Nearly three-quarters of Jewish members of teachers’ unions say they have censored themselves in union spaces because of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hostilities, according to a new Anti-Defamation League (ADL) report.
The report, released on Thursday, is based on a survey of 307 Jewish teachers’ union members in 24 US states, as well as focus groups. Respondents were primarily current and retired K-12 teachers.
Among those surveyed, 73.6 per cent reported feeling they had to censor themselves in teachers’ union spaces due to hostility against Jews, Zionists and Israel, and 47.6 per cent said they had curbed their involvement in some union activities due to the hostility.
“Teachers’ unions were built on the promise of solidarity, fairness and dignity for every worker,” Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the ADL, stated.
“This report makes clear that this promise is being broken for Jewish educators across the country.
“What we found is not the work of a few bad actors. It is a structural and cultural failure.”
The report also found that 53.4 per cent of respondents said their unions had inconsistently enforced anti-harassment policies in cases involving Jews or Zionists over the past year.
Nearly 52 per cent said they had witnessed instances in which the October 7 attacks were whitewashed or denied, while 43.7 per cent said their unions had provided platforms to speakers who justified violence against Jews or Israel.
More than a third of respondents, 36.5 per cent, said they had been accused of being “baby killers,” “genocide supporters” or “colonisers.”
Another 36.8 per cent said they had encountered union members justifying Hamas’s actions, while 27.8 per cent said they had encountered comparisons between Jews or Zionists and Nazis.
The report similarly found that 73.3 per cent of respondents strongly or somewhat agreed that their unions’ statements about the war in Gaza were problematic because they failed to condemn October 7 or Hamas.
And 68 per cent said calls within their unions to sever ties with mainstream Jewish organisations were problematic.
Among Jewish union members who considered the treatment of Jews, Zionists or Israel in their unions problematic and reported their concerns to leadership, 69.1 per cent said they were “not at all satisfied” with the response.
Another 15.2 per cent said they were “a little satisfied,” 12.9 per cent were “somewhat satisfied,” and 2.8 per cent were “very satisfied.” None said they were “extremely satisfied.”
The findings come amid continuing tensions over Israel and antisemitism within teachers’ unions.
At the National Education Association’s Representative Assembly in July, delegates adopted measures addressing Jewish education and other concerns raised by the union’s Jewish Affairs Caucus. Jewish organisations, including the ADL, welcomed the steps while saying they did not reflect the experiences of all Jewish educators in their local unions.
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