Oakland Unified School District emails reveal “Teach-in for Gaza” materials featured pro-Hamas, anti-Israel content
Incidents
- Issues
- Antisemitism
A public records request to the Oakland Unified School District revealed educators who are members of the Oakland Education Association (OEA) for Palestine caucus hosted a “Teach-in for Gaza” which included pro-Hamas and anti-Israel lessons and materials. A guest speaker for a webinar for staff and students claimed that Israel is a “project to completely replace the indigenous population with a settler one. It’s an attempt to exterminate the Palestinians, carried out through a collusion between Israel, the U.S., the European Union, and other Western powers.”
On October 25, 2023, a teacher posted an announcement to her class about the upcoming Oakland Board of Education meeting where a ceasefire resolution would be presented to the board. The post stated: “Tonight starting at 5:00pm, I will be joining the Oakland Board of Education Meeting to stand in solidarity with our student director’s planned statement, and to propose a resolution calling for an end to the invasion and attack on Gaza.” It continued: “If you are interested in hearing the discussion, you can listen in by clicking on the Zoom link attached below. If you’d like to speak out on this important issue you can sign up at …”
On December 6, 2023, an assignment posted to students titled “War in Gaza Opinion Paragraph” directed students to “use the slide deck to learn more about the current war in Gaza and write a paragraph for extra credit equivalent to one daily assignment in any class.”
According to emails, on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, the OEA for Palestine caucus offered district staff and students access to a Zoom webinar teach-in titled “From Gaza to Oakland: An Overview of What’s Happening in Israel & Palestine.” Speakers for the webinar included representatives from Palestinian Youth Movement, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Black Alliance for Peace.
A presentation included with the webinar featured slides that stated that “Hamas is an Islamist political group focused on Palestinian liberation” and that “Hamas stated the October 7 attack was a response to the Israeli occupation, the blockade of the Gaza Strip, restrictions on movement of Palestinians, Israeli violence against Palestinians, the and [sic] imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians.”
Webinar materials also included a “Notetaker for From Gaza to Oakland: How Does the Issue Connect to Us?” document for students who were participating in the teach-in.
An email exchange with an OUSD teacher and OEA for Palestine member featured a back and forth with a member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA who was asking to bring members of its youth organization into the teacher’s classroom to speak to students.
The email stated that they “have a youth group, the Revcom corp; and I’d like to propose a few of them could visit one of your classes with an overall topic of what a rare time we are facing in the year 2024…from Gaza to the elections etc. Not suggesting a lecture, but more of a back and forth guided by you.”
The teacher responded: “Just marched in SF today! I no longer work at the high school level and now work online. Glad you are organizing for Gaza, but I don’t have a classroom available.”
On April 30, 2024, an email revealed staff sharing resources for a “mini teach-in about Gaza.” The staff member also stated: “Hope these materials might help anyone wanting to give students a May 1st update about Gaza.”
Another email on April 30, 2024, stated that “as middle school suspended SBAC testing tomorrow, I’m sharing this link to the resources from the last teach in on Palestine to support the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People!” The email included a link to a document created by the Oakland Education Association titled Educational Resources on Palestine.
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