New Jersey’s largest teachers union is mired in controversy after one of its employees is accused of having a history of making rampant, hate-filled posts.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer sent a letter to the leadership of the New Jersey Education Association, calling for Ayat Oraby – editor of the NJEA Magazine - to be fired for "promoting divisive, violent, hate-filled rhetoric" and for a history of antisemitic and anti-Christian posts.
Gottheimer pointed to comments made by Oraby that referred to members of Hamas involved in the Oct. 7 attack in Israel as martyrs, as well as a now-deleted post on X where she shared a quote saying Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is “filthier than the Jews.”
Gottheimer says that he could not believe what he saw on Oraby’s page.
"I raised it with the NJEA... and they have failed to act. So far, crickets. Hoping that they do the right thing…Someone with a long record of vile antisemitism and anti-Christian posts should have no place in education in our state. So I'm really hoping the NJEA does the right thing here,” Gottheimer said.
The NJEA Magazine is distributed to 200,000 members.
Both gubernatorial candidates – Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli – have also called on the NJEA to fire Oraby.
In a statement to News 12, the NJEA wrote, "This is an internal personnel matter that we will not comment on further at this time. NJEA remains unequivocally committed to advocating for justice and opposing all forms of bigotry, oppression and discrimination."