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Board of Deputies welcomes new guidance for schools to avoid bias when teaching about Israel

Sensitive political topics should be taught in 'fair and dispassionate way' says Department for Education

February 17, 2022 11:52
Gaza Strip Israel war conflict
Israeli soldiers fire a 155mm self-propelled howitzer towards the Gaza Strip from their position near the southern Israeli city of Sderot on May 13, 2021. - Israel faced an escalating conflict on two fronts, scrambling to quell riots between Arabs and Jews on its own streets after days of exchanging deadly fire with Palestinian militants in Gaza. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)
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New government guidelines for schools to take a balanced approach to teaching politically sensitive topics such as the Israel-Palestine conflict have been welcomed by the Board of Deputies.

Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board, said the guidance showed, “how schools should meet their existing legal duties on political impartiality and includes bias around teaching about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and issues with inappropriate pupil-led political activity – which, last year, included antisemitic behaviour and the targeting of Jewish pupils and staff in some places”.

Introducing the guidance, the Department for Education said it would “help teachers and schools navigate issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the legacy of the British Empire or societal responses to racism in accordance with the law”.

Last May, the then Education Secretary Gavin Williamson voiced concern about the backlash on Jewish staff and students in non-Jewish schools during the violence in Israel and Gaza, when anti-Israel sentiment spilled over into antisemitism.