Incoming NEU General Secretary under fire as Union insists his past remarks did not intend to convey encouragement for violence against Jews
The incoming General Secretary of the National Education Union (NEU) has come under fire over his past remarks and appearances.
Daniel Kebede, an activist and teacher based in north-east England, is due to become the leading teachers’ union’s new General Secretary later this year. He is replacing Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney. Mr Courtney has been a magnet for controversy relating to Jewish people during his tenure.
Mr Kebede appeared at a rally in Newcastle in 2021, where the chant “Khaybar, oh Jews” was heard, a reference to the antisemitic “Jews, remember Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning” chant. The “Khaybar” chant is a classic Arabic battle cry referencing the massacre and expulsion of the Jews of the town of Khaybar in northwestern Arabia, now Saudi Arabia, in the year 628 CE. The chant has been heard in numerous anti-Israel rallies in Britain and abroad.
New video has emerged of Mr Kebede’s speech at the rally, which was organised by the inflammatory Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Although he is not seen in the video joining the chant, his remarks are caught on camera, in which he can be seen holding a microphone and saying that it is “time to stand together and oppose Apartheid, oppose occupation and fight for Palestinian liberation,” before going on to proclaim: “Let’s do it for Palestine, Ramallah, West Bank, Gaza – it’s about time we globalise the intifada.”
The “intifada” is widely understood as the campaign of Arab terrorist violence against Jewish Israeli targets in the early 2000s that claimed hundreds of civilian lives and brought an end to the peace process.
The rally took place in the same period as at least 25 members of the NEU from Jewish school JFS quit over concerns about antisemitism at the Union. At the time, Mr Courtney spoke at antisemitism-infested rallies, and Mr Kebede is now under scrutiny for having done so as well.
The new revelation comes after another union in the education sector, the National Union of Students (NUS), sacked its President late last year. She had a history of antisemitic and inflammatory comments. A ground-breaking report, into which Campaign Against Antisemitism and others provided input, was also published in January by Rebecca Tuck KC, finding that NUS created a “hostile environment” for Jews.
A spokesperson for the NEU said: “Daniel Kebede was present at a Palestine Solidarity Campaign rally in solidarity with Palestinians facing eviction in Sheikh Jarrah in 2021. In speaking to the rally Mr Kebede called for peace and justice in the Middle East and expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people.
“He used the slogan ‘globalise the intifada’ which is an expression of such solidarity, and of support for civic protests; it did not convey any support for violence. He wasn’t aware of the chanting of ‘Khaybar, oh Jews’ and both he and the National Education Union completely condemn such chants, all acts of antisemitism and any attacks on Jewish people.”
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “For the NEU to have to clarify that past remarks by its incoming General Secretary were not intended to encourage support for terrorist violence against Jewish targets around the world is hardly a promising start to his term in office. It would be a concerning development in any trade union, but we have helped Jewish teachers and staff who felt unable to turn to the NEU precisely because they do not feel that it is on the side of its Jewish members. Daniel Kebede’s inflammatory past rhetoric, and appearance at rallies where indisputably antisemitic chants were heard, will do nothing to stop the exodus of Jewish members or reassure those who remain.
“The NEU should follow in the footsteps of the NUS by admitting that it has historically had a dreadful relationship with its Jewish members and commissioning an independent investigation into its own conduct over recent years and that of its leadership.”
