The Crusade against Israel Comes to the Public Schools

Sept. 15 2022

The anti-Israel fanaticism that has for years been gaining strength on American college campuses is now making its way into elementary and secondary schools, writes Irit Tratt:

Last year, California became the first state to pass a law mandating that public-school students must complete an ethnic-studies course before receiving a high-school diploma. A small group of self-identified “ethnic-studies experts” were tasked with drafting an ethnic-studies model curriculum. The draft authored by those “experts” was thrown out by California’s governor after thousands of alarmed Jewish Californians and others pointed out its virulently anti-Semitic content. The initial drafters then formed the Liberated Ethnic-Studies Model Curriculum Consortium, with which many union members are affiliated, and are actively promoting all the bad portions that were banned by the California government.

A Wall Street Journal op-ed revealed that embedded in the Consortium’s materials are references to Israel as a “colonial settler state” founded “through genocide.” The authors of that op-ed brought a lawsuit on behalf of concerned Jewish parents and teachers against the Liberated Consortium, the LA teachers union, and others for inserting—admittedly, where necessary by stealth—into public schools the very discriminatory content banned by the state.

But prominent teachers’ unions have overridden parental opposition. These organizations include and the National Education Association (NEA), of which the California teachers’ unions are a part, and the American Federation of Teachers.

Read more at JNS

More about: Anti-Zionism, BDS, Education

The Next Diplomatic Steps for Israel, the Palestinians, and the Arab States

July 11 2025

Considering the current state of Israel-Arab relations, Ghaith al-Omari writes

First and foremost, no ceasefire will be possible without the release of Israeli hostages and commitments to disarm Hamas and remove it from power. The final say on these matters rests with Hamas commanders on the ground in Gaza, who have been largely impervious to foreign pressure so far. At minimum, however, the United States should insist that Qatari and Egyptian mediators push Hamas’s external leadership to accept these conditions publicly, which could increase pressure on the group’s Gaza leadership.

Washington should also demand a clear, public position from key Arab states regarding disarmament. The Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas endorsed this position in a June letter to Saudi Arabia and France, giving Arab states Palestinian cover for endorsing it themselves.

Some Arab states have already indicated a willingness to play a significant role, but they will have little incentive to commit resources and personnel to Gaza unless Israel (1) provides guarantees that it will not occupy the Strip indefinitely, and (2) removes its veto on a PA role in Gaza’s future, even if only symbolic at first. Arab officials are also seeking assurances that any role they play in Gaza will be in the context of a wider effort to reach a two-state solution.

On the other hand, Washington must remain mindful that current conditions between Israel and the Palestinians are not remotely conducive to . . . implementing a two-state solution.

Read more at Washington Institute for Near East Policy

More about: Gaza War 2023, Israel diplomacy, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict