NYC Palestine Teach-In Organized by Teacher Linked to Influential Progressive Think Tank
The NAVI K-12 Extremism Tracker has obtained information indicating that Katrina Cassell is one of the teachers involved in organizing the NYC Educators For Palestine MLK Day Teach-In for school children.
Cassell is the daughter of the executive director of the Institute on Taxation And Economic Policy (ITEP) and Citizens For Tax Justice.
Loretta Johnson, the secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers, is on the board of Citizens for Tax Justice.
Cassell has used her public social media accounts to post content expressing support for Hamas, decrying attacks on Hezbollah, and casting doubt on the sexual violence and rape that took place on October 7, 2023.
Other teachers the Tracker has identified as being in NYC Educators For Palestine (although not confirmed to be taking part in the teach-in) include a former member of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) executive board, and a UFT chapter leader.
An Organizer For the Children’s Teach-In
Katrina Cassell is a 7th grade social studies and english teacher. Her LinkedIn notes she currently teaches at Arts & Letters 305 United, although she is not listed as a staff member on the school’s website.
Cassell comes from a background of progressive left activism and academia. Her parents are Amy Hanauer and Mark Cassell. Mark Cassell is a professor of political science at Kent State University. Amy Hanauer founded Policy Matters Ohio.
Hanauer is the executive director of the Institute On Taxation And Economic Policy (ITEP) (which receives funding from the Tides Foundation) and Citizens For Tax Justice, ITEP’s 501c4. Citizens For Tax Justice believes that “tax justice is linked to economic, social, racial, gender and climate justice.”
Loretta Johnson, the secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers is on CTJ’s board.
Interestingly, in 2019, Hanauer retweeted an article by Blake Flayton which criticized the progressive left’s attitude to Zionism.
Yet, Hanauer posted nothing on October 7. And since October 2023 has steadily posted anti-Israel content on her X account.
Hanauer reposted a fundraising initiative for Heal Palestine from her daughter’s organization. Katrina Cassell linked to the initiative on her Instagram page.
A Mark Cassell and a Katrina Cassell donated to the fundraising initiative for Heal Palestine.
Heal Palestine’s founders include Steve Sosebee, founder and former president of the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF). Many PCRF officials joined Sosebee at Heal Palestine. PCRF has partnered with a number of organizations accused of terror financing and affiliation with Hamas. And Heal Palestine is working with ANERA.
According to reports, ANERA has well- documented ties to Hamas-affiliated organizations.
The Middle East Forum has reported that ANERA, using U.S. federal grants, helped fund projects of the Unlimited Friends Association, a group “aligned with senior Hamas leaders, [which] works to reward the ‘families of martyrs’ in Gaza with cash handouts, and promotes deeply anti-Semitic rhetoric across its social media pages.”
Also according to the Middle East Forum, in 2007, ANERA, using money from USAID, gave the Islamic University of Gaza $140,000. The university was founded by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the “spiritual leader” of Hamas. University lecturers and students were elected Hamas members of the Palestinian legislature. In 2008, explosives used by Hamas were allegedly produced at the university.
From Focus on Western Islamism’s report:
ANERA appears to coordinate its work in Gaza with Hamas’s Ministry of Social Development, allowing Hamas officials to “finalize and approved [sic] the selection of beneficiaries.”
ANERA appears to have a long history of such partnerships. In 2000, an ANERA report appears to disclose a partnership with the Ihsan Society, which the U.S. government later designated as a Hamas front in 2005.
In 2017, a report from the Israel Law Center alleged that money sent through ANERA to the Palestinian territories was “used to support Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) kindergartens that actively indoctrinate children in hatred and killing of Israeli civilians, as well as other PIJ and Hamas organizations, thus enabling them to finance terrorist activity, which is forbidden by U.S. law.”
ANERA is also a partner of Hamas charity “Bayader Association for Environment and Development.” In its 2021 annual report, Bayader noted “coordination” and “meetings” with Hamas’s Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Works, Ministry of Social Affairs and Ministry of Agriculture.
Katrina Cassell’s Social Media Posts
Katrina Cassell has used her public social media account to repost content which expresses support for Hamas and the “martyrs,” to publish media which lionizes Yahya Sinwar and Hamas, to repost criticism of the pager operation which targeted Hezbollah terrorists, and to repost claims which cast doubt on sexual violence perpetrated against Israelis by Hamas on October 7.
