Teachers blocking plan to tackle antisemitism 'have no place in the classroom'

Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, said: “It is appalling that anyone would campaign against measures to tackle the antisemitism that is sadly affecting our schools. The NEU should disaffiliate this group immediately. How we respond to racism when it occurs is a test of us as a society. Any teachers actively undermining efforts to combat antisemitism have no place in our classrooms. The education secretary should call out this campaign, urgently engage with the NEU, and set out what further steps will be taken to ensure schools are safe for Jewish pupils and staff,” she said.

Labour MP David Taylor said: “It’s shocking to see a group linked to the biggest education union in the country campaign against measures to tackle antisemitism in schools.

“The rise in vile anti-Jewish racism in schools has been well documented, and this review couldn’t come soon enough.

“If the NEU is genuinely concerned with the welfare of children in our schools, it should support the government’s review, investigate this group and shut it down immediately.”

The government commissioned the Bell Review after school-related antisemitic incidents were recorded at double the levels seen before the October 7 attack in 2023.

More than one in five British-Jewish parents say their children have experienced school-related antisemitism, according to the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR), while a survey from the teachers’ union NASWUT found more than half of Jewish members had experienced antisemitism in the workplace in the past year.

Despite those figures, the NEU’s International Solidarity Network London joined Parents for Palestine and other anti-Israel campaigners urging ministers to abandon the review altogether.

A statement signed by the union wing accused the Bell Review of creating a “hierarchy of racisms”, warning it could be “weaponised to justify increasing surveillance and censorship of other oppressed communities”.

The statement also criticised the widely adopted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, claiming it “seeks to suppress criticism of Israel”.

“It is important to emphasise that making historical comparisons between the actions of the State of Israel with colonial genocides past and present, including but not limited to the Nazi Holocaust, is protected as a matter of academic freedom,” the statement went on, a reference to the fact that the IHRA definition advises such comparisons can be antisemitic.

The statement said teachers and parents are “concerned that this review will be used to discipline young people’s self-expression” and warned “this is in a context where several prominent groups who deliberately conflate antisemitism and anti-Zionism… continue to make legal threats against pro-Palestine advocacy organisations and professionals, as well as criminalise broader expressions of Palestinian identity and solidarity.”

Grassroots group Parents for Palestine encouraged parents and teachers to submit responses to the consultation arguing it risked suppressing criticism of the “Zionist settler-colonial project”.

A template response urged campaigners to dismiss the Bell Review as “not worthy of serious consideration” and warned it would “weaponise the rise of antisemitism to prevent any criticism of the State of Israel”.

The guidance described the review as “undemocratic”, “biased” and likely to “weaken the wider anti-racist agenda”.

The campaign condemned the use of the IHRA definition, describing it as “legally and ethically contentious” and “pedagogically harmful”.

It also objected to references to the government’s Prevent counter-extremism strategy, claiming it treats “racially marginalised students and staff as a suspect community”.

The campaign sits awkwardly alongside the NEU’s own guidance on teaching contentious political issues.

The union advises teachers discussing contentious issues including Israel-Palestine to give “equal importance to conflicting views and opinions, not presenting opinions as if they are facts”, while also encouraging staff to challenge any one-sided consensus that develops too quickly in the classroom.

Yet the same webpage also states that the union “strongly condemns” the proscription of Palestine Action.

On Saturday, the International Solidarity Network held its annual “Learning for Liberation” conference at the NEU’s London headquarters.

Dozens of teachers attended the event, with sessions on boycott campaigns, described in a PowerPoint as the “most effective (legal) strategy to effect change”, and the British arms industry in schools. One attendee was photographed wearing a T-shirt depicting a Palestinian militant with a slingshot alongside the slogan: “A woman’s place is in the revolution.”

In response to the group’s campaign against the government’s antisemitism review, activists against Jew-hatred have called for the union to take action.

Co-director of Labour Against Antisemitism Alex Hearn said the NEU should “disavow this pro-racist campaign and disaffiliate the International Solidarity Network.

“There must be no equivocation in this clear-cut case. The NEU are either against racism, or they are part of the problem,” he told the JC.

The Jewish Leadership Council said the instance “highlights the urgency with which Sir David Bell must conduct his review and why he must consider the role that teaching unions play in the concerning rise of antisemitism in schools.”

Parents Against Antisemitism said: “Teachers have a duty to create safe, inclusive learning environments for every child. Any association with conduct or rhetoric that undermines that duty, or contributes to hostility towards Jewish pupils and staff, must be taken extremely seriously. The NEU must not turn a blind eye to the anti-Jewish racism in its ranks and must demonstrate that safeguarding and professional standards take precedence over factional politics.”

A spokesperson for the Community Security Trust said the campaign to sabotage the Bell review is a “disgrace”.

“At a time when antisemitism remains at historically high levels in the UK, including amongst younger people, this campaign is a disgrace. You have to wonder at the motivations of anyone who would oppose efforts to tackle anti-Jewish racism,’ the CST said.

Danny Stone, chief executive of the Antisemitism Policy Trust, said: “As we saw with Lord Mann’s review of antisemitism in the health sector, there are those that will rush to condemn efforts to tackle racism before they even know what they are. Perhaps such groups and individuals should review their own prejudices before seeking to attack these efforts, something I would be astonished to see happen in any other anti-racism context.”

Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Munira Wilson MP, said: “The NEU exists to represent hundreds of thousands of teachers, some of whom will have been impacted by antisemitism themselves and many of whom will find these remarks completely unacceptable. Any groups actively campaigning against tackling antisemitism in our schools should be condemned and have no place in an organisation like the NEU.”

A spokeswoman for the NEU responding to the story said: “The NEU has taken part in the Bell Review, including meeting with David Bell and is preparing written evidence. It is important that schools are supported to tackle antisemitism and all forms of racism.

“Schools have complex and serious responsibilities. They are called upon to prepare young people for an adult world which is increasingly polarised. Individuals and other organisations will have a range of views about how to tackle antisemitism, racism and all forms of hatred and prejudice though education and some will have submitted those to the review. The purpose of this independent review is to discuss and deliberate over how best to do this and what works to instil positive values though educational spaces. This is a welcome step.”