teaching & organizing for palestine within portland public schools This guide was published in May 2024 by Oregon Educators for Palestine in collaboration with Portland Association of Teachers. While this guide is primarily for PAT members, it also contains broader information that may be relevant to other Portland Public Schools staff and union siblings, as well as educators across Oregon, where Oregon law and standards are cited. Find a printable PDF version of this guide (along with an abbreviated one-sheet version to keep by your desk!) at pdxteachers.org. All images that appear in this guide except the back cover were taken by Mark Graves of the Oregonian. Back cover image is by Jaydon Gibbs. contents 2 About This Guide 4 Terms and Definitions 11 Palestine at School: Legal & Contract Protections 12 Know Your Pat Contract: Educator Rights 13 Palestine in the Classroom 15 State Standards 20 Getting Support: Grievances, Censorship, or Complaints Organized: Safety, 24 Getting Protections, & Resources 1 about this guide This document was developed in response to the censorship, discrimination, and harassment that many PPS education workers have experienced and are currently experiencing at the hands of PPS District “Leadership.” Since at least November of 2023, leadership at the District Office has been actively censoring teachers and other education workers who are teaching about Palestine, posting pro-Palestine sentiments in schools, and even those wearing Pro-Palestine messages which disproportionately impacts our Palestinian and Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) staff. This censorship is in direct contradiction to PPS’s own policies of other social movements for rights of marginalized people found in Civic Engagement and Unrest: A Tool Kit for Resilience and Empowerment, which states: Support of BLM is not a political statement, nor is it associated with a specific candidate or political campaign. It is not a violation of our policy for staff or students to have BLM-branded items, such as clothing, email signatures, etc. 2 Examples of staff and student censorship and harassment directed by PPS District Office: • Censoring student work on the topics of Settler Colonialism and Zionism; • Censoring teachers’ “political” posters including any language with the word “ceasefire”, “Free Palestine” or images of watermelons; • Censoring student posters/signage trying raise awareness and promote student activities around Palestine; • Censoring student work displaying factual data on the Balfour agreement and Zionism; • Asking students not to wear “paraphernalia” (AKA Kufiyas and pro-Palestine shirts); • Administrators warning teachers to “watch their backs” due to relentless complaints and harassment by Zionist parents and community members; • Allowing Zionist parents and community members to harass, watch, and record Pro-Palestinian student activities on PPS school property; • Censoring student attempts at holding a presentation to teach about Palestine at their school which has held many similar events for other social justice movements; • Censoring staff members across multiple buildings and unions for wearing clothing with the phrase “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free,”claiming the phrase constituted hate speech and threatening to write up staff for insubordination if worn again. 3 terms & Definitions As students and educators across the globe fight against censorship and repression, these key terms offer critical context for asserting educators’ rights to teach about and advocate for the liberation of Palestine and Palestinians, in their homelands and in diaspora. Definitions are provided to establish a clear shared understanding of the terms and vocabulary used throughout this document. 4 Anti-Palestinian Racism (APR) Contextualizing incidents of Palestine censorship within the framework of anti-Palestinian racism helps illustrate the depth of this harm on our Palestinian and SWANA staff and families. This guide uses the term “anti-Palestinian racism” as it is used in the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association (ACLA) 2022 report, Anti-Palestinian Racism: Naming, Framing, and Manifestations, which explains: “Anti-Palestinian racism is a form of anti-Arab racism that silences, excludes, erases, stereotypes, defames or dehumanizes Palestinians or their narratives. AntiPalestinian racism takes various forms including: denying the Nakba and justifying violence against Palestinians; failing to acknowledge Palestinians as an Indigenous people with a collective identity, belonging, and rights in relation to occupied and historic Palestine; erasing the human rights and equal dignity and worth of Palestinians; excluding or pressuring others to exclude Palestinian perspectives, Palestinians and their allies; defaming Palestinians and their allies with slander such as being inherently antisemitic, a terrorist threat/sympathizer, or opposed to democratic values.” Importantly, the ACLA includes the following key clarification: “Palestinians still consider incidents involving non-Palestinians as APR [anti-Palestinian racism] because it still harms Palestinians and the silencing serves to uphold the settler-colonization of Palestine.” 