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TUV deputy leader Ron McDowell, who describes himself as an “ardent trade unionist”, accused the five teaching unions in question of making “uninformed points” about the visit, which has involved a contingent of cross-party unionist politicians embarking on a six-day tour of Israel. The trip ends today, and the delegation flies home tomorrow. In particular the unions involved – namely the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, National Association of Head Teachers, National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, National Education Union, and Ulster Teachers’ Union – have objected to the presence of DUP education minister Paul Givan, and the fact that his department issued a press release promoting his visit to an Israeli school as part of the trip. This criticism of Mr Givan continued today, with SDLP MLA Matthew O’Toole penning a letter to the head of the civil service accusing him of using department resources to “peddle Israeli propaganda”. For its part, the Department of Education has said it “has not incurred any costs in relation to the visit and no departmental officials are participating”. The visit began last Friday and has seen councillor McDowell, Mr Givan, UUP MLA Steve Aiken, and DUP figures Sammy Wilson MP and David Brooks MLA visit a raft of Israeli sites including a Holocaust memorial, the Israeli parliament, and the Gaza border area (taking in the site of Hamas’ Nova music festival massacre on October 7). The element which especially angered the unions was a Department of Education press release on Monday about a visit to the Ofek School on the northern outskirts of Jerusalem, which it promoted on social media. In a joint statement, the unions "condemned” the minister for “taking part in and promoting a tour hosted by Israeli officials”, and said the trip was “deeply troubling” because it came “in the context of what has been recognised by the UN as a genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza, as well as Israel’s consistent disregard and abuse of international laws in the West Bank and East Jerusalem”. Councillor McDowell has now told the News Letter: “The visit to the school allowed us to witness children from Arab, Jewish and Christian backgrounds being educated together. "It was also an opportunity to see how particularly gifted children can have their abilities nurtured and they can reach their full potential. "As a proud longtime trade unionist, I am frustrated that the unions have become fixated with a couple of photographs on Facebook. "I can remember no similar outrage from unions when an actual terrorist – Martin McGuinness – held the post of Education Minister. “Unions should be about standing up for workers and securing better pay and conditions for their members, not jumping on political bandwagons in order to make uninformed points about international politics.” The SDLP issued a statement today from Matthew O’Toole, its leader in the Assembly, saying: “There is real public outrage at the Education Minister’s decision to not only visit Israel, but to use departmental resources to publicise his trip and help peddle Israeli propaganda. "The civil service and department must urgently outline what involvement they had in the minister’s trip, and the departmental resources used to herald a visit to a school sitting on occupied Palestinian land. “This visit took place as the Israeli government continues to kill innocent civilians in Gaza, with 20,000 children among the dead. "The SDLP opposition is willing to work with any other party to ensure that the minister is held accountable.” He added: “It is beginning to look like the minister is using his office to pursue his own political agenda, rather than to improve the education system across Northern Ireland.”
