Israel Hamas war Gaza: Belfast Jewish Community says NASUWT union pro-Palestine protests in schools will sow 'hatred'
The Belfast Jewish Community has branded a teaching union's plan for pro-Palestine protests as an attempt to "inculcate children with hatred and division" in what it said is supposed to be the "neutral and safe space" of schools.
The Jewish community spoke out after the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) asked its members to join a “day of action” today in which teachers in schools and colleges across NI would stage a lunchtime vigil “to reflect and show solidarity” with Palestinians.
The union also asked teachers to wear black “as a visible sign of remembrance and unity”.
However the Belfast Jewish Community has spoken out to say that calling for a day of pro-Palestine protests in schools is “a disgrace”.
It also challenged the NASUWT to address findings of serious politicisation of schools in Gaza.
Belfast Jewish Community chairman Neville Finch said: “This is an attempt to inculcate our children with hatred and division in a supposedly neutral and safe space and will only put fear into those pupils who come from families who would disagree with their prejudice.
“Where was their protest when it was found that teachers in Palestine were teaching children to hate Jews?
“Where was their protest when it was shown that schools in Gaza were used by Hamas terrorists for their war effort? The children of Gaza, who have experienced unimaginable suffering as a result of Hamas's genocidal actions, deserve better than this.”
In 2020 an EU investigation found that ‘Palestinian authority textbooks are replete with troubling references throughout all grades and subjects to anti-Semitic content and imagery, hate speech, and incitement to violence, martyrdom and jihad’.
It also noted that the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination had published a report ‘calling on the Palestinian authority to remove all incitement from their school curriculum’.
Responding to unionist concerns about pro-Palestinian protests in schools this week, NASUWT Northern Ireland national official, Justin McCamphill, noted that his union was joining a day of action organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) “in solidarity with the people of Palestine”.
He added: “The Irish Congress of Trade Unions represents almost all trade unions both in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The trade union movement in Palestine has asked the Irish trade union movement to show our solidarity with them at this time.
“In response, the ICTU have asked unions to think about ways they can show solidarity with Palestinian workers and the NASUWT Northern Ireland officers decided to issue advice to our members advising what they thought would be appropriate for teachers in schools.”
On October 7 2023 Hamas killed some 1,200 Israelis and took 250 hostage. The remains of two hostages – one Israeli and one Thai national – are still in Gaza.
Hamas says the subsequent war cost the lives of 69,700 Gazans.
The toll has increased during the current ceasefire, which is overseen by Turkey, Qatar, Egypt and the US.
The next phase includes developing an international body to govern Gaza.
Indonesia is to deploy 20,000 peacekeepers to a stabilisation force.
Major questions hang over the plan. In the meantime, nearly all two million Palestinians remain displaced and dependent on humanitarian aid, while Hamas retains significant control over half of Gaza.