Nancy Tamimi

Very important. The National Education Union effectively rejects the key recommendations of the new Independent Antisemitism Review, rejecting the IHRA Definition and suggesting current approaches create a hierarchy of racism. Directly says the report "will not tackle antisemitism." This review looks like yet another Labour Together Project disgrace - the long tail of McSweeney-Starmerism - that will likely inflame rather than reduce tensions in schools. Exasperating, infuriating stuff. Imagine telling teachers - teachers! In it for the kids! - that they can't talk about or show opposition Israel's genocide against Palestinian children. Here's what NEU's Daniel Kebede says: "However, recommending the IHRA definition for schools risks deepening the problem rather than tackling it, and actively undermining efforts to confront antisemitism. It is the wrong approach. The IHRA’s contested framing risks blurring the line between antisemitism and legitimate criticism of the Israeli government and the genocide in Gaza, leaving teachers with uncertainty when they need clarity. A young person’s opposition to the Gaza genocide and scrutiny of the Israeli government are not, in themselves, antisemitic. Young people must have the space to understand and discuss world events. Schools must enable young people to confront difficult issues openly and develop empathy, not drive teachers into silence or leave pupils afraid to express their views. Recommending the IHRA definition risks tightening the chilling grip already stifling classroom discussion of the Gaza genocide. Schools need practical support to confront antisemitism, not a contested framework that risks shutting down legitimate discussion. The very real risk is that children who cannot critically explore issues through classroom discussion will instead seek their answers in online and unsafe groups. “This report will not tackle antisemitism. It wrongly calls into question the professionalism of teachers. The existing rules on impartiality in the classroom are very clear and teachers take that responsibility very seriously. For three years, teachers have been responding to concerned pupils’ questions about this conflict. These classroom discussions are familiar territory, not uncharted ground. In that time there have been vanishingly few examples of the Teacher Regulation Agency holding up a complaint of lack of impartiality in the classroom. "The NEU welcomes a strengthened focus on antisemitism in the statutory safeguarding guidance and we would encourage the Department for Education to go a step further by strengthening the guidance on all forms of racism. We are concerned that addressing antisemitism without an equally clear commitment to tackling all forms of racism risks creating a hierarchy of racism. No form of racism should be minimised, and no pupil or member of staff should receive less protection. Similarly, the NEU welcomes training for staff on recognising and challenging antisemitism, but we would like to see this in the context of wider antiracism training. The lack of training and time for staff development is a real barrier and almost two thirds of teachers (65 per cent) report that they have not received any antiracism training of any kind within the past year."

Two weeks ago you were saying the Labour Party got it wrong on Gaza. Now you're accepting a report that will effectively ban meaningful and robust criticism of Israel in schools - and which plainly amounts to discrimination against any person expressing anti-Zionist views, despite it being a protected belief. It candidly and despicably says Muslims disproportionately express antisemitic views, because they hold anti-Israel views. It says 45% of all British people are antisemitic because they believe Israel treats Palestinians like Nazis treated the Jews - such would make NAZA antisemitic too. It recommends schools more actively involve Prevent - PREVENT! - where students express anti-Zionist or anti-Israel views. Appallung, gutless, reckless and inflammatory stuff, none of which will withstand even cursory legal scrutiny. The Labour Together Project lives on in the muscle memory of this genocide-complicit Labour administration.