The National Education Union (NEU) has claimed its head, Daniel Kebede, “did not know” about the controversial views of an activist with whom he was photographed at a recent conference – even though the JC flagged them to the union in April.

This newspaper revealed four months ago that a Palestinian activist who spoke at the NEU’s conference had posted a statement praising the October 7 attack as a “bright day” and calling for Arab governments to support the “Palestinian resistance”.

At the time the NEU told the JC that the activist, Saed Erziqat, who is the head of the Palestinian teachers’ union, “addressed the impact of the ongoing conflict in Gaza on children, teachers and education” at the conference, but did not deny that he had shared the controversial material, which is still online.

This week the Sun published a photo of Kebede, NEU General Secretary, posing alongside Erziqat at an international education conference that took place last week in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

When the NEU was again asked this week about the Facebook comments shared by Erziqat, a spokeswoman said they were “not brought to the personal attention [of the general secretary] in October 2023 nor at the time of the JC’s article” and he “does not hold this view”.

They went on: “Now that it has been brought to his attention, the General Secretary will be raising concerns with the GUPT [General UNion of Palestinian Times] about language used.

"The NEU has been consistent in its condemnation of the attacks and hostage-taking carried out by Hamas on 7 October and we will continue to call for an immediate, safe and unconditional release of all hostages.”

The union, the spokeswoman said, “along with the UN and many countries including the US, continues to call for a ceasefire and an end to the atrocities that are being carried out by the Israeli government in Gaza.”

The statement posted by Erziqat days after October 7 and signed by a number of educational unions in Mauritania, called for Arab and Islamic governments to support “the viable Palestinian resistance” with money and equipment.

It celebrated “a bright day written with letters of honour and fatherhood in the record of the Palestinian strong resistance.

“In the ‘Tofan Al-Aqsa’ the waters of hope have run through the body of the Islamic nation, the veins are wet, the consciences have been refreshed, the reward for resisting the worries has been received, and the conviction of our people that the restoration of the occupied lands is possible if there is a will and efforts are added,” the statement said.

In 2021 Kebede was seen addressing a Palestine Solidarity Campaign rally in Newcastle, where he told crowds it’s “time to stand together and oppose apartheid, oppose the occupation and fight for Palestinian liberation”.

He went on to say: “Let’s do it for Palestine, Ramallah, West Bank, Gaza – it’s about time we globalise the intifada.”

In 2023 when his comments were made public, a spokesperson for the NEU said the slogan “globalise the intifada” was an expression of solidarity with the Palestinians and “of support for civic protests; it did not convey any support for violence”.

However the phrase is widely understood by Jews to mean a call for violent resistance against Israel. During the Second Intifada from 2000 to 2005, more than 1,000 Israeli civilians were killed in attacks that included suicide bombings on buses and at cafés.