NYC Teacher Praised Hamas Terrorist Behind October 7 Massacre

A New York City public school teacher praised brutal Hamas terrorist Yahya al-Sinwar in a group chat with other members of a member-owned grocery store in Brooklyn.

Damien Neva, 48, posted “Long live Yahya al-Sinwar” in the Signal chat group in November of 2024 — just over one year after Hamas terrorists had crossed the border from Gaza into Israel, slaughtering hundreds and raping and kidnapping dozens more. The group chat in which he posted included other anti-Israel members of the Park Slope Food Coop, a member-owned grocery store in Park Slope.

The New York Post reported that Neva’s message was uncovered as part of a lawsuit, brought by Jewish members of the coop, after the board voted to ban the sale of Israeli goods in the store. Neva, who led the campaign within the coop to impose a boycott on Israeli goods, had also reportedly posted in the same group, “That lot does not have the votes to block our campaign.” It was clear that he was referring to Jewish and pro-Israel members of the coop at the time, according to the Post.

The Post also noted that Neva was not a public school teacher by choice. He had previously worked as a photographer, videographer, and social-media director at Next Management — an elite modeling and talent agency that has represented major names like Jessica Alba, Lana Del Rey, Pharrell Williams, and celebrity chef Mario Batali. Neva said in a since-deleted social media post that he’d only become a teacher in the past year because of what he called an “enforced career change.”

Neva’s social media history, according to the Post’s report, is also problematic. One post showed a Star of David superimposed over the Statue of Liberty, an apparent suggestion that the United States was under Israel’s thumb. Another post showed a sticker with Israel on it being shredded.

Jewish civil rights group Stop Antisemitism posted the following after Neva was hired to teach in a public school:

Meet Damien Neva, a newly hired teacher at Brooklyn’s PSK77.

Neva reportedly posted “Long live Yahya al-Sinwar,” praising the former Hamas leader and architect of the October 7 massacre. His social media also features a crossed-out image of Israel. Roughly 157,000 Jewish children live in Brooklyn. Imagine being one of them in Neva’s classroom

Dov Hikind, former Brooklyn assemblyman and founder of Americans Against Antisemitism, has called on NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Department of Education to enforce another career change, arguing that someone who supported a brutal terrorist like Sinwar should not be allowed anywhere near a classroom — much less one where Jewish students could be in attendance.

“Sinwar designed what happened on Oct. 7 — the massacre, the barbarism, the rapes and cruelty,” Hikind explained. “The idea that anyone connected to education — who believes Sinwar is a hero — could be teaching in the classroom is incomprehensible. How would we react if a teacher said Adolf Hitler was a great leader? This teacher needs to lose his job. He needs to be fired — period.”

Neva’s campaign to ban Israeli goods at the Park Slope Food Coop was initially successful, but it quickly led to a lawsuit as Jewish and pro-Israel members of the coop pushed back. The coop, which focuses on providing organic and locally sourced foods, advertises itself as “committed to diversity and equality” and promises to “oppose discrimination in any form.”

As The Washington Free Beacon reported, the lawsuit alleges that the coop has repeatedly violated its own mission statement, and has “repeatedly singled out ‘Zionists,’ Jewish Members, and persons with ties to Israel for criticism and exclusion.”

In one such case, a member who was working in the coop as part of their membership agreement, wore a shirt that read “Peace, Love, and Israel.” Another member accused the first of being a “racist” and a “genocide supporter.” The person wearing the pro-Israel shirt was suspended, but “the harasser,” according to the lawsuit, “was not disciplined.”

Things continued to escalate until September of 2025, when the coop’s “official publication” included a letter accusing one Jewish member of associating with an “extremist Zionist faction and IDF [Israel Defense Forces] apologist.” The Jewish member was also accused of “intellectual depravity,” being “morally abhorrent,” and “spiritually disfigured,” The Free Beacon reported.

The lawsuit states that anti-Israel members of the coop ignored bylaws and regulations in order to force their agenda through.

“The Boycott was adopted after Defendants disregarded coop’s Governing Documents, altered voting procedures and thresholds without the required bylaw amendments, suppressed debate, and treated an advisory General Meeting vote as binding,” it reads.

The lawsuit is still ongoing.

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