NYC teacher posts antisemitic meme of Lionel Messi

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Cite

Spector, D. (2026, October 18). NYC teacher posts antisemitic meme of Lionel Messi. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/17/us-news/nyc-teacher-posts-antisemitic-meme-of-lionel-messi/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-18 · by David Spector

Quick Summary

A New York City public schools math teacher named Maysa Jarara posted antisemitic memes on social media, including one depicting Lionel Messi as a stereotypical Jewish caricature with a large nose and wearing a yarmulke. The meme was shared on July 19 and has been condemned by educational leaders for promoting harmful stereotypes about Jews. Additionally, Jarara has posted content denigrating Israel, such as an image of the Israeli flag covered in blood and other inflammatory posts related to recent attacks, prompting concern among Jewish families who are withdrawing their children from public schools due to antisemitic incidents.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-18, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Park Slope Collegiate math teacher Maysa Jarara posted an antisemitic meme on Facebook on July 19, showing Lionel Messi with exaggerated features and wearing a yarmulke, as part of Nazi propaganda imagery depicting Jews as greedy. The post has drawn condemnation from educators and Jewish organizations in New York City. United Jewish Teachers President Moshe Spern stated that Jarara's actions represent a significant breach by promoting classic antisemitic stereotypes. NYC Public Schools Alliance President Karen Feldman also criticized the teacher for sharing such biased content while entrusted with educating children. The meme resurfaces anti-Semitic conspiracy theories suggesting Jews control FIFA and manipulate soccer outcomes to benefit Messi’s career, as noted by online watchdog Cyberwell.

Written for “Antisemitic Meme Controversy” on 2026-10-18, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but all 2 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 87952: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-18

Story

📰 Antisemitic Meme Controversy
Education · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
13
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
23%
3 of 13 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
67/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Education
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-18 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 11315 article(s) · 32 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 32 correction(s)

Who wrote this

David Spector
20 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Park Slope Collegiate math teacher Maysa Jarara posted an image July 19 on Facebook under the name Maysa, showing a crying, groveling Messi with a super-sized nose, wearing a yarmulke as he rubs his hands together.
🔮 “It is inconceivable that we would allow Saudi Arabia, its security or stability to be harmed,” Sisi told at the Egyptian Military Academy on Saturday.
🔮 A friend and advisor to socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with the president of Cuba during a luxe trip to the communist nation — where they conspired to subvert US foreign policy, according to a since-deleted travel diary obtained by The Post.
🔮 The speech was started by former Schools Chancellor David Banks during Mayor Eric Adams’ administration in 2023, and was used to outline visions and priorities for the city’s schools as the new school year got underway.
🔮 Self-harm, or cutting oneself, is described as a nonsuicidal way of dealing with emotional pain such as sadness, anger or stress, according to the Mayo Clinic.
🔮 The hijacking of the Dubai airliner carrying Israeli passengers might be the beginning of a horrifying new terrorist tactic of recruiting and radicalizing real pilots to do 9/11-style attacks, a former IDF colonel and veteran intelligence officer warns.
🔮 Bridget Garzaniti, principal of the High School of Arts and Technology on the Upper West Side, OKed $12,000 in overtime pay for her domestic partner, Curtis Williams in 2024, the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board found.
🔮 The crew of the hijacked flydubai plane shockingly clashed with heroic Israeli passengers who subdued the ax-wielding co-pilot after he attacked the pilot — demanding he be freed, two men who helped secure the terror suspect told The Post in exclusive interviews. “They were asking us to untie the terrorist — we had no idea why,” said banking executive Tzvika Manes, one of the three civilians who took down the would-be hijacker.
🔮 In a New York Times Magazine piece last weekend, Hannah-Jones, 50, described how the school was a chaotic hellscape where teachers made up grades, didn’t assign homework, and would let students run wild at lunchtime.
🔮 Diallo said she would want to meet Gann and hear her out before judging her.
Also by David Spector
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 20 articles by David Spector →

