A GROUP of Scottish educators advocating for peace in Palestine have been forced to seek legal advice after a targeted campaign by pro-Israel lawyers.
Educators for Peace (EFP), a voluntary group of teachers and lecturers, is understood to have sought advice from the European Legal Support Centre after UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) sent a 50-page dossier to numerous Scottish public authorities.
The Sunday National understands they have raised legal concerns around harassment, defamation and data protection regarding the pro-Israel lobbying group and its actions against them.
Earlier this week, a vegan festival scheduled to take place in London was cancelled after a complaint was sent to the venue due to UKLFI hosting it.
Three senior barristers from UKLFI – Baron Pannick KC, Baron Anthony Grabiner KC, and Stephen Hockman KC – have been named in a Bar Standards Board (BSB) complaint which accuses them of using their professional seniority to intimidate Palestine activists, lodged earlier this year by two legal organisations.
And now, UKLFI have been accused of an “organised smear campaign” by EFP.
UKLFI stated on their own website in May that they had contacted Jenny Gilruth, then-education secretary, Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander, Education Scotland, all of Scotland’s 32 local authorities and the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS).
The lobby group say this was to “raise serious concerns” about EFP’s “worrying activities”.
UKLFI also stated that they had referred individuals associated with the group to the GTCS for investigation into their fitness to teach. The GTCS told the Sunday National it would not comment on individual teachers due to legal reasons, nor confirm the number of referrals made by UKLFI.
A spokesperson for UKLFI previously accused EFP of spreading “hate and misinformation”, a claim which has been strongly disputed by the group of educators.
The Sunday National understands that EFP have sought legal assistance from the European Legal Support Centre, which specialises in legal defence, monitoring, and strategic litigation defending Palestine solidarity across Europe.
EFP told the Sunday National they “reject UKLFI’s allegations entirely as distortions and misrepresentations of our position”.
“We will not be intimidated into silence by bad actors in the face of genocide, fascism, racism and global injustice,” a spokesperson for EFP said.
“We remain committed to supporting educators across Scotland to teach for peace and justice.”
The 50-page dossier, published on the Scottish Government’s website earlier this week, contains a two-page profile of EFP, a list of individuals associated with the group – which have been fully redacted by officials – and three and a half pages of “applicable legal provisions and policies” which include references to the Equality Act 2010, the Terrorism Act, and Hate Crime Act, among others.
UKLFI also disputes the reference to genocide in Gaza on EFP’s website, stating that it is a “serious and inflammatory accusation that is strongly disputed”. It then claims that there is “no evidence” that members of the IDF have “conducted operations with … intent” to commit genocide under Article II of the Genocide Convention.
“The allegation of genocide is factually inaccurate,” the dossier adds.
A United Nations Inquiry found in September last year that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.
The document, attached as an annex to the letter to public bodies, goes on to raise numerous concerns about lesson plans and resources on EFP’s website which relate to Gaza and Palestine. One in particular, which relates to the Nakba, when 750,000 Palestinians were displaced during the creation of the State of Israel, was described as “revisionist history” by UKLFI.
There are also more than 20 pages of screenshots taken from EFP’s social media accounts.
A source told the Sunday National that UKLFI’s tactics are geared to provoke a “knee-jerk reaction” from public authorities and to shut down any criticism of Israel or the genocide in Gaza.
UKLFI listed the demands they had put to all of Scotland’s local authorities on their website. This included a confirmation they do not endorse EFP materials, to investigate if teachers had engaged with any training by EFP, to “remind schools of their legal duties of impartiality”, refer “appropriate” cases to the GTCS and consider whether Prevent referrals “are required”.
Prevent is the UK Government strategy that aims to stop radicalisation and people becoming terrorists.
A spokesperson for EFP told the Sunday National that they seek to equip educators with “confidence, knowledge, pedagogy and resources to address contemporary issues that may also be contentious in the classroom” and “upholding the professional values expected of all Scottish educators”.
