Oregon Educators for Palestine is a left-of-center organization that publishes resources for teachers to incorporate pro-Palestinian lessons in class and is critical of school systems for having policies that restrict anti-Zionist and anti-Israel messaging. ¹

In May 2024, Oregon Educators for Palestine partnered with the Portland Association of Teachers to publish “Know Your Rights: Teaching & Organizing for Palestine Within Portland Public Schools,” a pamphlet that advocates that teachers incorporate lessons on the Israel-Palestinian conflict from an anti-Israel perspective into their classes. It includes lessons for teachers to use with students of all ages that include instruction about the Israel-Palestinian conflict from a feminist perspective, about discussing genocide with “young kids,” and about using knowledge of the history of the disputed Palestinian territories to support Palestinian nationalist protests. ¹

Background

Oregon Educators for Palestine is an anti-Israel group that was founded following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel. It publishes materials to be used by teachers to incorporate pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel lessons and how doing so can be affected by Portland Public Schools policies, criticizing restrictions on anti-Zionist lessons and pro-Palestinian materials. ¹

As of June 2025, Oregon Educators for Palestine does not appear to be registered as a nonprofit organization, as an incorporated organization, or as another political advocacy group, and it is informally associated with the Portland Association of Teachers labor union with which it has collaborated. ¹

Oregon Educators for Palestine’s Instagram account includes a Linktree tool that refers users to a list of Palestinian fundraisers and anti-Israel resources for teachers. ^{2 3} It includes a Portland Public Schools “Report Card” that condemns the school board for “failing” to address safety concerns, citing a lack of staffing; the report card also gives the school system a failing grade for “Human Rights,” stating that it by not including pro-Palestinian messaging in the curriculum, it is perpetuating “systemic racism and fascist leadership”; and it condemns the school board for funding private contracts with for-profit organizations to produce education materials. ⁴

“Know Your Rights” Pamphlet

In May 2024, Oregon Educators for Palestine published a guide in conjunction with the Portland Association of Teachers labor union titled “Know Your Rights! Teaching & Organizing for Palestine within Portland Public Schools.” The guide claims to have been written in response to “censorship, discrimination, and harassment that many [Portland Public Schools] education workers have experienced and are currently experiencing at the hands of PPS District ‘Leadership,’” referring to attempts by teachers to incorporate lessons on Palestine through a “pro-Palestine” perspective. Its defense of “pro-Palestine messaging” by teachers includes “political posters” and assignments on Zionism and “Settler Colonialism,” clothing with the controversial message “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free,” and other Palestinian nationalist messaging. ¹

The 24-page guide provides information on how to incorporate pro-Palestinian messaging and lessons, including references to materials published by Visualizing Palestine. Regarding incorporating lessons on the Israel-Palestine conflict, the guide advises teachers to discuss “Settler Colonialism” as a function of Zionism, advising teachers to define it as “a distinct type of colonialism that functions through the replacement of Indigenous populations with a settler society.” It also advises teachers to promote the idea that modern day Zionism is defined as “a spectrum of political ideologies that have in common the support for the continued existence of the present-day state of Israel as a Jewish ethnostate.” ¹

Oregon Educators for Palestine “Know Your Rights!” guide advocates for teachers to promote anti-Zionism and cites L. J. Jaffee’s “Anti-Zionism is not Antisemitism: The Centrality of Palestinian Liberation in the Struggle for Anti-Oppressive Education” to argue that it is not antisemitic to be anti-Zionist. It argues that it is necessary for a pro-Palestinian lesson to hold the position of being anti-Zionist and advocates for members of schools to resist policies that would restrict discussing opposition to Zionism. ¹

The guide also makes claims that teaching about the Israel-Palestinian conflict as a genocide against Palestinian people is consistent with Oregon laws that require social studies to teach about the Holocaust and other genocides. ¹

Pro-Palestinian Curriculum

“Teach Palestine! Resources for Educators in Public Schools” is an Oregon Educators for Palestine resource that provides teachers from preschool and kindergarten through 12^th grade in all content areas and ability levels with pro-Palestinian lessons on the Israel-Hamas conflict. ⁵

Teach Palestine’s preschool lessons include topics on the history, culture, current events, and “joy” about the disputed Palestinian territories. It also includes lessons from Woke Kindergarten to teach kindergarteners what happens at a pro-Palestinian protest, what the word” protest” means, and how the concept of a ceasefire should be viewed from a pro-Palestinian perspective. ⁵

Teach Palestine’s lessons for middle and high school students incorporate left-of-center concepts on colonialism, using the term “Settler Colonialism,” to view the Israel-Palestine conflict as an issue of Israel oppressing, unlawfully stealing land from, and committing genocide against Palestinians. It also includes sex education lessons from the International Youth Alliance for Family Planning and a lesson that discusses sex education in Gaza. ⁵

Criticisms of Portland Public Schools

Oregon Educators for Palestine’s Linktree also includes an infographic titled “The Key to Liberation is Access to Information.” ⁶ It criticizes Portland Public Schools’ Administrative Directive 3.30.040-AD, referring to the provision that states, “Content on classroom walls, bulletin boards or otherwise displayed in the classroom must be related to the curriculum […] Those spaces cannot be used for an employee’s personal expression whether that is related to a political or personal issue.” The infographic describes the policy as “academic repression,” and argues that by prohibiting teachers from incorporating so-called “anti-imperialist curriculum,” the school system is permitting “anti-Palestinian censorship.” It also argues that the policy discriminates against Palestinian and Middle Eastern students and staff. ⁷

