Philadelphia’s public libraries are turning library indoctrination into a summer pastime by hosting “Palestine Storytime & Crafts” events aimed at children. The Free Library of Philadelphia, funded by state and federal dollars, has scheduled at least six events this summer with Families for Ceasefire Philly—an extremist anti-Israel group that pushes narratives calling Israel an apartheid state and teaching kids that Jews senselessly murdered Gaza’s children.
One session scheduled for August at Kingsessing Library will feature a map showing Israel entirely replaced by “Palestine” and include slogans like “Jerusalem, we are coming”—used by Hamas and Hezbollah. Lovett Memorial Library held a June storytime around “A Map for Falasteen,” where a narrator said Israeli soldiers “came with their tanks and guns,” renaming Palestinian villages. Another event at Fishtown Library offered coloring pages celebrating the Palestinian “right of return,” depicting house keys as symbols—even though that narrative denies Israeli sovereignty.
These Palestine Storytime events don’t hide their intent. A February rally by Families for Ceasefire Philly declared “all glory to the martyrs” and provided guidance on teaching youngsters to see Hamas as freedom fighters. Jewish leaders have blasted these programs, arguing libraries should remain safe spaces—not venues for “twisting around the facts of history” and promoting Jew-hatred.
Steve Feldman of Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) Philadelphia warned, “Libraries are viewed as safe places… They’re not indoctrination centers.” Parents trust libraries to protect their children, not recruit them into ideological crusades.
