Gavin Robinson says teaching unions aren't speaking for their members on Paul Givan's Israel visit
The DUP leader has hit out at teaching unions over their criticism of Paul Givan’s visit to a school in Jerusalem – saying they are speaking for themselves and not their members.
Gavin Robinson has described their statements as “loud and excitable screeching” – and slammed criticism from political opponents over the education minister’s Israel trip, saying his party “will not bend to it”.
Mr Givan has been under fire from nationalist and Alliance politicians this week over a trip to the Middle East funded by the Israeli government.
Other DUP politicians, as well as UUP and TUV representatives joined Welsh politicians on a trip to the Holy Land, meeting various communities and paying respects at the site of the October 7 Nova festival massacre. Palestinian Islamists killed 1,139 people and took around 250 hostages in the 2023 attack.
The Department of Education promoted Minister Givan’s trip Ofek School in Jerusalem on social media, saying it was “to learn more about Israel’s innovative approaches to gifted education and inclusive learning”.
Teachers’ unions criticised the visit, with the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council claiming the department’s promotion of the school visit was an “overtly political and divisive act” and urging that the post be deleted.
In an email to party members, Gavin Robinson said: “We have heard the loud and excitable screeching from representatives of some teaching unions against Paul Givan with a co-ordinated political campaign by others calling for his resignation.
“Some of these Union representatives are out speaking for themselves and not the many hard-working dedicated teachers within their organisations.
“These representatives involve themselves in public commentary and expressions that have not been put before their members and in many instances, it is simply a hatred of all things Israel that is seeping through.
“We see it and we hear it but we will not bend to it. In fact, we will stand strong and not be cowered by it”.
The DUP leader also condemned “the onslaught of republican representatives and their online trolls”, who he said “have been busy attacking our colleagues for going to Israel and seeing first-hand the terror that Israeli communities were subjected to on October 7th 2023”.
“There are some in the media who cannot hide their anti-Israel bias and who salivate at the opportunity to attack the DUP.
“Little do they write about Hamas terrorists and the jack-boot they have placed on poor Palestinian people or the impact of terror on isolated Israeli Jews. Their reports and commentary musings have long since been disregarded by the vast majority of our citizens and it is little wonder trust in some media output is at an all-time low”, the East Belfast MP told party members.
He said he was “delighted” that Paul Givan, alongside Sammy Wilson MP and David Brooks MLA were able to travel to Israel.
“The pan-Republican front of Sinn Fein, People Before Profit, SDLP all supported by the Alliance Party is actively at work.
“We will call them out and resist their hard left-wing, anti-Nato, anti-British, anti-common-sense philosophy. Given a freehand they want to destroy Northern Ireland and separate us from the rest of the United Kingdom”, he added.