Cassell posted this interview, “On the Record With Hamas,” from Drop Site News. It characterizes the October 7 massacre as an “armed insurrection.”
From the article, on Yahya Sinwar:
In both Israeli and U.S. media, Sinwar is generally portrayed as a cartoonish villain hiding in his tunnel lair, dreaming up ways to murder and terrorize innocent Israelis as part of a warped, ISIS-style interpretation of Islam. He has been a U.S. State Department-designated terrorist since 2015. “The United States has to have a bogeyman, a Saddam Hussein figure, a Hitler figure,” said Khalidi. “I think Sinwar has been chosen.”
Despite the sinister portrayals, Sinwar’s writings and media interviews indicate he is a complex thinker with clearly defined political objectives who believes in armed struggle as a means to an end. He gives the impression of a well-educated political militant, not a cult leader on a mass suicide crusade. “It’s not this black image of Sinwar as a man with two horns living in the tunnels,” said Hamad, the Hamas official who worked directly with Sinwar for three years. “But in the time of war, he’s very strong. This man is very strong. If he wants to fight, he fights seriously.”
NYC Educators For Palestine And Its Links To The United Federation Of Teachers
While Cassell is the only member of NYC Educators For Palestine the Tracker has confirmed is directly involved in the Teach-In, other identified members of NYC Educators For Palestine include a former member of the United Federation of Teachers executive board, a UFT chapter leader, and a member of the Movement of Rank and File Educators caucus (MORE) within the UFT:
Andrea Castellano - United Federation of Teachers Chapter leader
Nadia Amin - teaches Biology at Edward R Murrow High School
Celia Eydeland -teaches at Urban Assembly School For Green Careers. Eydeland notes membership of NYC Educators for Palestine on her Instagram, and also follows MORE Caucus on Instagram.
Eli Scherer - special education teacher
Sarah Elshafie - ELA teacher at Renaissance School of Arts
Jonathan Halabi - Maths teacher and former UFT chapter leader and former member of the UFT executive board
Ilona Clara Nanay - a member of NYC Educators For Palestine and the MORE Caucus
NYC Educators For Palestine shared its “mission statement and points of unity” on its Linktree.
The last edits to the document were made in January 2025.
In the comments on its mission statement, Celia Eydeland indicates that she thinks double standards are applied when discussing Palestinian “resistance” and that of Ukrainians or the Resistance in WWII. Nadia Amin agrees.
NYC Educators For Palestine And The MORE Caucus
The Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE) is a caucus within the United Federation of Teachers.
MORE advertises NYC Educators For Palestine Meetings and Events on its Public Calendar :
The Teach-In series which appears on MORE’s calendar may refer to the NYC Educators For Palestine teach-in series which begins on January 19th.
It appears that MORE has changed the name of the NYC Educators For Palestine meetings on its public calendar - where previously they noted NYC Educators For Palestine, meetings now read NYC Ed.
However, the meeting time for NYC Ed listed on MORE’s public calendar is the same as the NYC Educators for Palestine meeting advertised on the MORE Instagram account.
MORE Caucus Funding:
MORE is funded by donations and by monthly membership dues of $5.
MORE also received funding from the Social Justice and Solidarity Fund in 2025.
The SJSF board of directors has ties to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the International Socialists (IS), and Labor Notes - a “media and organizing project” for union activists founded by members of the IS.
Contributions to the SJSF include a standing donation of $200,000 through the Jewish Communal Fund and money from the 128 Collective (which has also provided grants to the Tides Foundation, Jewish Voice for Peace and the Working Families Party).
Monday’s Teach-In
As we reported, the teach-in, for children aged 6 - 18, will cover:
the history, meaning, and context of zionism [sic]. Subsequent teach-ins in this series will dive beyond zionism [sic] to consider contemporary and historical Palestinian resistance, Palestinian culture, Palestine’s deliberate absence from the mainstream classroom, and paths toward action. (emphasis added)
We now know that at least one NYC Educator For Palestine has reposted denials of the mass rape and sexual violence on October 7, has posted media that supports Hamas and Sinwar, and reposted an opinion that sees the attack on Hezbollah operatives as a “horror.”
And NYC Educators For Palestine’s attitude toward “resistance?” - “Palestinians have the right to decide what means are necessary... ”
Do you look at extremism in education across the US or only in the Northeast?
Thank you for sharing all of this. It’s incredibly problematic who some of these people are, and of course to think what is actually getting into schools on a daily basis.