Palestine censorship on the rise in UK schools

On 19 October, 250 people gathered for a Lantern Walk in solidarity with Palestine in Brockwell Park, South London.

The fundraiser was organised by parents and children from a local school to support the Sameer Project, an aid project in North Gaza. In the lead-up, they were instructed by the school to refrain from using its name in communications and materials, and not to distribute leaflets outside the school gates. Concerned parents quizzed the school which spoke of complaints and legal threats.

Despite these hostile censorship attempts, families showed up in force — defying the rain, waving flags, and playing music. In conversation with the Canary, a member of Parents for Palestine explains why they joined:

For two years we have been witnessing the most horrific massacres being committed by Israel … they have not raised flags or fundraised as they did for Ukraine. This is unacceptable when children in Gaza are made to bury their loved ones … Our schools need to do better.

Censoring Palestine: Hackney parents speak-up

This is one of the milder instances of censorship. Parents and teachers who spoke to the Canary expressed fears of reprisals and the erasure of free expression. They spoke of children being reported over keffiyehs, pins, or football shirts …why…for making parents — yes adults — uncomfortable.

One parent in Hackney shared another troubling experience:

At a meeting about the school and federation management’s allegedly anti-racist practice and curriculum, Palestine solidarity was again shut down and a white Israeli mum was allowed to shout over people, saying she felt “unsafe” as a “Jew and Israeli”. When a mixed race mum shared that she felt the lack of solidarity with Palestine was also racist, the conversation was then shut down and she was told off, despite never raising her voice and actually trembling.

Another Hackney parent organised a diversity week event where the title was forcibly sanitised — seeing Palestine replaced with “multicultural”. In another case, a school was threatening to refer an 8 year-old child to Prevent for having a Palestine flag stitched to their coat. 

Rising Islamophobia and censorship over Palestine

The unease attached to Palestinian solidarity in schools is not separate from the rising tide of Islamophobia. CAGE UK, an advocacy organisation, documented a 455 percent increase in acts of repression against Palestinian solidarity since 2021. Out of 214 cases, 209 involved Muslims, including referrals to Prevent and unfounded allegations of “terrorism”. 

Not even teachers are being spared.

A spokesperson for Maslaha, an anti-racism organisation, told the Canary: 

We’ve been talking to teachers who have explicitly been told not to discuss Palestine in classrooms. They’re reminded to “stay neutral” or to “remember the Teachers’ Standards” […] frequently being told their schools “can’t do anything political”. This is despite assemblies and lessons on Ukraine being welcomed. Children raising Palestine in class are treated as a “safeguarding concern,” under the Prevent Duty.

While there are no clear, top-down orders to muzzle Palestine solidarity, the murkiness of the government’s “impartiality” guidelines, the fear of dismissals, and the general stress headteachers face, result in self-censorship, one headteacher explains:

Headteachers are managing exceptional pressures. As a result, leaders often do not have the capacity to engage in conflict with governing bodies over public positioning, even when our personal convictions are strong.

Many [teachers] respond as individuals, rather than institutions. We focus on universal principles […] and make anti-war statements without explicitly naming the context.

Small victories, big impact

In response to these  repressive tactics, families and the communities have stood their ground. CAGE shared some examples of its clients fighting back in conversation with the Canary: 

One London-based analyst at a major media outlet who was instructed to remove his T-shirt that stated ‘Free Gaza’ said: “I am leaving this company… I cannot stay somewhere where there is a double standard and I am treated like an outsider for a T-shirt”.

There’s also Layla, banned from school grounds a parent filed a complaint against her child for donning a Palestine badge. 

With our support, she challenged the school, demanding to know why standing for Palestine led to her being treated unfairly. We advised her throughout her meetings and communications with the school, which eventually led them to back down.

On a more local level, grassroots campaigns in support of Palestine are flourishing. The Lewisham-based Apartheid Free Schools has been actively campaigning against the misconception across UK schools that Palestine is an isolated issue, different from other struggles against occupation and apartheid. In a statement to the Canary, one of the parents involved wrote:

We envision a Lewisham whose schools are apartheid free. We do not want institutions to which we entrust our children to indirectly or unknowingly support apartheid and the human rights violations of other children.

Some schools have started to back down as parents ramp up pressure. Some have even endorsed the boycott of public institutions that support Israel. Recently, a Cambridge school suspended trips to the Science Museum until it divests from companies complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Another school cancelled a visit by Damian Egan, the Bristol North East MP and Labour Friends of Israel Vice Chair. Bristol Palestine Solidarity Campaign at the time describe the cancellation as “a win safeguarding, solidarity, and for the power of trade unionists, parents, and campaigners”.

The victories are incremental but they are a sign that pupils, parents and teachers are prepared to push back to voice their horror at the injustice and violence they’ve been witnessing for two years.

Featured image via Unsplash