Who gets to teach teachers? Palestinian activist-led training sparks controversy in Minneapolis

There’s a controversy brewing in Minneapolis over how teachers should teach about Israel’s war in Gaza. A sub-group of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers union called Educators for Palestine is set to host a three-hour event Friday with local Palestinian advocate Taher Herzallah as the featured speaker.

Herzallah, the associate director of outreach and community organizing for American Muslims for Palestine, is under fire for comments he made during a webinar last year, calling Jewish people and Christian Zionists “enemy number one.” Herzallah, who is Palestinian, has criticized Israel’s actions in Gaza.

He told MPR News on Thursday that his “jumble of words” were taken out of context of a broader discussion with a mostly Muslim audience. He said he meant to call out Jewish Zionists, not Jewish people.

He said the blowback over his planned panel is “out of proportion.”

“This is a simple workshop about the history of Palestine, about Zionism, about BDS,” he said, referencing the movement calling for people and organizations to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel.

“I think a lot of people in the pro-Israel community, JCRC, Jacob Frey are not happy that a Palestinian is leading a discussion about the situation on the ground. They want to maintain a particular narrative about what’s taking place. They want to protect Israel at all costs, and they’ll step on anyone who’s trying to present an alternative narrative to what is happening,” Herzallah said Thursday.

“I bring my own personal lived experience as a Palestinian. I speak about my own family members who have been killed.”

Frey, who is Jewish, posted a video on social media this week condemning the workshop.

“I don’t want someone who hates Jews to be teaching our teachers on how they should in turn teach our students,” Frey said.

Lonny Goldsmith, editor of nonprofit local publication TC Jewfolk, affirmed his community is unsettled.

“I spoke to one Jewish teacher who teaches math. Like this isn’t teaching about the Israel-Palestinian conflict, isn’t something that has that should happen in her math class, is what she told me,” Goldsmith said. “It’s not something that has to happen in I would think the vast majority of classes that are taught in Minneapolis Public Schools.”

Herzallah said it’s important that teachers understand the historical context that led to the war to better inform their discussion with students.

Minneapolis Public Schools in a statement said they don’t have the ability to control activities of groups outside of the school day, but that the district does have “the ability to determine what is taught inside the classroom.”

“MPS remains committed to ensuring that curriculum is aligned with our values which include equity, representation and anti-racism. As a diverse community, we strive to provide a welcoming and safe learning environment for all students that is free from discrimination and harassment,” the statement continued.

“I also think that there should be a balanced narrative,” Goldsmith said. “I think somebody speaking from a perspective of, or somebody who comes from a perspective of hating Israel explaining what Zionism is, I’m not sure that's the appropriate source to talk about Zionism.”

Educators for Palestine did not respond to MPR News. On their social media account midday Thursday, the group announced they were moving the location of the training — called “Being an Educator in a Time of War and Genocide” — out of concern for their members’ safety, accusing Frey’s comments of endangering them.

The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and American Muslims for Palestine also did not respond to MPR News.

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