Britain’s largest teaching union has voted to condemn “Israeli apartheid” and blame the Jewish state’s “hard-right, racist government” for being the main force behind violence in Gaza.
After an occasionally fractious debate held at their annual conference on Thursday, National Education Union (NEU) delegates overwhelmingly backed a motion that Education Secretary Gillian Keegan had claimed would cause hurt to Jewish children and parents.
The text adopted began by noting, “the eruption of deadly violence between the Israeli state and Hamas in October 2023” and efforts by the UK government to, “criminalise peaceful tactics of boycott, divestment and sanctions… and to stigmatise solidarity with Palestinians.”
Conference believes, it continued, “the siege of Gaza, and the collective punishment of its people, must end immediately” adding: “Israel’s hard-right, racist government is the main driver of conflict, violence and war”
A teaching union will campaign against government plans to force schools to tell parents if their child changes gender.
Members of the National Education Union (NEU) agreed on Friday to oppose what teachers described as the “compulsory ‘outing’” of pupils to parents.
Teachers at the union’s annual conference in Bournemouth also said they would campaign against a ban on any aspect of “social transitioning” in schools, which could include allowing children to change their pronouns or use lavatories or changing facilities of the opposite sex….
Midge Lowe, a teacher from Doncaster, said the Government’s draft guidance was “regressive trash” and said teachers must campaign for it to be withdrawn.
She said: “This guidance, refusing to acknowledge the existence of trans children, is a risk, is harmful. Refusing to allow a cautious but early social transition is harmful and encourages risk-taking behaviour in later stages of life where it presents much greater harm.”
No delegates at the conference spoke against the motion, which also stated that “schools, colleges and external providers should not change or remove LGBT+ inclusive policies or curriculum content as ‘knee-jerk’ response to political rhetoric”.
It comes after The Telegraph revealed that primary school teachers are being told to allow children to change gender without informing their parents.
How the hard left take over unions: part 73 in a continuing saga.
Mick Hartley 
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