17-05-2025
Union tells teachers to bring ‘Palestine struggle' into schools
Britain's biggest teaching union is coaching its members on how to bring the 'Palestinian struggle' into schools.
The National Education Union (NEU) is holding a workshop next month to train members in how to 'advocate for Palestine in our schools'.
At the same time, the union encouraged teachers to hold a day of action at their place of work on Thursday to highlight 'the Palestinian struggle for freedom'.
Critics have accused the NEU of spreading pro-Palestine propaganda and warned that both events could breach legislation barring the promotion of partisan political views in schools.
They say the events could also go against rules requiring councils and head teachers to ensure pupils are presented with a balance of opposing views on political issues.
The NEU-organised workshop, being held in Liverpool on June 14, is being run by Makan, an educational group that works towards 'adopting educational approaches that capture the history of the Palestinian struggle', which are 'aimed at strengthening the movement for Palestinian liberation'.
Makan says its workshops are designed to provide 'foundational knowledge on key issues like the Nakba, settler colonialism, imperialism, and apartheid'.
It has led critics to fear that teachers who attend the Liverpool workshop will be encouraged to spread one-sided information about the conflict in Gaza.
The legal charity UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has now called on the Department for Education and local councils to crack down on what it says is the promotion of pro-Palestine and anti-Israel propaganda in schools.
It wants teachers to be reminded of their legal obligations in ensuring they do not promote 'partisan political views' in schools.
Caroline Turner, director of UKLFI, said: 'The NEU appears to be defying government guidelines on political impartiality in schools, by persuading teachers to brainwash children into supporting the Palestinian cause.
'This is extremely concerning and we hope that the local authorities and head teachers will act to ensure this does not happen.'
Many Jews say accusations of settler colonialism, apartheid and genocide levelled at Israel by some NEU activists are anti-Semitic – as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance – since they compare its actions to that of the Nazis and the Holocaust.
The union has rejected the claims, saying its members abide by their professional code of conduct to teach political subjects in a balanced manner.
The NEU-backed Nakba day of action encourages teachers to circulate petitions calling for the boycott of companies 'complicit in Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian land', including arms companies supplying Israel; and organise lunch-time meetings and after-school film screenings 'to educate colleagues about the Palestinian struggle'.
Several British trade unions backed Thursday's day of action, which marked the 77th anniversary of the Nakba, or 'catastrophe', regarded by Palestinians as the moment they were driven from their homes by the founding of the state of Israel in 1948.
A number of leading figures in the NEU are active in the pro-Palestinian movement, including Louise Regan, one of the union's executive members, who is also a director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign; and Daniel Kebede, its general secretary. He was due to address Saturday's national demonstration in London commemorating the anniversary of the Nakba.
They also include Mat Milovanovic, a London teacher standing for election to the union's executive, who has also campaigned against Prevent, the government programme to tackle radicalisation.
Liverpool city council has responded to UKLFI's call by saying it will remind teachers in the city's schools of the ban on the promotion of partisan political views in teaching, setting up a potential clash with the NEU.
Reena Bhogal-Welsh, Liverpool's director of education and inclusion, said she would also be writing to all schools and academies in the city to remind them of the ban and to 'take steps to ensure the balanced presentation of opposing views on political issues when they are brought to the attention of pupils'.
She added that 'teachers are free to attend protests outside of school' and that the council did not have the power to ban the June 14 workshop.
A Department for Education spokesman said: 'For any pupil to feel unwelcome or intimidated in their school is completely unacceptable. At a time when Jewish students are experiencing a surge in appalling anti-Semitism, teachers should consider the message they are sending to children and young people when taking part in these activities.
'It is a legal duty for teachers to be politically impartial, and schools should be a place of safety for all children – no matter their faith or background.'
The NEU defended its members taking part in actions of support of the Palestinian cause.
A union spokesman said: 'The day of action is explicitly for school staff and is not for students to participate in. It is not accurate to say it's designed to indoctrinate children and young people. What needs to be under the spotlight is Israel's breaches of international law and the wholly disproportionate retaliation against a whole civilian population, including vulnerable children.'
The NEU added: 'The event in June is looking at equipping teachers with the confidence and resources to manage conversations or issues that may arise from the ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestine. It is aimed at supporting individual pupils or staff directly impacted or strongly engaged in the Israel/Palestine conflict. It also looks at how best to address any negative fall-out arising from the conflict among pupils or families such as anti-Semitism or Islamophobia.
'Teachers know when addressing any political or sensitive issues in school their professional obligation is to do so in an impartial, respectful, calm and balanced way.'
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