5 Antisemitism This guide uses the following definition by Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ) in their 2017 intersectional guide, Understanding Antisemitism: “Originating in European Christianity, antisemitism is the form of ideological oppression that targets Jews. In Europe and the United States, it has functioned to protect the prevailing economic system and the almost exclusively Christian ruling class by diverting blame for hardship onto Jews. Like all oppressions, it has deep historical roots and uses exploitation, marginalization, discrimination and violence as its tools. Like all oppressions, the ideology contains elements of dehumanization and degradation via lies and stereotypes about Jews, as well as a mythology. The myth changes and adapts to different times and places, but fundamentally it says that Jews are to blame for society’s problems.” This guide, in line with the ACLU’s February 2024 open letter to the US Secretary of Education, rejects definitions of antisemitism that encompass protected speech, in particular the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition, which attempts to portray any criticism of Israel and its policies as antisemitic. 6 Keffiyeh / Kufiya For readers unfamiliar with this Palestinian garment, here’s a short history from Hirbawi, the last remaining Kufiya factory in Palestine: “The symbolic “Kufiya” (aka “Shemagh” / “Keffiyeh”) garment is more important today than ever. Traditionally worn over the head or shoulders by farmers, the last century has seen a revival of the Kufiya as it became synonymous with the quest for Palestinian freedom and independence. Adopted by freedom fighters in the 1930’s Arab Revolt, this traditional arabic scarf or headress became the uniform of Palestinian rebels in their resistance against the occupation of the British Empire. Not long after, in continued solidarity with Palestinian heritage and independence from Israeli occupation, the Kufiya ascended into a powerful symbol of Palestinian struggle and freedom. Today the Palestinian Kufiya, famous for its black & white pattern, is worn across the world by those standing in solidarity with Palestine – in the US, Europe, Malaysia, Indonesia, and of course the Middle East. It has become a meaningful fashion item worn by political activists, musicians, artists, and designers around the world.” 7 Settler Colonialism This guide refers to the following definition of settler colonialism, adapted from Visualizing Palestine: Settler Colonialism is a distinct type of colonialism that functions through the replacement of Indigenous populations with a settler society that, over time, develops its own distinctive, dominating identity. The Zionist settler colonization of Palestine has been widely compared to settler colonialism in the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa and elsewhere. Zionism This guide refers to the following definition of Zionism, adapted from Visualizing Palestine: Zionism is a settler colonial political ideology and movement that emerged in Europe at the end of the nineteenth century with the aim of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine, at a time when over 90% of the population was not Jewish. Palestinian Jews existed in Palestine prior to Zionist colonization and lived peacefully alongside Palestinian Christians and Muslims. Today, the term Zionism describes 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. 8 Anti-Zionism This guide refers to L. J. Jaffee’s definition, published in Anti-Zionism is not Antisemitism: The Centrality of Palestinian Liberation in the Struggle for AntiOppressive Education, in a 2024 issue of Critical Education: “Anti-Zionism refers to the rejection of Jewish separatism and nationalism — specifically through the colonial creation of a Jewish nation-state in Palestine — as a solution to the problem of antisemitism.” L. J. Jaffee places the importance of this definition into the broader context of larger attacks on education: “Understanding that legislation conflating antisemitism with criticism of Israel is part of an effort to silence teaching about Palestine is illustrative for making sense of broader attacks on decolonial, anti-racist, and gender and sexuality-affirming education. Refusing the conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism is critical to promoting antioppressive education and resisting the present attack on the policing of permissible knowledge in schools... Understanding the conflation of criticism of Israel with antisemitism is also an educational jumping-off point for combatting the political repression of students engaged in pro-Palestine work, for teaching about antisemitism in ways that don’t undermine the freedom and humanity of Palestinians... and for fostering decolonial analyses (of the U.S. and of Israel) among students.” 