The National Education Association (NEA), the largest teachers’ union in the United States, is facing backlash and calls for investigation after revelations that its new handbook erases Jews from Holocaust remembrance while devoting extensive attention to Palestinian “Nakba” education and anti-Zionism.
The Washington Free Beacon reported:
“The nation’s largest teachers’ union plans to promote a version of Holocaust remembrance that does not mention Jews, according to its 2025 handbook, which references ‘victims of the Holocaust from different faiths’ and teaches that Israel was founded through ‘forced, violent displacement and dispossession,’ its most recent guide for members shows.”
The NEA handbook outlines its plan for International Holocaust Remembrance Day without mentioning the Jewish people, despite the Holocaust being the attempted extermination of Jews by the Nazis:
“NEA shall promote the celebration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27 annually… to recognize the more than 12 million victims of the Holocaust from different faiths, ethnicities, races, political beliefs, genders, and gender identification, abilities/disabilities, and other targeted characteristics.”
As the Free Beacon noted:
“The description does not mention the attempted extermination of the Jewish people by the Nazis.”
While erasing Jews from Holocaust remembrance, the NEA devotes extensive detail to Palestinian “Nakba” education. The handbook reads:
“The Nakba, meaning ‘catastrophe’ in Arabic, refers to the forced, violent displacement and dispossession of at least 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland in 1948 during the establishment of the state of Israel.”
It goes on:
“Educating about the Nakba is essential for understanding the Palestinian diaspora narrative and experience, including the ongoing trauma of our Palestinian American students today. Teaching about the Nakba fosters critical thinking and empathy among students, promoting a deeper understanding of historical injustices and their contemporary ramifications.”
The NEA also pledged to advance anti-Zionist messaging under the guise of distinguishing it from antisemitism:
“NEA will use existing digital communication tools to educate members about the difference between anti-Zionism and antisemitism.”
The Free Beacon highlighted that this approach echoes resolutions previously pushed by the union’s more extreme members:
“The news comes amid a surge in both anti-Semitism and anti-Israel extremism at public schools and within teachers’ unions themselves. The NEA Representative Assembly—the union’s parliamentary body—passed a resolution to boycott the Anti-Defamation League’s Holocaust education materials earlier this month, a vote the union’s leadership rejected.”
The Free Beacon amplified the controversy with a blunt message on social media, reporting that Congress would now be taking a closer look at the union’s actions:
The NEA’s controversial framing comes at a time of rising antisemitism across American schools and campuses. By erasing Jews from Holocaust remembrance while simultaneously portraying Israel’s founding as a “catastrophe,” the nation’s largest teachers’ union is now squarely in the sights of congressional investigators.
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