Outrage ensues after a Long Island high school study guide calls Zionism ‘extreme nationalism’
Rep. Elise Stefanik called the review sheet ‘a total amoral abomination’
A study guide for the 10th grade New York State Regents Exam distributed at Half Hollow Hills High School East in Long Island. Courtesy of Screenshot/Facebook
By Hannah Feuer June 11, 2025
A study guide for the 10th grade New York State Regents Exam that calls Zionism “an example of extreme nationalism” is drawing outrage in a Long Island school district and across social media.
Michelle Herman, a parent of a student at Half Hollow Hills High School East in Long Island, on Sunday posted a picture of the study guide to Facebook.
The review sheet, labelled “Unit 10.7 — Decolonization and Nationalism” also describes Zionism as the “belief that Jews need a homeland in Palestine” and falsely claims “every war ended with Israel getting more land.”
The study guide quickly circulated on social media, drawing the ire of New York Reps. Ritchie Torres, a Democrat, and Elise Stefanik, a Republican who called the content “a total amoral abomination!”
Stefanik, one of the highest ranking Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, led questioning in hearings last year that drove a number of university presidents to quit.
The criticism comes as scrutiny over antisemitism in educational settings has spread beyond campus protests into curricula taught at universities and K-12 schools. In recent months, states from Kansas to California have passed laws aimed at curbing antisemitic curricula. And on Tuesday, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill that would have allowed students and parents to sue teachers for teaching or promoting antisemitism.
“Anti-Israel indoctrination under the guise of academic instruction is one of the pathologies of modern education,” Torres wrote in an X post.
On Tuesday, the New York State Education Department acknowledged the review sheet, writing in a statement that “these documents were not created or approved by the New York State Education Department and are in no way endorsed by NYSED,” and that “school districts and charter schools are responsible for developing curriculum aligned to state learning standards.”
At a Half Hollow Hills Central School District Board of Education meeting Monday, interim superintendent Brian Conboy said the study guide was “not created by an individual or group within the district” and written “prior to the horrific events of Oct. 7, 2023.”
Chip Parker, a spokesperson for the school district, wrote in an email that the study guide appears to have been created between 2018 and 2022, during a transition period between different versions of the Regents Exam. The unit number, 10.7, “appears to be coincidental,” he wrote.
Parker declined to comment on any disciplinary action the school had taken, citing confidentiality laws against discussing personnel matters.
During the board meeting’s public comment period, parents, students, and a local rabbi took to the podium to criticize the school’s response.
“As a Jewish student sitting in a classroom and seeing my people, my history and my homeland distorted and mocked in an official school handout, was heartbreaking,” Kayla Introp, co-president of the school’s Jewish Heritage Club, told the auditorium before receiving a standing ovation.
Conboy said that future curricula on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be standardized districtwide and vetted by “experts in the field.”
“We want you all to know that offensive and inaccurate materials such as this do not meet our standards of excellence and are not something we take lightly,” he said.
This story has been updated to include additional information from Half Hollow Hills Central School District