9 palestine at school: legal & contract protections 10 legal overview Information included in this document is not legal advice. If you need more direct assistance, please contact PAT and/or your local CAIR Civil Rights Department. On January 26, 2024, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take ”immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians against genocide. SB664 was signed into Oregon law in June 2019 and requires teaching about the Holocaust and other genocides as part of Social Science standards. Educators teaching about the genocide in Palestine are consistent with Oregon law and are acting responsively to the significant numbers of students asking for education on Palestine. Oregon laws generally prohibit employers from retaliating against employees for their lawful political activities that are not work-related and occur during non-work hours. However, employees should be aware that political beliefs/ affiliations are not protected categories under federal/state anti-discrimination laws, and political activity may not be a protected activity. Employers may still legally take adverse action against employees for pragmatic reasons, e.g., if an employee’s political activities interfere with their own job performance or that of their coworkers, disrupt the employer’s business, or if the employer believes the employee’s work-related political statements are against the company’s beliefs, vision, or morals.1 Generally, symbolic political protest attire is protected. See Palestine in the Classroom for more legal details. 1 cairoregon.org/resources/ 11 know your pat contract: educator rights PAT Contract: Article 10.1 Academic Freedom: 10.1.1 Professional educators shall be guaranteed academic freedom in instructional presentations and discussions and in faculty discussions of education policy. Professional educators may introduce controversial materials provided such presentations, discussions, and materials are appropriate and relevant to course content and grade level subject to accepted standards of professional responsibility (see PPS Academic Freedom in the Instructional Program 6.20.011-AD as of 03/15/13). Essentially, if your curriculum can be reasonably connected to Palestine, or an aspect related to otherwise ‘controversial’ teaching, you are protected. See also 6.20.010-P Academic Freedom and 6.20.012-AD Instructional Materials and Academic Freedom. 12 Palestine in the classroom When students ask your opinion: • Root your answer in facts and ask them more questions to help them develop their own opinions. • Remind them that what we are seeing is not a long-standing hostility between Jewish and Arab or Muslim people. Palestinian resistance is a political struggle for self-determination against colonial and apartheid rule that has roots in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Palestininan flags: • The Palestine flag is protected speech under Oregon law HB2697 Every Student Belongs. • Like the BLM or LGBTQIA+ flags, displaying the Palestinian flag proudly affirms the existence of Palestinian people and their right to live and thrive with dignity and freedom. • Post a copy of this law next to Palestine flags. 13 Clothing, pins, and keffiyehs: • Prohibiting student or staff attire with Pro-Palestine messages is a violation of protected speech as decided in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District and upheld recently by a 9th Circuit court decision regarding a teacher’s attire in Evergreen School District (Eric Dodge v. Evergreen School District). Fear of disruption alone is not enough to legally censor attire that is worn for symbolic protest; there must be evidence of actual disruption. • The keffiyeh is considered cultural attire and therefore may be protected under discrimination laws (Title VII). If the admin brings up your attire as an issue, you may refer to other staff wearing cultural attire in the form of jewelry or clothing, and how they have not been censored. This may only apply if you are of Palestinian or Arab descent. Read more at the EEOC’s FAQ: National Origin Discrimination. • PPS Employee Handbook 23-24, Dress and Grooming: Portland Public Schools provides a casual yet professional work environment for its employees. Even though the dress code is casual, it is important to project a professional image to our students, visitors, and coworkers. All employees are expected to dress in a manner consistent with good hygiene, safety, and good taste. Please use common sense. As adults and professionals, all staff in our District are expected to be guided in their grooming and dress by what is generally acceptable in the business and professional world, setting an example for students. Any questions or complaints regarding the appropriateness of attire should be directed to the Human Resources Department. 14 state standards Teaching about Palestine is also protected under Oregon’s Ethnic Studies Standards: • K.3 Develop an understanding of one’s own identity groups including, but not limited to, race, gender, family, ethnicity, culture, religion, and ability. • K.11 Examine culturally significant traditions, celebrations, days, and places including those from cultures that are currently and historically marginalized. • 1.2 Identify and apply civic virtues (such as equality, freedom, liberty, respect for individual rights, diversity, equity, justice, and deliberation) when interacting with classmates, families, and the school community. • 1.14 Identify and explain the perspectives of racial, ethnic, and social groups in our community on local issues including individuals who are American Indian/ Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian or Americans of African, Asian, Pacific Island, Chicano/a, Latino/a, or Middle Eastern descent; individuals from all religious backgrounds; and individuals from traditionally marginalized groups. • 2.16 Identify the history and narratives of traditionally included and excluded individuals, groups, and circumstances, that impact the local community including individuals who are American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian or Americans of African, Asian, Pacific Island, Chicano, Latino, or Middle Eastern descent; individuals from all religious backgrounds; and individuals from traditionally marginalized groups. 