For some time now, Portland, Ore., has been the epicenter and chief exporter of national entropy. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that the Portland teachers' union was recently caught peddling classroom curriculum designed to indoctrinate Pre-K through 12th-grade students into an anti-Israel agenda. It is chilling, but not surprising.
On his Substack, Christopher Rufo talked extensively about the curriculum, which has understandably earned the ire of Jewish leaders. Rufo notes that the lesson plans are "steeped in radicalism" and focus on decolonization. And the lesson plans are not just for middle or high school students. There are lesson plans designed for students who should be mastering the rudiments of shapes, colors, letters, and numbers. And maybe singing a few songs and having a snack before nap time. Rufo writes:
For prekindergarten kids, the union promotes a workbook from the Palestinian Feminist Collective, which tells the story of a fictional Palestinian boy named Handala. “When I was only ten years old, I had to flee my home in Palestine,” the boy tells readers. “A group of bullies called Zionists wanted our land so they stole it by force and hurt many people.” Students are encouraged to come up with a slogan that they can chant at a protest and complete a maze so that Handala can “get back home to Palestine”—represented as a map of Israel.
Other offerings include slideshows with the phrase "I feel safer when there are no police" and some that discuss the glories of a Palestinian intifada.
The curriculum, co-published by the Portland teachers union, is called "Teach Palestine!" The union promotes the curriculum to its 4,500 and provides them legal justification to include it in the classroom—beginning with children as young as four and five years old. pic.twitter.com/w9DgNUh9h5
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) June 5, 2024
In pre-kindergarten, teachers are encouraged to read from a workbook by the Palestinian Feminist Collective, which blames "a group of bullies called Zionists" who "stole [Palestinian] land by force and hurt many people." pic.twitter.com/7tpUtzgJLT
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) June 5, 2024
In kindergarten, the students learn "anti-Zionist" history. In one lesson, it describes Zionist Jews as land thieves who wanted to create "a country where rules were mostly fair for Jewish people with White skin." This, the students learn, is the evil of "settler colonialism." pic.twitter.com/uwT5wdVATz
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) June 5, 2024
Coming from the same demographic that contends that children should be able to change their gender before they can spell their names, this is again unsurprising but still alarming.
If you try to access the main website, "Know Your Rights! Teaching & Organizing for Palestine within Portland Public Schools," you will likely be denied access. I was. However, as of this writing, the lesson plans are still available via Google Docs, and you can access them here.
The narrative is woven into every aspect of learning, including mathematics. There is also a link to a Palestine-oriented page on the site wokekindergarten.org. This page introduces kids to all of the things they may see, feel, hear, and even taste at a protest. Complete with pictures. For students in the higher grades, there are lessons on colonization and a “zine on queerness, Palestinian liberation, and pinkwashing. Incorporate into lessons on identity, gender, sexuality, zines, and more.” There is even an offering on how to protect biodiversity in "occupied Palestinian territories."
If you spend any amount of time on the Google doc, you will realize that it is there is more at work than left-wing antisemitism. The Portland teachers' union has taken the opportunity to use the conflict in Gaza to advance multiple agendas and is doing so by targeting impressionable young people.
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