"Biggest teachers’ union to blame Israel for war in Gaza

National Education Union calls on members to campaign for Palestine and says it will publish ‘educational resources’ about the conflict"

Telegraph: 30th March 2024: Telegraph reports on possible further politicising of our children's education

"Leaders of the National Education Union (NEU) are calling on their 300,000 members to actively campaign for Palestine and “increase understanding” of the conflict. The union’s executive board has backed a motion, to be discussed at the annual conference [Thursday], which declares that “Israel’s hard-right, racist government is the main driver of conflict, violence and war in Palestine and Israel”.

The motion, which also calls for the NEU to support the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Stop the War Coalition, will be debated despite laws that forbid teachers from pushing their political views in classrooms...

Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, said the motion was “wholly inappropriate” and “completely ignore[s] the horrific terrorist attacks committed by Hamas on October 7”...

Mr Kebede (general secretary of the union) is planning to speak at a Palestine solidarity demonstration on Saturday, ahead of the start of the union’s annual conference in Bournemouth next week. Asked by The Telegraph whether teachers should be taking a political stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict, Mr Kebede said: “Our union has a long history of standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people. It’s a union position.

Molly Kingsley, founder of UsForThem, the parents’ campaign group, said: “It is really disappointing to see the NEU wading into such an emotionally charged area and using language demonstrating such clear bias. This can be expected to upset many students – and for that matter, teachers. Given how behind so many children are after the pandemic it would be much better to see NEU channel their energies into helping children catch up...”

FULL ARTICLE HERE

Added note: The leader of the NEU is Daniel Kebede -  a militant trade unionist and pro-Palestine campaigner took over as general secretary last year. Kebede was embroiled in an anti-Semitism row last year when a clip emerged of him speaking at a rally in Newcastle, where participants were heard calling to “globalise the intifada”.