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MTA has yet to remove antisemitic teaching materials from its resource list, critics say
Jewish advocates have called the resources ‘antisemitic' and 'deeply offensive.'
The Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) is under fire for not removing all alleged antisemitic materials from an educators’ resource list on the Israel-Hamas war.
According to a report by the Boston Herald, Jewish advocacy groups, the Anti-Defamation League, teachers, and state officials are blasting the MTA for not fully following through on its agreement to remove links to certain materials that critics say are biased and offensive.
The MTA said it would remove “any materials that do not further the cause of promoting understanding.” The concession followed a heated Feb. 10 State House hearing led by the Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism. At the hearing, MTA President Max Page was hammered with questions about the material and accused lawmakers of “political grandstanding.”
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Page and MTA Vice President Deb McCarthy later released a statement saying, “The way these resources were manipulated in such a fashion, so as to label the state’s largest union of educators as promoters of antisemitism, remains one of the more deplorable displays witnessed at the State House.”
The controversial material depicted a Star of David made out of folded dollar bills, a poster showing a hand grabbing a snake’s tongue with the words “unity in confronting Zionism,” and a poster depicting a person holding an automatic weapon with the words “what was taken by force can only be returned by force.”
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Critics say only some of the materials have been removed, but that as much as 95 percent of the controversial content remains available on the union’s “Resources on Israel and Occupied Palestine.”
“As far as I can gather based on what MTA members have shared and told me, there are still an abundance of antisemitic and one-sided materials on the site,” State. Sen. John Velis, who is a co-chair on the Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism, told the Herald. “To be sure, some have been taken down.
One such example, according to the Herald, is a link to a children’s workbook that calls Zionists “bullies.” The workbook, titled “Handala’s Return,” was created by the Palestinian Feminist Collective and focuses on a Palestinian child’s experience as a refugee.
“A group of bullies called Zionists wanted our land so they stole it by force and hurt many people,” the children’s workbook reads. Then later, “Children like me keep having their homes taken by the Zionist bullies. They are always scaring them and arresting them.”
The Anti-Defamation League told the Herald that it is outraged that the resource list “remains extremely one-sided and biased and still includes inflammatory, harmful, and factually inaccurate content.”
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The Massachusetts Educators Against Antisemitism teachers’ group told the news outlet that the content delegitimizes Israel.
“Massachusetts Educators Against Antisemitism is outraged,” the group said. “We had hoped that the MTA’s decision to address some of the troubling resources would lead them to reflect on whether the intention behind these curriculum resources was truly in the best interest of its members and the students it serves. Clearly this did not happen.”
Page said in a statement Friday that the teacher’s union is “maintaining its pledge and practice to review the resources on the war between Israel and Hamas available to union members and remains committed to providing relevant, appropriate, and useful material. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, the MTA does not endorse the views expressed in resources available to members.”
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