Anti-Israel teaching assistant fired from NYC elementary school after being handcuffed at Columbia
An embattled Brooklyn teaching assistant who was handcuffed at a Columbia University protest last week has been fired, The Post has learned.
James Parra, a fifth-grade paraprofessional at Brooklyn Arbor in Williamsburg who called Israel a “racist” and “terrorist” state, shared his ouster on social media Wednesday.
“After 8 years of dedicated service and after 6 months of doxxing and harassment and Zionist parents making themselves the victims, my superintendent just a few moments ago terminated me from my position,” Parra, 27, wrote on Instagram.
“F–k these Zionists and f–k these administrators who are complicit and sympathizers with Zionism and genocide,” he added with a photo of himself wearing a keffiyeh while a child hugs him.
Parra received a summons on April 22 for refusing to move from outside the campus gates at a pro-Palestine protest.
The former one-on-one special-ed paraprofessional attended LaGuardia Community College and Hunter College, according to LinkedIn and a GoFundMe he started to raise tuition money.
At a parent council meeting on April 18, Parra blasted his boss, Superintendent David Cintron, as a “spineless coward” for not protecting him from the backlash he received after posting on Palestine — apparently while on the job — including photos of himself wearing a keffiyeh.
Controversial Community Education Council 14 President Tajh Sutton responded to his rant, “We love you, James,” and added, “You are the best of this district.”
Sutton was reprimanded by city Schools Chancellor David Banks in an April 16 letter for “improper conduct” by involving herself in Parra’s personnel matter after his suspension in February.
Parents and activists have demanded Parra’s removal for months. In January alone, the DOE received more than 850 complaints about him.
“There is no place in NYC or in the NYC Public Schools for anti-Jewish rhetoric or hatred of any kind,” Tova Plaut, founder of the New York City Public Schools Alliance, told The Post.
The DOE confirmed Parra’s firing in an email.
Parra did not respond to requests for comment.