Buenos Aires mayor vows to punish teacher who waved Palestinian flag during school ceremony
Federico Puy, a left-wing activist and union leader, made the display during the Argentine holiday of Teacher’s Day
Federico Puy, a teacher in Buenos Aires, is facing penalties after unfurling a Palestinian flag at a school assembly. Screenshot of broadcast
(JTA) — BUENOS AIRES — The mayor of Buenos Aires is moving to punish an elementary school teacher who posted a video of himself unfurling a Palestinian flag and asking his students to applaud “for the teachers in Gaza and the children of Palestine.”
The city is opening disciplinary proceedings against Federico Puy, a left-wing activist and teachers union leader, over the incident, which took place Thursday on the Argentine holiday known as Teacher’s Day.
“I wanted to pay a small tribute to the teachers of Gaza, to the children in Palestine who are being killed by the massacre carried out by the State of Israel, and also to those traveling on the flotilla trying to reach the West Bank,” Puy told assembled students, according to the widely circulated video. ”So I brought a Palestinian flag and I ask for a big round of applause.”
His audience applauded as instructed.
Una bandera Palestina en mí escuela. Un acto diferente. En el día del maestrx, mí homenaje a las y los maestros de Gaza, a las infancias asesinadas por el ejército de Israel y a la resistencia palestina. pic.twitter.com/4h3K6iuTlb
— Federico Puy (@fedepuy) September 10, 2025
The Argentine Jewish political umbrella organization DAIA decried the incident and said it represented a bastardization of Teacher’s Day, which honors an educator who was influential in Argentina’s development and became its president in the 19th century.
“This behavior is extremely serious, not only because it distorts the main purpose of the event, but also because of the impact that an educator’s words, silences, and gestures can have on students and families,” DAIA said in a statement. “Legitimizing Jew-hatred by abusing such a sensitive role as that of a teacher undermines the basic principles of democracy and equality.”
Explicitly political advocacy in the classroom is banned under Argentine law. But the bid to punish Puy also comes as Argentina is one of the few countries whose government remains staunchly supportive of the Israeli government two years into the war in Gaza.
Mayor Jorge Macri, elected in 2023, is a member of Propuesta Republicana, a center-right political party that has allied with President Javier Milei, a personal and political supporter of Israel. A cousin of the party’s leader Mauricio Macri, a past mayor of Buenos Aires who was president of Argentina from 2015 to 2019, Jorge Macri was endorsed by Milei.
“What happened in this school is very serious and the person responsible will be sanctioned with the full weight of the regulations,” Macri tweeted. “Using the classroom to impose an ideology is indoctrination we will not allow.”
Education Minister Mercedes Miguel noted that the country’s Teacher Statute establishes a duty to “educate with absolute independence from partisan or religious beliefs, promoting democratic principles and respect for human rights.” He called Puy’s conduct “inadmissible” and said an administrative inquiry would be opened under city rules requiring political neutrality in schools.
Puy is the press secretary of the Ademys teachers union, which issued a statement defending him and denouncing the ministry’s response as “persecution.” His supporters, including a lawmaker who raised his case in the legislature, argued that he did not make a partisan statement and that his message supporting the children of Gaza, who have largely not attended school for nearly two years, was in keeping with the theme of Teacher’s Day.
Teachers unions in the United States and beyond have long been a frontier of tension over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, dating before the current war in Gaza.
