(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) A parental rights group revealed that a pro-Palestinian group that previously downplayed Hamas’s terrorist attacks against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, trained teachers in Oakland, Calif., on Jan. 20, 2024, to incorporate “Palestinian history, narratives, and culture into K-12 classrooms.”
The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) held its training called “Palestine in Our Classrooms: Teaching to the Moment — 75 Years of Resistance, Resilience, and Sumood,” according to a flyer by Parents Defending Education.
The organization was previously criticized for both its response to the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks and ties to the Democratic Socialists of America.
The training began at 9:00 a.m. and will end at 4:00 p.m. at an undisclosed location in Oakland for $25 per person. Among the highlights of the training were hearing “Palestinian and Arab Youth speak” on “the effects of invisibility and silencing,” “teaching Palestine through the arts — hip-hop to murals,” “multiple perspectives framework for teaching Palestine — focus on Gaza” and “teaching about Palestine through stories — designed for k-5 educators.”
The training was just an attempt to politicize the classroom, Parents Defending Education director for outreach Erika Sanzi said.
The day after the terror attacks on Israel happened, MECA organized a pro-Palestinian rally in San Francisco.
“We are witnessing the people of Gaza rising up to respond to decades of Israeli settler colonial violence. The US govt bears responsibility for its political, economic & military support of this brutal apartheid regime. Join us to stand in solidarity with Palestine,” the organization wrote.
In addition to that, MECA was also associated with the Democratic Socialists of America summer training on “Educators for Palestine,” with Jody Sokolower, a co-coordinator of the Teach Palestine Project at the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) and a co-founder of the Coalition for Liberated Ethnic Studies (CLES) facilitating one of the sessions.
