The National Union of Teachers has “temporarily” pulled an education resource pack, after accusations that it was “spreading political propaganda” in classrooms by promoting Palestinian “resistance”.
Earlier this week, the Telegraph disclosed that the NUT had designed and promoted a teaching resources pack, under a partnership with Edukid, a children’s education charity, which asks teachers to explore themes of Palestinian “occupation, freedom and resistance” whith school children.
An NUT spokesperson said on Tuesday: “The NUT and Edukid are temporarily withdrawing the jointly developed ‘My Name is Saleh’ teaching resources – which examine the situation of a Palestinian child through the framework of the UN Rights of the Child.
Edukid and NUT teaching resource pack
“The NUT remains confident in the materials but we are always prepared to consider concerns about publications we have any involvement with. Legitimate support of the United Nations definition of the rights of the child are something that we will of course uphold.
“The NUT has a long and proud tradition of providing resources including those that tackle challenging subjects which teachers have to be equipped to address in the classroom.”
The resource pack, titled “My Name is Saleh”, and an accompanying video were launched at the NUT annual conference in April.
Concerns had been raised that the resource pack gives a “one sided” and “divisive” view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to children aged as young as three or four.
Images in the pack’s appendix feature a Palestinian child who has been “assaulted by settlers” and the video contains a reference to “Jews” as opposed to “Israelis”.
Guto Bebb MP, a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against anti-Semitism, said: “The very fact that the NUT had to withdraw this document under pressure is a sad state of affairs.
The education charity Edukid say on their website that they have partnered with the NUT on the project (Edukid)
“As someone who was involved in the drafting of the APPG Against Anti-Semitism’s report into anti-Semitism in the UK, the use of ‘Jews’ for ‘Israeli’s’ is specifically highlighted as latent anti-Semitism.
“As a left-wing organisation professing inclusivity, it is shocking that it does not have a system of checks and balances in place to prevent this sort of offensive publication that masquerades as an educational resource”.
Board of Deputies of British Jews Chief Executive Gillian Merron said: “Following representations from the Board and others we are pleased that the NUT have decided to pull its tendentious EDUKID teaching resource, albeit temporarily .
“Pupils learning about what it a very complicated conflict should be given a balanced view rather than this one-sided account and we appreciate the support of government on the issue.”