Topics

Brooklyn Israel Jewish Jews New York City

Subjects

Jarara PERSON · 4× Israel GPE · 3× Jewish NORP · 3× Jews NORP · 3× Brooklyn GPE · 2× DOE ORG · 2× Israeli NORP · 2× Messi PERSON · 2× New York City GPE · 2× Argentina GPE · 1×

Narrative

We have a teacher who is entrusted with educating children publicly sharing inflammatory, biased, and historically misleading posts about Israel and the Jewish people,” New York City Public Schools Alliance President Karen Feldman said.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-18
🔮 Park Slope Collegiate math teacher Maysa Jarara posted an image July 19 on Facebook under the name Maysa, showing a crying, groveling Messi with a super-sized nose, wearing a yarmulke as he rubs his hands together.
2026-10-18 · New York Post
NYC teacher posts antisemitic meme of Lionel Messi · mixed framing

Claims (13 extracted, 3 hedged)

A New York City public schools teacher has been posting antisemitic memes on social media, including grotesque caricatures of Argentina soccer star Lionel Messi that echo Nazi propaganda depicting Jews as greedy and scheming. asserted
that → post → Jews
Park Slope Collegiate math teacher Maysa Jarara posted an image July 19 on Facebook under the name Maysa, showing a crying, groveling Messi with a super-sized nose, wearing a yarmulke as he rubs his hands together. asserted
he → post → hands
“The look on his face is priceless,” Jarara captioned the photo, which resembles a despicable antisemitic internet meme called “The Happy Merchant.” asserted
which → caption → meme
Messi, who visited Israel as part of a “peace tour” in 2013, was the subject of antisemitic conspiracy theories during the World Cup, claiming that Jews control Fédération Internationale de Football Association, soccer’s regulatory body, and have worked behind the scenes to benefit his career, according to online antisemitism watchdog nonprofit Cyberwell. “Jarara has crossed a major line by trafficking in classic antisemitic tropes that cast Jews as greedy and scheming,” United Jewish Teachers President Moshe Spern said. uncertain
Spern → visit → Jews
The Brooklyn math teacher also regularly reposts messages denigrating Israel, including one featuring the Israeli flag covered in blood. asserted
teacher → repost → blood
On the three-year anniversary of Hamas’ barbaric Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, which killed over 1,200 Israelis, Jarara posted an illustration to Instagram of a keffiyeh-clad man dancing with a woman in a hijab in front of a burning pile. asserted
Jarara → kill → pile
“And we love life and we can live it in a way,” reads the caption. asserted
caption → love → way
We have a teacher who is entrusted with educating children publicly sharing inflammatory, biased, and historically misleading posts about Israel and the Jewish people,” New York City Public Schools Alliance President Karen Feldman said. asserted
Feldman → have → Israel
DOE schools have been plagued with antisemitism since the October 7 attacks, with numerous teachers being caught engaging in Jew hatred online. asserted
teachers → plague → hatred
Damian Neva, who teaches history at P.S. 77 in Park Slope texted in a groupchat “Long live Yahya Al-Sinwar,” to other terrorism lovers looking to implement a boycott of Israeli goods at The Park Slope Food Co-op, according to a bombshell lawsuit. uncertain
Sinwar → teach → lawsuit
Brooklyn social studies teacher at IS 181 George Trim was reprimanded by the DOE after he was caught hosting an antisemitic conspiracy podcast while clad in a literal tinfoil hat. asserted
he → reprimand → hat
Thousands of NYC Jewish families have pulled their kids out of public schools to shield them from the nonstop anti-Israel brainwashing going on in city classrooms. asserted
Thousands → pull → classrooms
Jewish schools in the Big Apple and across the Empire State have seen a surge in enrollment, with a roughly 3,100 influx, according to a study from Teach Coalition. Jarara, who earned $140,000 in 2025 according to public records, could not be reached for comment. uncertain
who → see → comment
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