In March 2024, Oregon Educators for Palestine, alongside Mothers* For a Ceasefire in Gaza, the Democratic Socialists of America Portland chapter, and the Jewish Voice for Peace Portland chapter organized a student walkout across Portland Public Schools. The protest advocated for increased attention of the Israel-Hamas war by the Portland Public Schools. It included students who defended Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and accused Israel of committing war crimes and perpetuating the Israel-Hamas conflict. ⁸

Teacher Resources

Oregon Educators for Palestine publishes a guide on how teachers can exercise their rights when facing disciplinary actions for violating policies related to discussing the Israel-Palestinian conflict. ² The guide advises teachers to seek union representation during meetings with administration, attempt to collect evidence to support that disciplinary actions related to espousing pro-Palestinian messaging are discriminatory, and advises on how to comply with school policies while incorporating pro-Palestinian messaging in classes. ⁹

Oregon Educators for Palestine’s Linktree includes a link to an infographic stating that “CNN Has No Place in the Classroom,” arguing that CNN should not be incorporated into classrooms. ² It argues that CNN operates as a propaganda outlet on behalf of Israel and aligns with “censorship policies set by Israel’s military.” The infographic concludes that CNN’s compliance with the censorship policies has caused it to engage in a coverup of genocide against Palestinian people by Israel. ¹⁰

In partnership with Rethinking Schools, Oregon Educators for Palestine has hosted “Teach-In” training sessions that provides information for teachers on how to incorporate pro-Palestinian lessons and messaging in classes for students of all ages. ^{11 2}

Revoking Endorsements of Joe Biden

Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, Oregon Educators for Palestine has published a petition calling on the National Education Association to revoke its endorsement of then-President Joe Biden. ² The petition accused Israel of violating international law in its involvement in the Israel-Hamas war and has caused a so-called “humanitarian crisis” and argued that then-President Biden had been “complicit” in the alleged crimes. It also condemned Biden for providing military aid to Israel and advocates for ending all forms of aid to Israel. The petition also advocated that Israel release all its Hamas and Palestinian prisoners, to eliminate all of its policies related to securing the Gaza border, and to cease Israel’s “settlement activity” in the West Bank, and it advocates for the United States to eliminate immigration restrictions. ¹²

1. “Portland teachers’ union guide reveals that Portland Public Schools teachers have been promoting Pro-Palestine messaging and lessons; guide instructs them on how to push back against administrators.” Defending Education. June 26, 2024. https://defendinged.org/incidents/portland-teachers-union-guide-reveals-that-portland-public-schools-teachers-have-been-promoting-pro-palestine-messaging-and-lessons-instructs-them-on-how-to-push-back-against-administrators/
2. “Oregon Educators for Palestine.” Linktree. Accessed June 28, 2025. https://linktr.ee/oreducators4palestine.
3. “Oregon_Educators_for_Palestine.” Instagram. Accessed June 28, 2025. https://www.instagram.com/oregon_educators_for_palestine/.
4. “The People’s Report Card.” Oregon Educators for Palestine. Accessed June 28, 2025. https://cryptpad.disroot.org/file/#/2/file/6t7-4Ukh-LRuwo5Qw6JAPAuA/.
5. “Palestine Teaching Resources for Educators.” Oregon Educators for Palestine. Accessed June 28, 2025. https://tr.ee/hdW1GaCtJv
6. ^[1] “Oregon Educators for Palestine.” Linktree. Accessed June 28, 2025. https://linktr.ee/oreducators4palestine.
7.  “The Key to Liberation is Access to Information.” Oregon Educators for Palestine. Accessed June 28, 2025. https://cryptpad.disroot.org/file/#/2/file/Q2HQfzOpp3zYCnOV6r0DvrFm/.
8.  Pate, Natalie. “Students walk out, demand action on Gaza from Portland Public Schools.” Oregon Public Broadcasting. March 15, 2024. https://www.opb.org/article/2024/03/15/students-walk-out-demand-action-on-gaza-from-portland-public-schools/.
9. “Know Your Rights Educators Infographic.” Oregon Educators for Palestine. Accessed June 28, 2025. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YgOX8IZiqgNqmcH844Xnw44XzLmroGTs/view.
10.  ^[1] “CNN Has No Place in the Classroom.” Oregon Educators for Palestine. Accessed June 28, 2025. https://cryptpad.disroot.org/file/#/2/file/BhHmRxrewNHJKMXhWdk+VqJ6/
11. “Register for Teaching Palestine: An All-Ages Community Teach-In.” Oregon Educators for Palestine. Accessed June 28, 2025. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScN2eCaoZfZeeNe4xG05pwhA2B4hOLegtzSFqaZYBwYErVB0Q/closedform.
12. “NEA Petition to Revoke Biden Endorsement.” Oregon Educators for Palestine. Google Forms. Accessed June 28, 2025. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf6IF5q_CYsich-hJMWb0BqKO7T66JRW8zYzYBy8vy-emSNAg/viewform.