A New York City public school math teacher posted an image of soccer star Lionel Messi that mirrors a well-known antisemitic internet meme, according to a New York Post report.
Story Snapshot
- A Park Slope Collegiate teacher reportedly posted a Messi image with an exaggerated nose, a yarmulke, and a hand-rubbing gesture on July 19.
- The image resembles “The Happy Merchant,” a meme long used to spread antisemitic stereotypes about Jews and money.
- A Jewish teachers’ union leader and a school advocacy group both publicly criticized the post.
- The report says the teacher has a pattern of sharing other posts critical of Israel, including one tied to the October 7 attack anniversary.
- No formal investigation, charge, or discipline from the city’s Department of Education has been reported so far.
What The Post Showed
The New York Post reported that teacher Maysa Jarara shared the image on Facebook under the name “Maysa” on July 19. The picture showed a crying, groveling Messi with an oversized nose, wearing a yarmulke, rubbing his hands together. That combination of features closely matches “The Happy Merchant,” a cartoon that has circulated online for years to mock Jewish people as greedy and scheming.
Jarara teaches math at Park Slope Collegiate, a public school in Brooklyn. The New York Post identified her by name and said she could not be reached for comment before the story published. No statement from Jarara, her attorney, or a union representative has been reported.
Union And Advocacy Groups React
Moshe Spern, president of United Jewish Teachers, said Jarara “crossed a major line by trafficking in classic antisemitic tropes that cast Jews as greedy and scheming”. Karen Feldman, president of the New York City Public Schools Alliance, called the situation “deeply disturbing,” saying a teacher entrusted with educating children was publicly sharing posts she described as inflammatory and historically misleading about Israel and Jewish people.
The New York Post reported that the Messi image was not an isolated post. Jarara has reportedly shared other content critical of Israel, including an image of an Israeli flag covered in blood. On the third anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, she reportedly posted an illustration showing a man in a keffiyeh dancing with a woman in a hijab in front of a burning pile.
Part Of A Larger Pattern In City Schools
This case lands inside a wider trend. A separate New York Post report from August found at least 250 antisemitic or anti-Israel incidents in New York City public schools since the October 7, 2023 attack. Those incidents reportedly included biased teaching, harassment involving antisemitic symbols, Holocaust references used as insults, and staff posts online.
That backdrop gives the Messi post added weight for parents and advocacy groups already tracking a string of complaints. It also raises the stakes for how the city’s Department of Education responds, since each new incident adds to a running tally that critics say shows a pattern rather than a one-time problem.
Where The Legal Line Falls
Teachers do not lose all free speech rights when they log off from school, but those rights are not unlimited. Courts have generally protected public employees speaking as private citizens on matters of public concern, while giving schools more room to act when speech disrupts the learning environment or signals bias toward students.
"NYC teacher posts antisemitic meme of Lionel Messi" https://t.co/3sHnu8jnfx pic.twitter.com/98czvHPJCE
— H. 💫🇩🇿 #HangPerez (@AMHam1m1d) October 18, 2026
No Supreme Court ruling specifically addresses teacher speech on social media, so cases are decided one at a time based on the facts. That leaves open questions here: whether the Department of Education opens a formal case, what policy it applies, and whether any investigation finds the posts crossed from personal opinion into conduct affecting students or the school.
What Happens Next
As of this report, there is no public record of a Department of Education investigation, disciplinary charge, or finding against Jarara. The matter currently rests on the New York Post’s reporting and public statements from advocacy groups, leaving the next step up to city school officials to decide whether, and how, to respond.
Sources:
nypost.com, ground.news, gossipbucket.com, jingletree.com
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