15 • 3.16 Describe how the inclusion or exclusion of individuals, social and ethnic groups, including individuals who are American Indian/Alaska Native/ Native Hawaiian or Americans of African, Asian, Pacific Island, Chicano, Latino, or Middle Eastern descent, religious groups, and other traditionally marginalized groups has shaped events and development of the local community and region. • 3.18 Identify how systems of power, including white supremacy, institutional racism, racial hierarchy, and oppression affect the perspectives of different individuals and groups when examining an event, issue, or problem with an emphasis on multiple perspectives. • 4.4 Examine the consequences of power and privilege on issues associated with poverty, income, and the accumulation of wealth. • 4.13 Identify and explain how discrimination based on race, gender, economic, and social group identity created and continues to affect the history, growth, and current experience of residents of Oregon. • 5.2 Examine and critique how colonial and new states’ governments established, limited or denied rights and responsibilities of specific groups and individuals with particular attention to, citizens, enslaved peoples, foreigners, nobles, religious groups, women, class systems, tribes. • 5.3 Compare and contrast the British monarchy, American colonial governments, and Tribal governments through their various interactions. • 5.24 Use primary and secondary sources to formulate historical questions and to examine multiple accounts or perspectives of a historical issue or time. 16 • 6.4 Identify and analyze historical and contemporary means that societies have undertaken for the expansion of justice, equality, and equity for individuals and/or groups of previously historically underrepresented groups. • 6.5 Investigate current issues and how they relate to other countries. • 7.4 Analyze the origins, and influence of historical documents, philosophies, religious systems and values, on the development of modern governments and the concept of individual rights, responsibilities for the expansion of justice, equality, and equity for individuals and/or groups of previously historically underrepresented groups. • 7.26 Identify and analyze the causes and effects of oppression and resistance in the living histories of historically marginalized groups in the Eastern Hemisphere • 8.25 Evaluate the impact of the intersectionality of what constitutes identity including, including but not limited to, gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, physical and mental disability, and class on the living histories and experiences of peoples, groups, and events. • 8.28 Critique and analyze historical events to recognize power, authority, religion, economics, and governance as they relate to systemic oppression and its impact on Indigenous peoples, ethnic and religious groups, and other historically marginalized groups in the colonial and modern era. • 8.32 Identify and analyze methods of subversion, resistance, challenge, and perseverance, within and among the intersecting identities of ethnic and social groups traditionally excluded from historical narratives. 17 • HS.2 Identify and analyze the existence and perpetuation of discrimination and inequity in the local, state, national, or global context. • HS.11 Analyze and evaluate the methods for challenging, resisting, and changing society in the promotion of equity, justice and equality. • HS.41 Analyze migration patterns to understand the relationships among major events, government policies, private action, and spatial diffusion of ideas, technologies, and cultural practices, in the distribution of human populations, segregation of communities, and marginalization and empowerment of individuals and groups. • HS.60 Analyze and explain the historic and contemporary examples of social and political conflicts and compromises including the actions of traditionally marginalized individuals and groups addressing inequities, inequality, power, and justice in the U.S. and the world. • HS.61 Analyze and explain the multiple experiences and perspectives of ethnic and traditionally marginalized groups to investigate conflicting interpretations of past and present events of national and/or global interest. • HS.65 Identify and explain strategies of survivance, resistance and societal change by individuals and traditionally marginalized groups confronting discrimination, genocide, and other forms of violence, based on race, national origin, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and gender. • HS.66 Identify and analyze the nature of structural and systemic oppression on LGBTQ, people experiencing disability, ethnic and religious groups, as well as other traditionally marginalized groups, and their role in the pursuit of justice and equality in Oregon, the United States, and the world. 