An international education organization asked a group of Jewish educators to sign a statement condemning Israel before traveling to Italy to attend a study conference, according to a report.
About 100 Jewish teachers from the United States and Israel have canceled a study trip to the Reggio Emilia region planned for later this month to study the Reggio Emilia approach – a style of education “long adopted” by Jewish preschools – after being ordered to denounce the Jewish state, the Jewish Insider reported.
This shocking statement was the result of a protest by some parents associated with the Italian host organization, Reggio Children, who opposed the participation of Jewish educators on the grounds of their alleged support for Israel and the Israel Defense Forces.
Teachers were asked to sign a pledge saying: “I distance myself from the occupation of Gaza and the violation of the rights of children and human beings in the occupied territories as well as everywhere (sic) in the world. »
Around 1,200 people, mostly Jews, were massacred by Hamas on October 7, 2023, sparking the war in Gaza.
Manhattan Day School Principal Pesha Kletenik said participants would have been profiled because of their support for Israel before being asked to sign the statement.
“Our identities were made public and our personal and institutional social media profiles were examined and characterized as demonstrating our support for Israel and the IDF,” Kletenik said in a statement.
Melissa Davis, of the Milton Gottesman Jewish School in Washington, DC, said the pledge was the result of the “ripple effects of global anti-Semitism.”
Davis said the abandoned trip was “a loss to our community in the short term – our teachers and, in turn, their students will not be enriched by this experience,” in a statement.
The host group was also in the process of drafting another statement calling for “militarization outside of schools” before participants decided not to attend, the outlet reported.
The statement comes as anti-Semitism continues to grow in Italy, with social spaces where it is acceptable to be Jewish having diminished, according to the Center for Contemporary Jewish Documentation.
A survey last year found that about 15 percent of Italians view attacks against Jews as “justifiable.”
Italian politician Ivan Scalfarotto removed the requirement and said that asking “Jews, as Jews, to distance themselves from the policies of the Israeli government is anti-Semitism.”
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