Mikie Sherrill Calls for Editor of THE NJEA to be fired
The October issue of the NJEA Review, a monthly magazine of the state teachers’ union, has a glowing article about Mikie Sherrill. It wraps up thusly:
“For Sherrill, the mission is clear: to build a future where families can thrive, workers are respected and every child has the chance to succeed.”
No surprise here. The NJEA has endorsed Sherrill for governor.
The author of the article is Aiat Oraby, the magazine’s editor.
On Tuesday, Sherrill issued a statement calling for Oraby to be fired.
She didn’t like the article? No, not that.
Here is the congresswoman’s statement:
“I’m outraged by Ms. Oraby’s antisemitic, pro-Hamas social media posts. This is unacceptable and the NJEA needs to immediately act and fire her from this position. An individual with bigoted views has no place as an editor of a magazine distributed to our state’s teachers. We all have a responsibility to call out antisemitism and religious bigotry when we see it and that’s exactly what I will do as governor.”
Oraby is hardly the first person to get in trouble for social media posts, nor will she be the last.
This incident, however, comes in the midst of a consequential gubernatorial race and it involves the Israeli-Hamas conflict, probably the most divisive on the planet.
Oraby’s posts were highlighted a few days ago by the New Jersey Public Education Coalition.
The story has spread rapidly since then.
Besides Sherrill’s comments Rep. Josh Gottheimer sent the NJEA a lengthy letter about Oraby.
The congressman seems to have done some research. His letter detailed a number of what he said were Oraby’s posts, some of which were translated from Arabic. Here are some of them, according to Gottheimer.
Eyewitnesses to the October 7 events say that Israel killed many of its citizens with tanks and incendiary missiles, then called them victims of Hamas.
Also:
“Among her most alarming public social media posts, Ms. Oraby posted on X an undeniably antisemitic quote directly calling Jews filthy. This post has since been deleted. Here it is:
“[Egyptian President] Sisi is filthier than the Jews”
Also:
“In January 2024, on X, Ms. Oraby explicitly called for violence against Israeli leaders:
O God, turn their bodies into pieces that cannot be reunited, and do not give them strength, and do not raise their heads or those who help them. Amen.”
In summarizing, Gottheimer stressed the NJEA’s announced commitment to diversity and equality.
It’s unknown how this will turn out. Oraby did not respond to a social media message.
Sherrill’s quick condemnation of the editor, however, should keep this from becoming a campaign issue. Maybe.
By William Swanson, Special to The Central Observer