18 Teach palestine, by subject Teaching about Palestine across subject areas is a great way to foster interdisciplinary learning while adhering to state standards. See below for an example of how to teach about Palestine in ELA. Connecting Palestine to State Standards in ELA: • Due to Article 10.1 of the PAT contract, ELA teachers have the academic freedom to select their own mentor texts. Mentor texts are the books, films, and other materials that are used to teach the four categories of ELA skill sets: Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking. • ELA teachers are protected in their right to use diverse and culturally relevant mentor texts such as literature on Palestine as a means to teach reading, writing, listening, and speaking. • Teaching about the historical context of a text is necessary for student understanding. For example, Persepolis is a district-purchased mentor text for English 10 in many Oregon districts (including PPS), and students are often given materials on the Iranian Revolution to analyze the text. By selecting mentor texts with Palestinian authors, ELA teachers may provide the context of the author’s background and nationality. 19 getTING support: Grievances, censorship, or complaints 20 facing grievances, censorship, or complaints: 1. Ask if the directive/feedback is disciplinary. a. If disciplinary, ask to have a union rep present for any meetings. If your admin asks to meet, ask if the meeting/ feedback could lead to discipline. You are always allowed and recommended to have a union rep with you in any meeting that could be disciplinary. If you are alone in a meeting and it becomes clear it could become disciplinary, do not answer any further questions, PAUSE the meeting to request a union rep, and return to the meeting with your rep. b. PAT Contract Article 23.7 provides educators with the right to administrative support at parent meetings. Admin must be able to support any parent/educator meetings and educators must receive 24 hours’ advance notice for any parent meeting. If any disciplinary measures may result from this meeting, have a union rep present, or pause and return with a rep. a. If a complaint, refer to this document for resolution steps. 2. Document everything! a. Document lesson plans, student comments if relevant, administrator/coworker complaints, directives, or comments. If you are facing disciplinary action for something covered by your contract, any documentation you can collect will build evidence for a grievance against the admin. Your building reps will be able to support you in filing a grievance if necessary. 21 b. Using your personal email, send copies of your documentation to your building’s rep team (personal emails), they will also have contact info for PAT leadership assigned to your building, and cc bao.nguyen@oregoned.org or kristine.mayle@oregoned.org, our Uniserv staff. Reporting the incident to Uniserv staff is how PAT collects and follows up on incidents. c. When meeting in person, document what is said in the meeting with timestamps: note the date, time, subjects discussed, important quotes, and who was present at the meeting. Then, follow up afterwards with an email describing the interaction! d. Forward any district emails to your personal email for your own records. 3. Admin/management meetings (disciplinary or otherwise): d. Try not to meet with administration/management oneon-one or over the phone. Admin may try to say things inperson that they wouldn’t over email. e. If you must meet in-person, try to document the meeting. It is not legal to record a private meeting without permission, but you can record yourself summarizing what is being said to you throughout the meeting. Recording at meetings must be approved by both parties (recordings are not permitted without educator consent), otherwise follow the above protocol to take notes with date and times. 4. 22 For incidents requiring escalated legal support, consider reporting your experience to Palestine Legal for free services. Optional (power-building) last steps: a. Report your incident of censorship to our local community partner Mothers For a Ceasefire here. b. And/or report your incident to the group of PPS employees organizing for Palestine here. Public records requests If you believe you are being targeted by fellow staff or PPS admin, you can conduct a public records request: Portland Public Schools is required by Oregon law to make records available to the public. You can make requests to gain access to internal PPS communications. You can submit your request to the PPS public records officer, via email at publicrecords@pps.net, by telephone at (503) 916-3385, by postal mail (c/o PPS Communications, 501 North Dixon Street, Portland, OR 97227), or in person. In your request, specify what records you are seeking in as much detail as possible. (Include date ranges, key terms, sender/recipient information, etc.) If you are unsure what records exist, you can call or email to discuss the questions you are trying to answer. If PPS determines your request is time-consuming, they can charge you a fee. 23 getTING organized: Safety, protections, & resources 24 organizing Safety Anything the district owns is not secure. Make sure all organizing and printing/preparation of non-work related materials is done outside of contract hours and not on PPS platforms or equipment. Always use personal email, Zoom, Canva, etc. accounts. An encrypted messaging app such as Signal is ideal for text communication between workers regarding organizing activity. Attending protests and events outside of contract hours: 23.5 Except where it relevantly impacts educators’ ability to do their duties....their personal life is of no importance to admin. Attending protests, teach-ins, etc. outside of contract hours does not have relevance UNLESS for example, an educator is arrested and charged, as that would impact their ability to work and becomes relevant. 