{"id":40106,"date":"2025-10-28T21:28:49","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T21:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/paul-givans-visit-to-israel-criticised-by-teaching-unions\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T21:28:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T21:28:49","slug":"paul-givans-visit-to-israel-criticised-by-teaching-unions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/paul-givans-visit-to-israel-criticised-by-teaching-unions\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Givan’s visit to Israel criticised by teaching unions"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Eimear Flanagan<\/span>BBC News NI<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"LiamLiam McBurney\/PA Wire<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The NITC has condemned Paul Givan’s decision to publicise his tour of Israel on his government department’s online platforms<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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The body which represents Northern Ireland’s main teaching unions has criticised the education minister for visiting Israel amid international condemnation of its actions in Gaza. <\/p>\n

Paul Givan is among a group of unionist politicians who are on a six-day tour of Israel which the minister called a “fact-finding mission”. <\/p>\n

The Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council (NITC) said it was “deeply troubling” that he accepted an invitation to a state accused of genocide – a claim that Israel denies. <\/p>\n

The Department of Education said Givan was “invited by the government of Israel to participate in an official visit as part of a delegation of representatives from Northern Ireland”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician has shared photos of his tour, which included a visit to a Holocaust National Memorial Centre and Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and meetings with Israeli victims of Hamas attacks. <\/p>\n

The NITC condemned Givan’s decision to accept the invitation from the Israeli Embassy “at a time when senior officials of that state stand accused of war crimes”. <\/p>\n

It demanded he explain his actions and it further criticised Stormont’s Department of Education for “promoting” his visit on the department’s online platforms. <\/p>\n

The department publicised Givan’s visit to Ofek School in Jerusalem on both its official website and its social media accounts. <\/p>\n

It confirmed that Givan met the school’s staff and students “along with representatives of the Israeli Ministry of Education”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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