{"id":2492016,"date":"2025-09-28T05:24:02","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T09:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/philadelphia-teachers-are-smuggling-in-pro-palestinian-lessons\/"},"modified":"2025-09-28T05:28:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T09:28:25","slug":"philadelphia-teachers-are-smuggling-in-pro-palestinian-lessons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/philadelphia-teachers-are-smuggling-in-pro-palestinian-lessons\/","title":{"rendered":"Philadelphia teachers are smuggling in pro-Palestinian lessons"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fphiladelphia-teachers-are-smuggling-in-pro-palestinian-lessons%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2492016&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article reports that although the official <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/north-carolinas-first-black-lt-gov-leads-fight-against-radical-curriculum\/\" title=\"North Carolina\u2019s First Black Lt. Gov. Leads Fight Against Radical ...\">social studies curriculum<\/a> of the School District of philadelphia does not mention Israel, Palestine, or the Middle East, some local educators have been inserting pro-Palestinian lessons into classrooms unofficially. These educators, organized mainly thru groups like the Racial Justice Organizing Committee and Philly Educators for Palestine, have integrated pro-Palestinian content, sometimes with radical perspectives, despite its absence from the formal curriculum.<\/p>\n<p>The groups include teachers and even the district&#8217;s social studies curriculum director. They have promoted resources and training sessions designed to teach Palestinian issues &#8220;under the radar,&#8221; encouraging educators to avoid detection while delivering pro-Palestinian narratives. following Hamas&#8217;s attacks in October 2023, Philly Educators for Palestine issued demands for the district to condemn Israel and include palestinian history and perspectives in school instruction.<\/p>\n<p>These efforts have involved activities such as erasing Israel from maps,promoting district-endorsed pro-Palestinian talking points,and organizing events that frame neutrality as a form of &#8220;white supremacy.&#8221; Critics argue that these groups misuse their educational roles to advance a political agenda, particularly through materials like the &#8220;Teaching Palestine&#8221; curriculum developed by progressive organizations that openly support Palestinian causes and are explicitly anti-Israel.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the Philadelphia school district has faced a federal investigation for inadequately addressing antisemitic harassment complaints.The district agreed to improve its anti-discrimination measures but has not publicly commented on the controversy over pro-Palestinian instruction. <br \/> <!DOCTYPE html><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Teachers smuggle in pro-Palestinian lessons despite official curriculum saying nothing about Palestine<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1962941\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>The School District of Philadelphia&rsquo;s social studies curriculum contains no mention of Israel, a Palestinian state, or even the broader Middle East, but this hasn&rsquo;t stopped a cohort of local educational professionals from inserting the topic into classrooms anyway.<\/p>\n<p>In June, the <em>Free Press <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thefp.com\/p\/philadelphia-radical-curriculum-racism-israel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">obtained <\/a>a copy of Philadelphia&rsquo;s history and social studies curriculum. While the document contained reams of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dem-candidates-husband-locks-down-social-media-over-anti-christian-posts\/\" title=\"Dem Candidate\u2019s Husband Locks Down Social Media Over Anti...Christian Posts\">left-wing content<\/a>, such as an assignment asking students to &ldquo;replace&rdquo; the national anthem after &ldquo;critically examining race and racism,&rdquo; mentions of the Palestinian conflict were conspicuously absent.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/3824836\/unions-cut-checks-watchdog-group-exchange-support\/\">Unions cut checks to this watchdog group in exchange for support&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/3826417\/florida-attorney-general-legal-action-public-schools-blocking-tpusa-chapters\/\">Florida attorney general pledges legal action against public schools blocking TPUSA chapters<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/3825353\/judge-makes-example-antifa-arsonist-federal-firebombing\/\">&lsquo;Terrorism cannot be tolerated&rsquo;: Judge makes example out of antifa arsonist in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-makes-example-out-of-antifa-arsonist-in-federal-firebombing-case\/\" title=\"Judge makes example out of antifa arsonist in federal firebombing case\">federal firebombing case<\/a><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>A dedicated group of local educators, however, who have <a href=\"https:\/\/defendinged.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/LIBERA1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">expressed <\/a>the occasional necessity to teach Palestinian issues &ldquo;under the radar,&rdquo; have successfully integrated large amounts of pro-Palestinian material, sometimes with radical streaks, into individual classrooms.<\/p>\n<p>Two primary local organizations have been responsible for this: the Racial Justice Organizing Committee and its subgroup, Philly Educators for Palestine. The groups <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/racialjusticephilly\/p\/C6Umj1Ip6n8\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claim <\/a>to have over 200 members encompassing students, educators, parents, and &ldquo;community stakeholders.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Core members of these groups <a href=\"https:\/\/k12trackers.substack.com\/p\/the-origins-of-the-racial-justice?utm_source=publication-search\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">include <\/a>teachers Hannah Gann, Dana Carter, Keziah Ridgeway, Nick Bernardini, Blair Downie, Shaw MacQueen, Adam Sanchez, Nick Palazzolo, and Kristin Luebbert, as well as Ismael Jimenez, who serves as the director of social studies curriculum for the School District of Philadelphia.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>While it may seem odd that the groups list the director of Philadelphia&rsquo;s social studies curriculum as a member despite the curriculum not mentioning a Palestinian state, materials promoted by the group&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >members provide important context<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ridgeway, who was <a href=\"https:\/\/6abc.com\/post\/controversy-school-district-philadelphia-teacher-pro-palestinian-messages-class\/15469766\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">suspended <\/a>from her post after allegedly threatening Jewish parents, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/May-22-Copy-of-Links-from-Teach-Palestine-Event-%E2%80%93-May-15.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cohosted<\/a> a seminar instructing teachers on how to cover Palestinian issues in their classrooms. One resource cited during the event and provided to attendees afterwards, dubbed &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/defendinged.