UK: Teachers' union promoting “one-sided and partisan” literature on Middle East

Via Jewish News:

Jewish leaders have expressed concern over a new educational resource being promoted by the National Union of Teachers to British schools, claiming it is “one-sided and partisan” in its portrayal of the Middle East.

A five-part series profiling Palestinian children “living under military occupation,” produced by charity Edukid, was “inspired by a union visit to Palestine in 2013,” said NUT General Secretary Christine Blower.

The union facilitated access to Palestinians in the West Bank and Nazareth, but despite protestations by Edukid that it tries to remain “neutral”, no Jewish Israeli children were profiled, although thousands having endured years of rocket fire from Gaza.

“We are concerned that the literature presents a one-sided and partisan view of the political situation,” said a Board of Deputies’ spokesman.

“We have raised this issue at a senior level with the Department for Education, who share our concerns. We have also requested a meeting with the NUT to discuss the issues raised.”

Chris Turner, chief executive of Edukid, claimed: “We tried to get the Jewish perspective, and spoke to two organisations in Israel about profiling Jewish children, but both declined to work with us when they found out we were also profiling Palestinian children.”   more