Rantz: School ‘racial justice specialist’ co-founded anti-Israel group

The Northshore School District’s racial and educational justice specialist reportedly co-founded a virulently anti-Israel group that’s helping organize Seattle’s pro-Hamas rallies. And while she’s been organizing against Jews and Israel, she has been teaching students how to become left-wing activists.

Ranna Harb has been identified as the co-founder of Falastiniyat Seattle. The group claims to be a “grassroots collective of diasporic Palestinian feminists in Seattle.” In reality, it’s an extremist group that demonizes Jews and Israel. And the district doesn’t seem to mind if Harb is still involved.

Most recently, Falastiniyat Seattle was listed as endorsing a University of Washington (UW) hate rally. A speaker at the rally told the crowd, “We don’t want Israel to exist. We don’t want these Zionist counter-protesters to exist.” Another speaker, UW professor Meghan Ybarra, asked, “Why does our timeline for justice start on Oct. 7?”

Falastiniyat Seattle also helped organize local hate rallies denouncing Israel, spreading antisemitic misinformation, and celebrating Hamas terrorist attacks. At one recent Seattle rally, speakers and the crowd praised Hamas and attacks on Jews, declaring, “There is only one solution. Intifada revolution,” and “Long live the intifada.” An intifada is a violent uprising. They waived signs claiming “resistance is not terrorism.”

“Over the last few days, the people of Gaza have broken out of their prison and have reminded us of their right to resist Zionist colonization, occupation, and blockade, and their right to resist and live in an occupied Palestine,” one speaker said, justifying the rapes, kidnapping, and murder. She went on to blame Jews for murdering Gazans “in cold blood.”

"Why does our timeline for justice start on October 7th?" -Megan Ybarra (@MuyBarra) UW-Seattle Associate Professor in the Department of Geography.

She was a featured speaker at this week's pro-Hamas, anti-Semitic hate rally on campus. pic.twitter.com/r0NaKtyEcR

— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) October 27, 2023

Ranna Harb was organizing against Jews while teaching kids

It’s not clear if Harb is still organizing for Falastiniyat. But according to radical Fight Back! News, she organized a group of 50 to protest Israeli action in Jenin, which targeted a command and control center for militants, in July. She was employed with the district at the time.

After 50 attacks against Israelis, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) took action to dismantle the terrorist safe haven in Jenin. During the operation, the IDF said they found hundreds of explosives, weapons caches and underground tunnels. They detained at least 120 militants, killing at least 12. Harb defended the militants, calling them “martyrs,” according to Fight Back!.

“All the martyrs – past, present and future – of the Palestinian people, and all revolutionary struggles against imperialism, are in our hearts today. We will take up our own role in this ultimate global fight against colonialism, exploitation, imperialism and patriarchy,” Harb is quoted as saying.

More from Jason Rantz: UW Seattle activist declares ‘we don’t want Israel to exist’

Radical is guiding vulnerable students

As the district’s racial and educational justice department specialist, Harb works closely with students, guiding them to become left-wing activists.

Her role is supposed to be committed to creating an “inclusive, diverse and equitable” environment for students. When one celebrates terrorists murdering Jews, it’s hard to imagine she’s truly committed to that goal.

According to the district’s website, Harb’s department also celebrates cultural months throughout the year. They include Arab Heritage Month (April), which Harb spearheaded during a community panel for the school. Unsurprisingly, the district skips Jewish Heritage Month (May). And, unfortunately, the district doesn’t care.

Neither Harb nor Northshore School District spokesperson Carri Campbell (she/her/hers) responded to multiple emails seeking comment. Perhaps being an outspoken Jew triggered Campbell. She responded to my non-Jewish colleague asking the same questions.

“Our district doesn’t collect information about our employee’s association with external organizations. We only collect former employment information,” Campbell claimed.

It seems hard to fathom the district being OK with an employee organizing with the Proud Boys. They very clearly wouldn’t. This district has not hidden the fact that its goal is to turn its students into left-wing extremists.

Indoctrination by design

The Northshore School District, which serves portions of King and Snohomish counties, used the Black Lives Matter protests and riots to justify bringing radical left-wing politics into the classroom. As a result, educators and even school board candidates have courted controversies.

A Lockwood Elementary teacher offered a “veiled threat” to parents who pulled their kids from his music class when he turned into a seminar on LGBT issues. One science teacher at Canyon Park Middle School was caught using her classroom to shame kids for being “privileged.” She even instructed students to “dismantle the systems of oppression” as she sees them.

Currently, school board director candidate Han Tran is under fire for social media posts allegedly calling for the genocide of Jews. After apparently scrubbing her social media of past comments, Tran admitted to attending and speaking at an antisemitic rally in 2021. But, she now says, she does not “promote hatred or discrimination.”

Most recently, Superintendent Michael Tolley was forced to apologize for an Oct. 9 message to families where he warned students against responding to the terrorist attack with Islamaphobia. He did not mention the terrorists responsible, nor the Jewish victims. In a follow-up message, Tolley said his “message fell short for some families and didn’t convey what some needed to hear.” But in that same letter, Tolley conflated the Hamas terrorist attacks with Israel defending itself, claiming the Jewish state is somehow guilty of “murder.” He would not cite Hamas as responsible for the terrorist attack.

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Jewish group sounds the alarm

American Jewish Committee-Seattle has been monitoring local antisemitism in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Israel. The regional director, Regina Sassoon Friedland, is alarmed that Harb has influence over children.

“Ranna Harb’s involvement with Falistiniyat, a self-described collective of Palestinian feminists, raises concerns,” Friedland told the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH. “She recently led a public protest against Israel, where she glorified violence against Jewish Israelis. This is especially troubling when considering her role as Racial and Educational Justice Specialist with the Northshore School District.”

It’s already problematic that Harb is the so-called “racial and educational justice specialist.” Someone with such a radical background should obviously stay away from Jewish students. But she works for a district that seems to disregard how those Jewish students may feel if they knew Harb holds antisemitic views and organizes against Jews and Israel.

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