Seattle teacher who said it’s ‘offensive’ to identify as straight now suspended for comments on Hamas terror attacks
A Seattle high school teacher previously accused of ber🎉ating a student for describing himself as “straight” has been suspended for making pro-Hamas co𓃲mments – including that the te✨rror attack on Israel was justified and questioning whether women were raped.
Ian Golash, social studies chairman at Chief Sealth International High School, was placed on administrative leave on April 11 after Accuracy in Media, a conservative group that exposes antise🅠mitism on campuses, distributed a video interview with ꦰhim, .
Adam Guillette, president of AIM, asked Golash whether what happened to the Jewish state🐻 on Oct. 7 was justified. The teacher told him it was.
When asked whether the rape of women at the Nova music festiv🌜♒al in the Negev desert also was justified, Golash responded: “Where is the evidence that there was rape?”
Gౠuillette then asked him whether women were murdered at the festival and whether t♏heir deaths were justified.
“Yes,” Golash replied.
“The murder of innocent women just attending a music festival, that was justified in your opinion?” Guillette asked him.
“No, I t⛄hink resistance against Israel is justified, yes,” the teacher said.
Golash, who had already be♓en facing criticism over Facebook posts questioning the Hamas attacks, released a statement Wednesday saying he does not 𓄧support any killings.
“I think any atrocities that happened on October 7th including ꦡrape, mutilations or killings of civilians committed by Hamas figh🍬ters or Gazans or Israeli citizens or Israeli Defense Forces are deplorable and worthy of condemnation,” he wrote, according to the outlet.
The embattled teacher said he has tried to navigate the “information landscape” about the Oct. 7 attack, add♎ing that he wants to d☂ifferentiate fact from fiction.
He argued that while “Palestinians were justified in resistance to Israel in support of their liberation from an apartheid state,” he hoped the resistance woꦇuld be peaceful.
Golash also said he has received bomb threats and had strangers appearing at his home — calling the harassment “deeply troubling” and “antithetical to the kind of spirited debate and examining of different perspectives and dialogue in the interest of deeper understanding that I hope to have in my classroom.”
His father, Mike Golash, said on Facebook that his son “has been placed on paid administrative leave for the rest of the sem♔ester for speaking out against genocide in Gaza.
“He has been told not to speak to any students or teachers in the Seattle school system,” he wrote, adding that this occurred after his son was “attacked by t🐟he Zionists.”
Mike that he believ🦋es his son’s First Amendment rights have been violated.
In a statement, the school district said it “does not tolerate antisemitic, Islamophobic, or any kind of hate speech in its schools or offices.
“The circumstances surrounding a conversation between an Accuracy in Media representative and an SPS te𓆏acher on April 1 are deeply concerning,” SPS said. “We are conducting an immediate, a♕ppropriate investigation into this event.”
The di🏅strict added that it cannot comment on personnel matters while a review takes place.
News of the sus𝕴pension comes three months after Golash allegedly berated a student who described himself as ꦇ“straight.”
The student’s mom claimed that in the beginning of the school year, Golash provided students with a “Social Identity Wheel” worksheet asking th🀅em to reflect on various identities — including race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation.
After the 10th-grader labeled himself a👍s “straight,” the teacher allegedly told𓆏 him the term is “offensive.”
“It is completely🔴 inappropriate to dictate what terms a student can and cannot use to identify themselves with,” she wrote in an email to Golash and Principal Ray Garcꩵia-Morales.
The teacher denied singling out her son, but confirmed saying he prefers not to use the term “straight” because “it implies that to not be straig🐬ht is to be ‘crooked,’ which could have a negative connotation.”
The mother said she 🍌has since pulled her chil♓d from Golash’s class.
In a pr🦄evious statement, Seattle Public Schools said it is “committed to fostering inclusive environmen🎀ts that encourage the exploration of contemporary issues.
“Our district has a formal process for s🦋tudent complaint resolution and citizen concerns about employee actions. We take issues dealing with discriminationꩵ, harassment or bullying seriously,” it said.
