An update from #ELT4Palestine

The following was originally published on LinkedIn by Sarah Gaylard as “A reflection on six months of ELT Professionals for Palestine“. The TEFL Workers’ Union praises the courageous efforts of #ELT4Palestine and are proud to promote their important work.

Six months ago today, on Valentine’s Day, I spontaneously decided to open a Facebook group. This was after learning in October (decades too late) about occupation and apartheid in Palestine, and then, in the following months, feeling increasingly distressed as children died in Gaza, and frustrated at the apathy, particularly within my field of English language teaching (ELT). 

I had slowly begun to find lone voices among my ex-colleagues and LinkedIn connections – people who were equally horrified, and many of whom felt alone in their organisations. On 14 February two things happened: I read the newly released IATEFL statement about Palestine, which I found disappointingly ‘balanced’ about a situation where balance was clearly not appropriate; and I heard about a teacher who hadn’t returned to the school where she had taught for years, because the apathy of her colleagues was too painful to witness. 

So I spontaneously opened a group, where we in ELT who could see what was happening could connect, share our grief and perhaps find ways to help and to mobilise. 

Michelle Wandrag, a fellow South African, and an ex-colleague I hadn’t spoken to for 20 years until we reconnected over Palestine, quickly volunteered to help me admin the group. We were partners as we tried to work out what this group was and could be, following the lead of the members who joined as word spread. 

Other colleagues and connections joined, word spread (with some secrecy at first), ideas emerged, time and skills were volunteered, and we learnt about two projects run by ELT professionals – The Hands Up Project and Tell a Child’s in Gaza’s Story. Palestinians started to join the group – some in diaspora, some in the West Bank, and even teachers in Gaza. Suddenly the Palestinians we were advocating for were real people (for me, at least – others in the group already had friends in Gaza).

Over the past six months the group has achieved more than we could possibly have imagined – proof that small things can lead to bigger things, particularly when like-minded people connect over something that matters to them. At some point, when Michelle and I needed a steadying hand, Huma Hasna Riaz Ahmed stepped up to help us, and then gradually Lea became more involved. The four of us – in four countries (with four time zones!), on three continents – are now the main coordinators of the group. 

These are some of the things the group has done over the past six months, thanks to many, many volunteers and supporters from many more countries (and time zones!):

• We put out an open letter for any (ex-)ELT professionals to sign (thank you to the 8 people from 5 countries and 3 continents who wrote it and the 600 + who have signed, and to those who participated in the video)
• A group raised awareness about Palestine at the IATEFL conference (thank to those who showed their solidarity openly, inspiring others to join them)
• We’ve run workshops on Israelism (thank you Lea and Alan), antisemitism (thank you Nina Mehta https://www.antisemitismcurriculum.org/), bringing Palestine into the classroom (thank you Danny Norrington-Davies, and story-telling (thank you Haneen Jadallah and David Heathfield)
• We’ve been running a weekly Power Half-Hour event (currently on a break), hosted by Fatima Aldajani , Lea and Michelle, where we’ve heard insights from a range of people, including Omar Hammad (whose brainchild the PHH was), and other teachers in Gaza; Palestinian activists in diaspora, such as Yazan Alnahhas; and non-Palestinian activists such as Nathi Ngubane, meital yaniv (@bloodlines_book) and Heidi Newby-Rose. 
• We ran a Gaza Pen Friends project (thank you Omar Hammad , Fatima Aldajaniand Michelle) – now mostly on pause because of connection problems. 
• We’ve started a tutoring project, where we match adults students with online English teachers (thank you Fatima Ebrahim, Michelle and the many volunteer teachers)
• We’re in the process of organising a conference to be held on 21 September (thanks to Gerhard Erasmus and the other organisers, and to the speakers, who will be announced soon). 
• We’ve connected and collaborated with other organisations such as Teachers for Palestine, The Bridge (@the_bridge.community), Connect Palestine (connect_palestine), Bystanders No More , The TEFL Workers Union, and many others. 
• We’ve run an e-sim project where we connect donors with people in Gaza (thank you, Heidi Newby-Rose , Omar Hammad and the donors)
• We’ve created social media platforms where we publicise our initiatives, share poetry, lesson plans and articles and videos from people in this community, and also share more general news and insights about Palestine, hoping to raise awareness and keep Palestine top of mind. 