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/LIBERA1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Preparing to Teach Palestine: A Toolkit<\/a>,&rdquo; advised educators to employ a variety of strategies to evade detection when teaching a pro-Palestinian curriculum. Keeping Palestinian material out of the curriculum, while incorporating it off-the-books, could serve this end.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, the Racial Justice Organizing Committee and Philly Educators for Palestine have been quite active in seeking to insert pro-Palestinian messaging into local classrooms.<\/p>\n<p>Philly Educators for Palestine <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1Fhom7Td-c5y3KFNtRTLswMjm_XHR1rUc6go4XHc1Dwg\/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.5pgttxpzt1oi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">released <\/a>a list of demands after Hamas&rsquo;s terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, calling for the district to &ldquo;unequivocally condemn&rdquo; Israel for perpetrating &ldquo;genocide,&rdquo; &ldquo;facilitate the honest, critical pursuit of history&rdquo; with regards to Palestinians, and train teachers to provide instruction on Palestinian issues, among other things. The organization <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/C7DNzwtpOK2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rallied <\/a>its members to advocate these demands at school board meetings, <a href=\"https:\/\/k12trackers.substack.com\/p\/the-theatre-of-keziah-ridgeway-the?utm_source=publication-search\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">disrupted <\/a>said meetings, and recruited students to assist in its efforts.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A pro-Palestinian protest at New York&rsquo;s Columbia University, Nov. 15, 2023. (Spencer Platt\/Getty Images, file)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>While these demands may not have been met to the satisfaction of activists, educators affiliated with Philly Educators for Palestine and the Racial Justice Organizing Committee have successfully embedded pro-Palestinian ideas into the School District of Philadelphia. Examples range from erasing Israel from maps of the Middle East to district-sanctioned events where teachers are fed pro-Palestine talking points, as the <em>Washington Examiner <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/3278872\/philadelphia-students-exposed-widesread-anti-israel-bias\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">previously reported<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Racial Justice Organizing Committee, meanwhile, hosted over two dozen Philadelphia area kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers at an &ldquo;educator for Palestine&rdquo; teacher training event in January 2024, where attendees minimized Hamas&rsquo;s terrorist attacks, stated their desire to mobilize students for political purposes, and criticized neutrality as an artifact of &ldquo;white supremacy.&rdquo; The organization has also distributed a list of resources to aligned educators, including materials from groups that have openly praised Palestinian terrorist organizations.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Philly Educators for Palestine, and its parent organization, Racial Justice Organizing Committee, is a perfect illustration of activists misusing their role as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-teachers-unions-embrace-anti-semitic-bds-movement\/\" title=\"California ...\u2019 Unions Embrace Anti...Semitic BDS Movement\">public school educators<\/a> to push a political agenda,&rdquo; Mika Hackner, director of research at the North American Values Institute, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;Most concerning is that members of Philly Educators for Palestine work for Rethinking Schools, a progressive left publisher and advocacy organization. Under the guise of &lsquo;teach-ins&rsquo; or &lsquo;book clubs,&rsquo; Philly Educators for Palestine members use their position as educators in the district to promote and push Rethinking Schools materials, like &lsquo;Teaching Palestine,&rsquo; into classrooms.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Teaching Palestine is a curriculum jointly developed by Rethinking Schools and the Zinn Education Project, two left-wing educational nonprofit organizations that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zinnedproject.org\/materials\/teaching-palestine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">provides <\/a>a&nbsp;&ldquo;full-throated defense of Palestinian humanity centering Palestinian lives, uplifting and celebrating Palestinians&rsquo; struggle for justice.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Teaching Palestine is <a href=\"https:\/\/navivalues.org\/backgrounder-schools-teaching-palestine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explicitly <\/a>anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian in its contents.<\/p>\n<p>Gann, Palazzolo, Ridgeway, and Sanchez, all members of the Racial Justice Organizing Committee, have <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkingschools.org\/about-rethinking-schools\/team\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">written lessons<\/a> for Teaching Palestine.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/3324961\/nonprofit-network-pro-palestinian-lessons-public-schools\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>NONPROFIT NETWORK PUSHES PRO-PALESTINIAN LESSONS INTO PUBLIC SCHOOLS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Philadelphia&rsquo;s school district <a href=\"https:\/\/broadandliberty.com\/2024\/12\/24\/report-finds-that-school-district-of-philadelphia-did-not-comply-with-federal-laws-following-antisemitic-harassment-complaints\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">faced <\/a>a Department of Education investigation, which found in late 2024 that it failed to comply with federal laws by not adequately responding to complaints of antisemitic harassment. A spokesperson for the district previously told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that the district entered into a voluntary agreement following the investigation to improve its commitment to anti-discrimination.<\/p>\n<p>The School District of Philadelphia did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Teachers introduce pro-Palestinian lessons despite no official mention<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":894,"featured_media":2492017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24096544907732-scaled-e1758910045256.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[5152,5522,32179,4605],"class_list":["post-2492016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-education","tag-philadelphia","tag-pro-palestinian","tag-teachers"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24096544907732-scaled-e1758910045256.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2492016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/894"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2492016"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2492016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2492020,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2492016\/revisions\/2492020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2492017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2492016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2492016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2492016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}