Oakland school district teachers plan pro-Palestinian ‘teach in,’ ask students to draw a Zionist leader
Teachers in Oakland, California, are planning a pro-Palestinian "teach in," scheduled for Wednesday, December 6, according to documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
Oakland Unified School District's superintendent, Kyla Johnson-Trammell, issued a warning to teachers planning to hold the unsanctioned event that she said is not aligned with district educational protocol.
"I want to again make clear that our expectation is that all educators, in every classroom across the District, take seriously their responsibility to adhere to principles of education, and to keep their personal beliefs out of the classroom," she said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital.
Materials included in the Oakland Teach-In Curriculum Resources ask elementary school-age children to draw what they think a Zionist leader looks like and what the definition of a massacre is.
A Lincoln Elementary School teacher who was identified by FOX KVTU as Jacob Fowler appeared in a YouTube video on Wednesday calling on teachers in the district to use the Palestine curriculum.
"We're asking that all teachers in the whole city participate in support of the event," the teacher said in the video. He argued a teach-in was an effective use of labor power and an important tool to give students "counter narratives."
Another teacher in the video argued teachers have the academic freedom to teach what they want, in part because they are backed by the Oakland Education Association (OEA), but other teachers told KTVU that the teach-in is not authorized by the official OEA and is instead backed by a small group called "OEA for Palestine."
The OEA was under fire last month after it published an anti-Israel statement that said it "unequivocally condemn[ed] the 75-year-long illegal military occupation of Palestine," making no reference to the October 7 terrorist attack, KTVU reported.
"The Israeli government created an apartheid state and the Israeli government leaders have espoused genocidal rhetoric and policies against the people of Palestine," OEA said in its statement before it was modified. "As educators of a diverse community here in Oakland, including those with family and friends directly impacted, our conscience demands that we say clearly that OEA calls for a ceasefire and an end to the occupation of Palestine."
The curriculum materials don't mention the Holocaust by name and instead declares that "During World War II, many Jewish people were killed and mistreated. The world wanted to make sure that never happened again. Unfortunately, the Zionists used it to justify displacing and killing Palestinians."
Throughout the curriculum, the material indicates that Israel is responsible for massacres and that Zionists are colonizing oppressors, citing "75+ years of Palestinian land theft" and referring to 2021 as the "2nd Nabka."
The material also defines Zionism as "a political goal of creating a country only for Jewish people," but the term is often used as a way to describe the movement that advocates for the development and protection of a Jewish nation, which is independent of Palestinian statehood.
"Palestine is a country located between Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon in the Middle East," the curriculum states. Although, the United Nations granted the State of Palestine observer status in 2012, it is not recognized as a state by the United States and dozens of other nations.
Josh Diamant, a Jewish music teacher at Lincoln Elementary School, told FOX KTVU that he strongly disagrees with the material, describing it as inappropriate and inaccurate.
"These materials misrepresent history," he said. "It misrepresents what Zionism even is. It reduces this incredibly complex conflict to simplistic slogans."
Diamant said that most of his colleagues have told him they are not going to participate in the "teach-in" because they don't believe it is an appropriate topic to discuss with third-graders. He also said he fears what will happen if students were to approach him on campus and ask him if he is a Zionist.
"It's putting me in the position to set the record straight," he said. "I'm not an expert on the Middle East. I'm a music teacher."
OEA for Palestine did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.