25 Educator-to-educator threats, complaints, or intimidation: 23.16 Respectful Working Environment Threatening, intimidating or offensive [behavior], is inconsistent with a respectful work environment. Educators shall not be retaliated against by admin for protesting or reporting these actions. If admin does not do their due diligence in addressing this issue, a grievance should be opened against the admin for not resolving the issue between educators. Nondiscrimination: 24.1 The District agrees to follow a policy of not discriminating against any professional educator on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, weight, height, marital status, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, lawful off-duty political activity or associations, membership or nonmembership in the Association or participation in its activities, the fact that the professional educator’s residence is outside the District, or as otherwise provided by School Board policy. For clarity, article language has been paraphrased. Refer to the PAT Contract to find exact language of each article. 26 Organizing With Students: • See Board Policy Professional Conduct Between Adults and Students, which covers conduct/contact between all staff and students on and off contract hours. Please remember that any and all communications utilizing a PPS account are subject to public record laws, as are communications about school, even through a personal device. • See Social Media Policy Use and Expectations for Staff. The tone of social media posts should be professional, the same as any communication you would send to families via email. You must maintain separate accounts for personal use, and that those personal accounts may not be used in direct communication with students. Staff should not “follow” or “friend” a student on any personal social media account. Social media expectations for staff are set by 8.60.044-AD (linked above). • Please keep in mind that any social media post from a school account becomes a public record and could be subject to state public records laws. Because of that, you should generally not delete social media posts. If there is incorrect information, post a corrected version, noting the correction. You should also never use any social media platform in which all traces of communications are eliminated, such as SnapChat. 27 Additional links & Resources Know Your Rights Resources: • Teaching While Muslim: Educators Know Your Rights (Slides) • Equity Labs: Anti-Doxing Guide for Activists Facing Attacks • Security Culture and Cybersecurity for Activists • Turn Off Your Phone! And other basic digital security strategies • ReThink Media: Bolster Your Digital Security: How to Protect Yourself from Doxxing • Toolkit to Defend K-12 Educators and Librarians Against False Accusations of Antisemitism • ReThink Media: Training on Anti-Doxxing • Palestine Legal: Legal Resources for Activists Advocating for Palestine Across the US • Electronic Intifada: Know Your Rights for Student Activists, with Radhika Sainath • Advancing Justice Asian Law Caucus: Know Your Rights for Community Members Addressing Islamophobia and Attacks on Free Speech Portland Public Schools Resources: • Genocide Education in Portland Public Schools: A Timeline From 2019-Present • Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) • Portland Federation of School Professionals (PFSP) • SEIU 503 (Custodial & Nutritional Services Workers) 28 Need union support due to censorship or disciplinary action? Reach out to: Using your personal email, summarize the incident to a PAT rep in your building. Have them share contact info for PAT leadership assigned to your building, and cc PAT Uniserv bao.nguyen@oregoned.org or kristine.mayle@oregoned.org. Get Additional Legal Support Concerned that your rights have been violated? Need legal support with harassment or discrimination? Use Palestine Legal’s incident report form to get pro-bono legal services or referrals. Teach Palestine! Resources for Portland Public Schools Looking for curriculum resources or lessons in your subject and grade level? Use the companion resource to this guide to teach about Palestine. Submit a Public Records Request Believe you are being targeted by fellow staff or admin? Follow these instructions (and the tips on page 23!) to submit a public records request. Learn Palestine 101 & Bust Myths Looking for Palestine 101 history, facts, and myth-busting resources? Decolonize Palestine is a comprehensive website to build your Palestine understanding in the classroom and beyond. 29 30