Staffer at exclusive CT school on leave, city employee under ‘review,’ after confrontation over Gaza

Tensions over the war in Gaza have boiled over in New Haven during a public confrontation between two neighbors that has led to a city employee being placed under “review” and her spouse, who works at a private school in New Haven, being put on leave.

The incident occurred on Feb. 11 on Knollwood Drive as Thabisa Rich, wrapped in a Palestine flag, marched up and down the street in support of Palestine, calling for a cease-fire, according to her Facebook page and video of the incident posted to social media.

“I’ve done it before,” Thabisa Rich wrote on her Facebook page. “I’ll do it again a thousand times. At noon I will be on top of the hill Knollwood Drive by Hopkins High School. I will be protesting in my community for Palestine and a permanent Ceasefire. You are welcome to join.”

As Rich — who works as the community outreach coordinator for the New Haven Arts, Culture and Tourism Department — walked up and down the street with a megaphone chanting “Free Palestine now,” Rabbi Elchanan Poupko got into a debate over the Israel-Hamas war with Rich’s husband, Charles Rich, the video shows.

“She stood in front of my house with a megaphone and started screaming,” Poupko said in the video. “What’s that, if not Nazi behavior?

“Well you have a sign that says you support Israel,” responded Charles Rich, who is employed as the associate director of annual and reunion giving at Hopkins School, an exclusive private school for grades 7-12 in New Haven. “Do you support everything they’re doing?”

“Of course I support Israel,” said Poupko, an 11th-generation rabbi who is the founding editor of The Lamdan-The Wilf Campus Torah Journal and the President of EITAN-The American Israeli Jewish Network, according to his blog.

“Do you support everything they’re doing in Palestine?” Charles Rich asked.

“Have you gone to other homes here?” the rabbi asked, and says, “You’re a Nazi.”

When asked if he supports the killing of babies, Poupko responded by saying “Hamas killed babies.”

“I don’t like Hamas,” Charles Rich responded.

“So then why are you with a flag supporting Hamas here?” Poupko asked.”Why are you guys supporting Hamas?”

Poupko — who is a member of the Rabbinical Council of America according to his blog — then asked why South Africa is allegedly No. 1 in the world for rape cases and why Thabisa Rich wasn’t “protesting that” as she continued marching up and down the street chanting, the video showed before cutting off soon thereafter.

In the bio section of her website promoting her music, Thabisa Rich describes herself as a South African native who now resides in New Haven. She also describes herself as a singer-songwriter, artist and activist.

Following the altercation, Thabisa Rich posted to Facebook that she was insulted by a Jewish family and their neighbors “because they feel that I should go back to Germany.”

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said in a statement Tuesday that city officials are “actively reviewing this matter, collecting information and will act accordingly once our review is complete.”

“Ms. Rich’s personal statements, social media posts and actions on this issue represent her views alone, and she does not speak on behalf of the City of New Haven,” Elicker said.

“While people have very different and strongly held views on the war between Israel and Hamas, there is an appropriate time, place, and manner in which to express them,” the mayor added.

“In my view, Ms. Rich exercised extremely poor judgment in this regard. In addition, several of her personal statements and social media posts are incredibly offensive to our Jewish residents and the wider New Haven community,” Elicker said.

In a letter to the school community over the weekend, Head of Hopkins School Matt Glendinning said the incident “has raised significant concerns within the Hopkins and Jewish communities.”

“Earlier this week, we learned of a video circulating online showing a verbal altercation between a Hopkins employee, the employee’s spouse — who are both Hopkins parents — and a neighbor regarding the war between Israel and Hamas,” Glendinning wrote. “The spouse has stated she was engaged in a march to advocate for a ceasefire. In the video and in social media posts, the spouse used antisemitic language that is deeply concerning.”

“Pending further review, the Hopkins employee has been placed on administrative leave and both the employee and the spouse are precluded from being on campus,” Glendinning continued.

“As a community of learning, civility, and respect, Hopkins vehemently condemns speech that is hateful, harassing, and intimidating, including antisemitic speech,” Glendinning wrote. “Antisemitism in all its forms has no place in the Hopkins community or in our larger communities. While this incident did not directly involve the school or its students, we understand that issues such as this can be and have been very upsetting and unsettling.”

Beyond the letter sent to the school community, Hopkins officials declined to comment further, according to Dan Altano, director of communications at the school.

Thabisa Rich, Charles Rich and Poupko did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.