By Betsey Piette
July 10, 2024

Philadelphia

Hundreds of educators held a pro-Palestine rally outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia on July 3. They were participating in the National Education Association Representative Assembly, where they planned to introduce 10 New Business items (NBIs) involving education around Palestine, U.S. military spending in support of Israel, support for boycotts targeting Israel  and solidarity with Palestinian unions and with teachers in the U.S. engaged in protests against the genocide in Gaza.

The rally was called by NEA Educators for Palestine, who are also pushing the U.S.’s largest teachers’ union to hold a secret ballot vote to rescind its endorsement of President Joe Biden “until he stops funding the Israeli military, decries Israel’s war crimes and brings about an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.” (NBI34) (@NEAforPalestine on X)

The conference, which started July 4, was expected to draw 7,000 members to Philadelphia.

Biden was scheduled to speak at the NEA conference on July 7, but was forced to cancel when the National Education Association Staff Organization on July 5 announced plans to go on an Unfair Labor Practice strike against NEA headquarters in Washington, D.C. The staff organization is accusing the NEA of wage theft and failure to provide information on outsourcing $50 million worth of member work to outside contractors. The strike  lasted two days. (thehill.com, July 5)

Members of Educators for Palestine had already introduced their NBIs for consideration and a vote by NEA members. They seek to educate union members on the crisis for Palestinians under Israeli occupation. This includes having the NEA “use its digital communication tools to educate about the history of the Nakba.” Another called on the NEA to “educate members about the difference between anti-Zionism and antisemitism.”

NBI 10 called for the NEA to “publish the total funds the U.S. has spent toward military support for nations known to have committed crimes against humanity.”   NBI42 calls on the NEA to “host a webinar on genocide including an explanation of the term and its history and information on past and current genocides.”

Two NBIs involved the the union’s public opposition to spending federal funds on weapons for genocide in Gaza, instead demanding this money be allocated to public schools; and that the NEA publish names of members of Congress who accepted donations or received endorsements from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and/or the Democratic Majority for Israel.