As a bonus, many new friends and connections have been made, and old friendships nurtured. 

Some of the other people from around the world who have volunteered their time, skills and voices towards the projects above, or supported us in other various ways are: Gordon Weetman, Aleks Palanac 🍉 , Dr Amina Douidi , Gillian Flaherty , Mechthild Lier , Jenna Gray, Kati Alice Bilsborough , Rick Shepherd , Sam Kentridge, Lubna Majeed , Siddhu Tekur , Jill Hadfield , Tamara Qutteineh, Harry Waters, Razia Hisham, Teresa Fidge 💻🌱 , Milena Jakičević , Sumbella Khan , Cecilia Nobre , Scott Thornbury , Nick Bilbrough , Katherine Bilsborough , Peter Holly , Ana Jovic , Hani du Toit 🎙🇿🇦⭐️ InclusionSpecialist with LEGO®️SERIOUS PLAY®️ Mohammed Nabil, Noor, Angela, Renae, Soha, Fatima, Peter, Lottie and many others.* 

Many of these volunteers are heavily involved in activism and/or voluntary work for Palestine with other organisations, and/or are activists for other social justice or climate issues, and it is an honour to know these people and to be part of this value-driven community. 

It hasn’t always been straightforward. We had heated discussions within the group about whether to call in or call out those who are apathetic (in our open letter we decided on a call-in approach, but we also decided that both approaches are important and different people simply suit different approaches). We had complaints about our open letter: one anonymous person threatened to report us to the Jewish Board of Deputies for being antisemitic (the letter is not antisemitic); someone else complained that we should have mentioned the hostages (the Israeli hostages or the Palestinian hostages?). We had to decide whether it was antisemitic to post about about the book called ‘From the River to the Sea’ (it definitely isn’t), whether we would lose followers if we posted in support of the LGBTQ+ community (we decided values mattered more than followers), and whether our group was also about other issues (we do post about other issues, but our main focus is Palestine). Our Facebook page was briefly taken down for no obvious reason. But in truth there’s been far less backlash than I expected. The apathy is still there, six months later, from ELT organisations and from the vast majority of teachers and other ELT professionals, but we appreciate those who are doing what they can, and know that some people (and even organisations) are doing what they can privately, out of sight. 

The news in the past week or two has been particularly hard to stomach. Torture in prisons; Israelis protesting the right to rape Palestinians; a massacre so brutal that not one body was found intact; pictures of 4-day twins killed with their mother while their father went to get birth certificates – just two of hundreds of babies who have died from bombs, starvation or lack of medical equipment. And meanwhile Biden has approved another $20 billion for more weapons. Could we have imagined six months ago that this genocide would still be going on, and that things could get so much worse?

Our actions have not stopped the deaths. Sometimes it’s hard to see what the point of all this is. Are we just doing it to make ourselves feel better? 

But turning away is not an option. Willful ignorance is not an option. It is the willful ignorance of so many that has allowed this to continue for so long. We have to carry on, one baby step at a time – even though what’s needed is gigantic steps – in the expectation and belief that small changes have a ripple effect, and that eventually there will be not only a ceasefire, but also an end to the occupation and apartheid; freedom for all the hostages, including the thousands of Palestinians in ‘prisons’ and 2 million in Gaza; rebuilding; justice; and lasting peace. 

*If haven’t mentioned you, it’s not because your contribution wasn’t appreciated, but because my brain is too full! 

Sarah Gaylard is an English teacher and teacher trainer, and a writer and editor of ELT materials. She’s the co-founder of ELT Professionals for Palestine and asked that we include the following:

To those reading: Please do read and sign our open letter if you are a (former) teacher or other ELT professional.

You can follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook (‘ELT Professionals for Palestine’) and on Instagram and TikTok (@elt_for_palestine).

If you’d like to get involved with tutoring, or in any other way, please do drop us an email at [email protected]. 

We hope you’ll join us for the online conference on 21 September. We’ll be posting more information on our social media pages soon.

#FreePalestine