Very important. The National Education Union effectively rejects the key recommendations of the new Independent Antisemitism Review, rejecting the IHRA Definition and suggesting current approaches create a hierarchy of racism. Directly says the report "will not tackle antisemitism." This review looks like yet another Labour Together Project disgrace - the long tail of McSweeney-Starmerism - that will likely inflame rather than reduce tensions in schools. Exasperating, infuriating stuff. Imagine telling teachers - teachers! In it for the kids! - that they can't talk about or show opposition Israel's genocide against Palestinian children. Here's what NEU's Daniel Kebede says: "However, recommending the IHRA definition for schools risks deepening the problem rather than tackling it, and actively undermining efforts to confront antisemitism. It is the wrong approach. The IHRA’s contested framing risks blurring the line between antisemitism and legitimate criticism of the Israeli government and the genocide in Gaza, leaving teachers with uncertainty when they need clarity. A young person’s opposition to the Gaza genocide and scrutiny of the Israeli government are not, in themselves, antisemitic. Young people must have the space to understand and discuss world events. Schools must enable young people to confront difficult issues openly and develop empathy, not drive teachers into silence or leave pupils afraid to express their views. Recommending the IHRA definition risks tightening the chilling grip already stifling classroom discussion of the Gaza genocide. Schools need practical support to confront antisemitism, not a contested framework that risks shutting down legitimate discussion. The very real risk is that children who cannot critically explore issues through classroom discussion will instead seek their answers in online and unsafe groups. “This report will not tackle antisemitism. It wrongly calls into question the professionalism of teachers. The existing rules on impartiality in the classroom are very clear and teachers take that responsibility very seriously. For three years, teachers have been responding to concerned pupils’ questions about this conflict. These classroom discussions are familiar territory, not uncharted ground. In that time there have been vanishingly few examples of the Teacher Regulation Agency holding up a complaint of lack of impartiality in the classroom. "The NEU welcomes a strengthened focus on antisemitism in the statutory safeguarding guidance and we would encourage the Department for Education to go a step further by strengthening the guidance on all forms of racism. We are concerned that addressing antisemitism without an equally clear commitment to tackling all forms of racism risks creating a hierarchy of racism. No form of racism should be minimised, and no pupil or member of staff should receive less protection. Similarly, the NEU welcomes training for staff on recognising and challenging antisemitism, but we would like to see this in the context of wider antiracism training. The lack of training and time for staff development is a real barrier and almost two thirds of teachers (65 per cent) report that they have not received any antiracism training of any kind within the past year."

That's straightforwardly wrong. How are you even a news reporter? The report mentions Israel 60 times. It refers to Palestine/Palestinian 35 times. It mentions Zionism (or Zionist) 11 times. It argues for the adoption of the IHRA Definition that includes numerous examples related to Israel. It says, explicitly, that anti-Zionism is antisemitic. It says, outrageously, that Muslims disproportionately hold antisemitic views. It says 45% of British people are antisemitic because they believe that Israel rates Palestinians like Nazis treated Jews. I'd say this report has almost nothing to do with antisemitism at all - it is almost entirely about Israel. Entirely. It's two key recommendations are to encourage all schools to adopt the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, which is plainly discriminatory towards people holding anti-Zionist beliefs; and for Prevent to be more actively engaged in helping schools deal with antisemitic incidents. It is an inflammatory, quite disgraceful report, that, if implemented, will create severe crises in schools across the country and lead to the systematic persecution and harassment of children and teachers expressing anti-Zionist views - including anti-Zionist Jewish students and teachers.