Schools Chancellor David Banks vigorously defended New York City’s response to antisemitic incidents in public schools during a congressional hearing on Wednesday, while pushing back against Republican attempts to portray him as ignoring the scourge of hate.

“When antisemitism rears its head, I believe we must respond, and we have,” he said.

He also critiqued the hearings themselves, which he previously suggested were political theater.

“I would call on Congress, quite frankly, to put the call out to action, to bring us together, to talk about how we solve for this,” Banks said. “This convening for too many people … feels like the ultimate gotcha moment.”

Banks testified alongside school leaders from Montgomery County, Maryland and Berkeley, California. The congressional appearance has high stakes. Some Ivy League leaders who recently testified before Congress were criticized for not strongly condemning antisemitism, creating controversy that eventually prompted their resignations. Educational institutions nationwide have been wrestling with surges in Islamophobia and antisemitism after Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked the ongoing war in Gaza.

Meanwhile, a group of New York City teachers and students planned to rally outside education department headquarters on Wednesday afternoon. In social media posts, organizers from a group called NYC Educators for Palestine stated that they would condemn Israel’s war in Gaza, as well as Banks’ failure to protect Pro-Palestinian teachers, students and parents.

The demonstration’s timing was notable. Pro-Palestinian students at Columbia University set up an encampment on campus and staged protests that have been imitated at universities across the United States after the school’s President Minouche Shafik testified before a House committee last month.

“The stories coming out of the New York City Public Schools are harrowing,” Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Florida) told Banks. “You’ve been accused of doing nothing and turning a blind eye.”

Banks rejected the allegation and said the education department had removed or sought to discipline at least 12 staff members in connection with antisemitic incidents. He added that at least 30 students were suspended, and all 1,600 principals had been retrained on disciplinary rules.

Banks also said the city is creating new curricula on hate crimes and Jewish history and culture, and is partnering with the Museum of Jewish Heritage to create a new Holocaust education guide.

“We cannot simply discipline our way out of this problem,” he said. “The true antidote to ignorance and bias is to teach.”

Banks said Israel “absolutely” has the right to exist, and said the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants in Israel was a terrorist attack.

When asked if the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is antisemitic, Banks replied, “I think most Jewish people experience that as antisemitic and as such it’s not allowed in our schools.”

Bean praised Banks’ answers, but noted that university presidents had also promised to beat back antisemitism in their hearings, even as “their campuses (were) on fire with hatred.”

Banks was also questioned about episodes at specific schools.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-New York) and Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah) questioned Banks about a protest that took place at Hillcrest High School in Queens last fall, where city officials said roughly 400 students stormed the hallway and added that many of them were targeting a Jewish teacher who had posted a pro-Israel picture on social media.

Rep. Brandon Williams (R-New York) dubbed Hillcrest “Open Season on Jews High School,” but Banks — a Hillcrest alum — rejected that moniker.

“What happened at Hillcrest was a complete act of antisemitism, it will not stand on my watch,” Banks said. He noted that the school’s principal was removed and some students were suspended for the incident.

The exchanges between Banks and lawmakers were sometimes heated, with both the chancellor and congressmembers raising their voices and speaking over each other.

Stefanik emphasized that Hillcrest’s principal was removed from his post, but hadn’t yet been fired. He now works in the department’s bureaucracy. Stefanik also interrogated Banks about a teacher at Gotham Tech High School in Queens who posted an image of a paraglider on social media with the slogan “I stand with Palestine.” Stefanik said the image celebrated Hamas terrorists and pressed Banks for details about how the teacher had been disciplined.

Banks said he thought the post was “disgusting” and added that “action was taken,” but wouldn’t offer more specifics.

He emphasized that the incidents were not representative of the nation’s largest school system.

“I would be careful to cast aspersions on an entire system,” Banks said. “We’ve had members of Congress who have made antisemitic statements. And I certainly would not cast aspersions on this entire institution.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-New York) emphasized that schools must combat Islamophobia just as strenuously as they battle antisemitism.

“Can we teach about antisemitism and other forms of hate simultaneously?” Bowman asked.

“Yes,” Banks replied. “Not only can we, we must.”