A Brooklyn public school teacher is under investigation after a lawsuit revealed that he praised Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the October 7 massacre, in a group chat.
Damien Neva, 48, wrote "Long live Yahya Al-Sinwar" in a Signal group in November 2024, weeks after Israeli forces killed Sinwar in Gaza, according to the complaint. Neva teaches special education at PS 77 in Park Slope and started in the post this year. The New York Post first reported the story.
The message surfaced in a lawsuit against the Park Slope Food Coop, a 16,000-member cooperative grocery that voted in May to stop selling Israeli products. Five Jewish members filed the suit on September 28 in Kings County Supreme Court, arguing that the boycott violates the coop's bylaws and New York's anti-discrimination laws. The complaint describes Neva as one of the leaders of the boycott campaign.
In the same chat, the filing says, he wrote that pro-Israel and Jewish members "don't have the votes to block the campaign."
The boycott passed with 67 percent in favor and 31 percent against, after the coop lowered the threshold for approval from 75 percent to a simple majority, according to the suit. The vote ended a fight that had divided the coop for years.
Neva's social media accounts carried anti-Israel content, including an image of a Star of David covering the Statue of Liberty and a comparison between Warsaw in 1944 and "Palestine" in 2024. Before becoming a teacher he worked in the fashion industry as a photographer and social media director.
The New York City Department of Education said the allegation has been referred for investigation. "Antisemitism and support for terrorist organizations have absolutely no place in our school system," a department spokesperson said.
Former state assemblyman Dov Hikind called for Neva to be fired. Neva did not respond to requests for comment. The coop itself is not accused of endorsing his statement.