“In early May, we became aware of an organised smear campaign against our organisation and individual team members by UK Lawyers for Israel,” they added.
“The allegations put forward by this campaign have been dismissed as unfounded or not worthy of further investigation. This is because they merely amount to a difference of opinion over the Israel-Palestine conflict and present-day genocide being committed by the government of Israel in Gaza.”
They added that UKLFI’s “well-known tactics” are to raise complaints with professional regulators for individuals employed by public bodies.
“Educators for Peace is simply one of the latest organisations to be targeted by UKLFI,” they added.
“But we are not intimidated because we understand fully what this is really about – silencing discussion about Palestine and any criticism of the actions of the government of Israel, while simultaneously attempting to debilitate small organisations like ours by smearing our reputations in front of the government, education bodies, local authorities and potential partners with lengthy letters containing legally complex allegations.
“We reject UKLFI’s allegations entirely as distortions and misrepresentations of our position.”
They added they are seeking to hold UKLFI accountable for its use of SLAPPs, lawsuits which can be used to censor, intimidate and silence critics.
“We believe these lawfare tactics amount to transnational repression in the service of the government of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people and that this cannot be allowed to continue unchallenged,” the EFP spokesperson added.
“It is entirely congruent with our values to demand justice and accountability for this wilful misuse of legal tactics for repression.”
A Sunday National investigation has established that East Ayrshire and Fife councils instructed teachers in their areas not to use EFP resources, without engaging with EFP itself.
A spokesperson for Fife Council said that after they were approached by UKLFI “education officers consulted with school leaders and confirmed that Educators for Peace has not approached Fife Council seeking to work with our schools, nor does the council have any formal relationship with the organisation”.
They added that their position remains “under review” and “would be reconsidered should any relevant new information become available”.
East Ayrshire Council said that they were unaware of EFP before being contacted by UKLFI.
“On a precautionary basis, due to the nature of the allegations submitted by UK Lawyers for Israel, Education Services advised head teachers that they should not engage with EFP,” a spokesperson said.
“This matter is subject to review by relevant Council officials.”
They added that the local authority is bound by the Equality Act and GTCS standards, so "platforming any organisation, in class or school, that promotes any form of bias of protected characteristics, such as religion or race, is a breach of national GTCS standards and of local authority disciplinary policies”.
Statements from councils in Clackmannanshire, South Lanarkshire, Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, East Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Falkirk and Highland were also published on UKLFI’s website.
The authorities either said they did not engage with EFP’s materials, that concerns have been passed on, or that schools in the area are committed to the Curriculum for Excellence which emphasises “political impartiality, equality, and the creation of inclusive learning environments”.
In response to a letter from UKLFI regarding EFP, Gilruth, now the Deputy First Minister, said the Scottish Government is “firmly committed to fostering a safe, inclusive environment for all, and we deeply value our ongoing engagement with Scotland’s Jewish communities”.
Gilruth went on to say the Scottish Government is “equally committed to promoting respectful, balanced debate and meaningful interfaith and intercommunity dialogue”.
“Education should support young people to understand different perspectives in a way that is open, respectful and grounded in professional standards,” the letter read. “Schools have an important role to play by providing a safe space for learners to explore, discuss and debate a range of social and political issues.”
UKLFI also approached Education Scotland regarding a resource from the Educational Institute for Scotland titled “Understanding the Conflict between Palestine and Israel”.
The group described this as a “biased, misleading and anti-Israel resource” which promoted "partisan political views in schools” which would “spread misinformation and risk stirring up hatred towards Jews and Israelis”.
In response, Education Scotland said that "significant efforts” were made in previous years to create a resource on Israel and Palestine that could be “agreed” by all key stakeholders.
“But that did not prove possible and therefore Education Scotland concluded that it could not endorse or share that particular set of resources via its own channels,” the letter from chief executive Gillian Hamilton said. “This remains the position of Education Scotland.”
UKLFI have been contacted for comment.
