The Australian Education Union Victorian branch conference on July 20 passed two pro-Palestine motions, one initiated by activists and one from union officials.
The first, moved by Teachers and School Staff for Palestine – Vic, was supported by delegates and passed with a significant majority.
It calls on Victorian Labor to end its Memorandum of Understanding with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), and callscon federal Labor to take immediate steps to pressure Israel for a ceasefire and protect teachers.
The "Palestine Solidarity is AEU Vic Branch Union Business" motion came about in response to the Department of Education threatening disciplinary action against teachers engaging in Palestine solidarity.
Lucy Honan, a member of Teachers and School Staff for Palestine, told Green Left that the resolution reflects “the huge amount of work that rank-and-file members have already undertaken”.
She said that included supporting teachers wearing keffiyehs, refusing to teach with resources funded by weapons companies and challenging the idea that standing up for Palestine is antisemitic.
Delegates want Labor to demand a permanent ceasefire and take all the steps necessary to end apartheid and settler violence.
The motion highlighted the intrusion of weapons into classrooms, with a range of science, technology, engineering and mathematics initiatives either partly or fully funded by weapons manufacturers.
Honan said the motion gives teachers and the AEU “a mandate to step up the fight” to break Victorian Labor’s relationship with the IDF and Israeli weapons companies.
AEU officials supported the motion and put forward their own Educating for Peace motion, calling for an end to the occupation and committing to a union contingent to join the weekly Free Palestine rallies.