media.

“Who thought using an antisemitic cartoonist drawing a very strange image of a Jewish child and an adult male hugging was a good idea?” Spern said.

Spern told The Jerusalem Post that Samuel’s office had not yet responded to UJT’s letter.

In a statement to the Post, Spern said, “Kiddom is contracted to provide resources for our public schools. This calls into question NYC schools’ vetting process. This cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, has a long history of antisemitic work.

“This image of a Jewish boy hugging a man with a keffiyeh is both inappropriate and politically motivated. This slide about a hug should feature a child and their parent, not a stranger wearing a keffiyeh.

“We’ve seen too many people antagonizing Jews since 10/7 by wearing a keffiyeh here in NYC and across the globe. This was distasteful and offensive. Kiddom should remove it immediately and issue an apology.”

Latuff told The Jerusalem Post, “This cartoon belongs to a series I produced in 2004 called ‘Forgiveness.’ I never imagined that cartoons advocating reconciliation would be targeted by attacks. What times we live in…”

Samuels did not respond to the Post's emailed request for comment by the time of publication.