Latest news with #PalestinianStruggle
Telegraph
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Do schoolchildren need to ‘advocate for Palestine'?
What should children be taught about the war in Gaza? The simple answer is: nothing. Schools are not political institutions and keeping global conflicts out of the classroom allows teachers to focus on education. More realistically, faced with older pupils keen to discuss hot button issues, some teachers might decide to act as a neutral arbiter of debate. But the National Education Union seems intent on going further. Britain's largest teaching union not only wants to bring the 'Palestinian struggle' into schools, it plans to train members in how to 'advocate for Palestine'. At a workshop set to be held in Liverpool next month, teachers will learn 'educational approaches that capture the history of the Palestinian struggle' which are 'aimed at strengthening the movement for Palestinian liberation'. Let's be clear: this is neither neutral 'awareness raising' nor a straightforward dissemination of facts. By bringing 'the Palestinian struggle into schools' in this way, the NEU's leadership is taking one side in a fiercely contested global conflict and encouraging its members to do the same. After the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 2023, the NEU did not to my knowledge hold workshops advocating for Israel. Today, sadly, 'strengthening the movement for Palestinian liberation' effectively means siding with Hamas. This turns the classroom into a hostile environment for Jewish students at a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise, including, shamefully, within schools and universities. But the NEU has form on this issue. The hardline head of the union, Daniel Kebede, is a militant anti-Israeli activist who has attended numerous rallies and called on gathered crowds to 'globalise the intifada,' interpreted by many Jewish people as an incitement to violence. Meanwhile, another of the union's executive members, Louise Regan, is also a chair of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. The workshop is not the only pro-Palestine activity the NEU has planned. The union is encouraging teachers to hold a day of action at their place of work on Thursday to highlight 'the Palestinian struggle for freedom'. Of course, teachers should be free to hold whatever beliefs they like. And outside of school hours, they should have the same rights to protest as other members of the public. But when your place of work is a school and your audience is children who are compelled to attend, then you are not simply exercising your right to free speech: you are abusing your position. Teachers exercise huge influence over children's lives. Introducing children to knowledge of the world they have been born into is a huge responsibility and a tremendous privilege. Teachers shape children's attitudes and values. It is because of this power that the UK already has legislation barring the promotion of partisan political views in schools. Educators have a duty not to use the classroom as a recruiting ground for their favoured political causes. It is perhaps unsurprising that senior union officials seem confused as to where the boundaries lie between activism and teaching; after all, many aspects of schooling have been politicised. From lessons in sexuality and gender identity to the decolonised history curriculum, from campaigners addressing assemblies to pupils making videos to welcome migrants or fasting in solidarity with children in Gaza, the line between teaching and indoctrination appears increasingly blurred. Yet Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson's curriculum review looks set to take schools still further down this path. But for teachers to exploit the authority they have over children in support of a political cause is morally reprehensible. A teaching qualification should not give anyone the right to use the classroom as a pulpit and the 'Palestinian struggle' should be kept out of schools.
Telegraph
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
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 in their schools 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 they 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'. That 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 (IHRA) – since they compare its actions with 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. 'Illegal occupation of Palestinian land' The NEU-backed Nakba day of action encouraged 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-Palestine movement, including Louise Regan, one of the union's executive members, who is also a director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign; and Daniel Kebede, 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. No power to ban workshop 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.'
