A New York City school bus driver ranted that the Jews killed Jesus in front of a group of elementary school children, of whom some of them were Jewish.
By Rachel Avraham
A New York City school bus driver has been suspended following a disturbing rant that included offensive remarks about Jewish people and Jesus while driving elementary school children to school, Arutz Sheva reported. According to the report, the driver pulled over and stopped the bus before launching his diatribe, ranting that the Jewish people killed Jesus, among other things. The students attend the Brooklyn Prospect International Elementary Charter School, which is private, but the bus driver was employed by New York City Department of Education.
When one student asked the unidentified driver if Jesus was a Jew, the driver allegedly offered a centuries-old canard about Jewish people’s role in Jesus’ crucifixion that is widely condemned as antiemetic, the New York Post reported. “Yes, he was a Jew and basically Jews — his own kind — killed him,” the driver told students, the parent claimed. “They basically killed him because he said he was the son of God … These were religious leaders who killed him.”
According to the Anti-Defamation League, “The Catholic Church under Pope Paul VI discredited the notion of Jewish deicide in 1964 in its “Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions” (Nostra aetate), published by the Second Vatican Council. In no uncertain terms, the Declaration states that the crucifixion of Jesus “cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today.””
The Anti-Defamation League continued, “Despite this reckoning, the myth of Jewish deicide has persisted for millennia. What’s more, over the centuries, it has inspired derivative myths, such as accusations that Jews desecrate the Eucharist or poison wells to kill Christian villagers. Because the Qur’an explicitly states that Jews did not kill Jesus [Qur’an 4.157], a more common version of this trope in the Muslim world utilizes certain contested anecdotes from scripture involving Jewish individuals to make unfair and inaccurate generalizations that collectively accuse all Jews of being killers of divine prophets.”
The antisemitic rant by the New York City bus driver caused some students to text their parents about the remarks in real-time and one Jewish student even broke down in tears, the parent said, the New York Post reported. At one point, the driver also allegedly asked students to recite a prayer while handing out white “I Am With You Always” hats with a black cross inscribed between the words, the parent said. According to the report, the driver also allegedly told the students that Jesus sacrificed for their sins and “If we believe in him, we will be saved” and “The only one who can free you all is Jesus Christ,” the parent said.
“What pissed me off is the kids were late to school,” one parent told the New York Post. “The driver definitely held the kids captive.” According to the report, the students arrived about 30 minutes later than they were supposed to.
Arutz Sheva reported that the incident, which was recorded by passengers on the bus, sparked outrage among parents and the community. According to the report, the driver’s comments were widely condemned as hateful and inappropriate, especially given the presence of young elementary school students. Arutz Sheva reported that the Department of Education swiftly responded by suspending the driver pending a full investigation.
According to the report, officials emphasized their commitment to maintaining a safe and respectful environment for all students and staff. Arutz Sheva concluded that community leaders and advocacy groups called for decisive action to address intolerance and ensure such behavior is not tolerated in school settings.
Photo from sjspitser1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_bus#/media/File:2010_Thomas_Saf-T-Liner_C2.jpg
