Where is our ‘Teaching Israel’

My wife, Sarah, has lived with a Jewish communal professional for the past 31 years. In most cases, she has been minimally involved in my career and daily work.

Sarah is a high school English teacher at a local public school in Beaverton, Oregon. She has certainly followed the rise in antisemitism and anti-Israel activities in schools, but never paid much attention—until now!

Sarah has heard plenty from me regarding the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland’s battle with the Portland Association of Teachers (teachers’ union for Portland Public Schools) in the spring of 2024 about endorsing and using the Teaching Palestine “curriculum.” This 229 page one-sided narrative presents a negative portrayal of Israel at every turn and makes Zionism an ugly word. It was developed by Bill Bigelow, curriculum editor of Rethinking Schools magazine and co-director of the Zinn Education Project. He is also a former teacher in the Portland Public School district.

This so-called curriculum is not a Portland problem – it has made its way to school districts across the country from Boston to Seattle. You can even buy the book Amazon.com.

I am pleased to say the Jewish Federation has been mostly successful in keeping this propaganda out of our local schools. Plus, we secured the backing of the school district to make sure teachers understand that it is not approved curriculum. Sadly, however, it does not mean teachers are not using parts of it in their classroom.

Fast forward to May 2025. My wife’s teacher union, the Beaverton Education Association (BEA), announced they would be holding a workshop with Bigelow on Teaching Palestine. The union claimed, it “was wanted by many teachers.”

Despite expressing our concerns to the union leadership, the workshop was held. Sarah attended. She was unsure what to expect. In many ways, it was more concerning and frustrating than she anticipated.

The workshop included outright falsehoods about the history of the conflict and misleading “half-truths.” It demonized Zionists. It focused on Jews as colonial settlers, conflating peoplehood, religion, and politics. It ignored Zionism as an integral part of Jewish identity with the goal of showing that anti-Zionism can never be considered antisemitism. 

My wife expressed concern that this curriculum will open the door for antisemitism on a wide scale in public education with a “vetted” and “verified” educator leading the charge. The teachers in the room truly knew very little and my wife was concerned they would use Teaching Palestine “as is,” because they know nothing more.

But my wife then shared this with me:

“One thing that bothers me is that the Jewish community thinks it is actually doing something. We need to push back harder. We do not proactively tell our own story – instead, we react to the pro-Palestinian narrative. Rethinking Schools managed to create this book in one summer and launch a slick website with loads of articles and ready to go curriculum. Where is our Teaching Israel curriculum guide and teacher resource book? You have had plenty of time to create it.”

Her comments devastated me. She is right! 

I do this work for a living. I/we have been fighting antisemitism for forever, but even more so since October 7, 2023. We are on the front lines. But the organized Jewish community is racing to put out fires – not building the fire pit.

With so many talented Jewish educators, historians, and Jewish educational institutions, why have we not developed our own comprehensive Israel-centered curriculum that can be instantly shared with teachers? That should be our priority.