Teacher’s union removes resources calling Zionists ‘bullies’ and urging students to ‘pray’ for Palestine

An Oregon teachers union removed a Palestine teaching guide and toolkit from their website after community members criticized a coloring book that called Zionists “bullies” and workbooks calling for prayer.

The Portland Association of Teachers shared Palestine-centered teaching resources on their website earlier in the school year — but now the union says they have been removed after backlash.

“Our Executive Board (E-Board) has heard member concerns about democratic processes and systems in our union,” the newsletter read, per The Oregonian. PAT President Angela Bonilla also said the union’s executive board will now update the guide.

One material that sparked concern included a book shared by the union with teachers, “Handala’s Return: A Children’s Story and Workbook,” which contains the line: “[A] group of bullies called Zionists wanted our land, so they stole it by force and hurt many people.”

Two other activity packs listed in the toolkit call for students to engage in prayer, The Oregonian reports. One activity instructs students to write prayers, while another tells students to, “Pray for [Palestinians] to be safe and pray for them to be happy.”

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The toolkit and lesson plans also provided teachers with additional resources, including videos for students by National Geographic and Crash Course — an educational YouTube channel — explaining the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland condemned the materials: “This is an effort by the teachers’ union to promote what many feel is a biased and historically revisionist curriculum. The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland received numerous complaints from Jewish PPS teachers, parents, and even elected officials about the meeting and the materials.”

The Portland chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, which describes itself as “the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the world,” instead supported the union for sharing the resources.

The organization said the “ongoing attempts by the Jewish Federation and other pro-Israel groups to slander and condemn these efforts as ‘hurtful’ and ‘antisemitic’ are shameful,” Oregon Public Broadcasting reports.

Meanwhile, middle school teacher David Goldstein told The Oregonian he hopes the union apologizes for sharing the materials.

“What I’m upset about is the antisemitism and the intimidation and the unsafe environment they’ve created for the Jewish community of Portland, Oregon — and how that’s completely unacceptable,” Goldstein told the outlet. “I think they should apologize and explain how they’re going to prevent this from happening again. That’s a minimum.”

Bonilla told Oregon Public Broadcasting these resources and lesson plans were not part of any official curriculum, and instead were curated by “members who volunteer their time to provide materials for ‘Heritage months’/curricular materials for educators who are looking to integrate additional perspectives.”

The controversy in Portland comes as the Israel-Hamas war stretches into its eighth month. On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 people hostage. Since then, Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed more than 37,000 people, many of whom were women and children.