Brooklyn teacher under fire for social media comments: 'Let Gaza burn'

BROOKLYN - A New York City teacher is under fire for allegedly writing "Let Gaza burn" and "there are no innocents" on his personal Instagram page. 

Stop Arab Hate, a social media page that "[calls] attention to anti-Arab and Islamophobic sentiment," has targeted Robert Rossicone, a teacher at P.S. 104 in Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, for his response to a post about the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

"Look at these ANIMALS. And the people who support this, or call for a ceasefire, are dogs as well. Let Gaza burn. There are no innocents if this is what is allowed to continue. Never Again. By ANY means necessary," the screenshot shared from Rossicone's apparent Instagram page read.

"Should Arab or Muslim children feel safe in his classroom?" Stop Arab Hate tweeted in response to the screenshot.

P.S. 104 is in the southwest corner of Brooklyn, home to rapidly growing Arab and Palestinian communities.

The Department of Education would not address the controversy, but referred to a statement from New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks, saying incidents are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

This comes as tensions have escalated in the U.S. with the death toll rising in the Israel-Hamas war. Last week, a riot broke out at a Queens high school when students allegedly found out a teacher attended a pro-Israel rally.

In its annual report released last month, the FBI estimated hate crimes increased by 7% to 11,634 cases in 2022 compared to the previous year. With 1,124 incidents, anti-Jewish attacks were the second-most reported hate crime, after anti-Black cases. There were 158 reported incidents of anti-Muslim attacks and 92 reports of anti-Arab cases, according to the report.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.