Oakland rally calls on teachers' union to rescind resolution on Israel-Hamas conflict
OAKLAND -- Jewish parents, teachers and community leaders sounded off on Friday over a resolution passed by the Oakland Education Association calling for a cease-fire in the ongoing Gaza conflict.
Dozens of people rallied outside of Montclair Elementary School in Oakland Friday morning demanding the OEA rescind statements that opponents called one sided. They also said the resolution taken up by the educators' union have made them feel unsafe and unwelcome at schools.
"I'm perplexed on the fact OEA union representatives think they have any business taking an official stance on the conflict, considering they are 7,400 miles away from its center," one parent said Friday. "I don't remember the union taking an official stance on any other geopolitical conflict, let alone on all other conflicts happening in the Middle East."
Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area CEO Tye Gregory, and Anti-Defamation League Regional Director and former California State Assemblymember Marc Levine also spoke at the rally.
In late October, OEA posted an official statement of solidarity with Palestine and condemned the "genocidal and apartheid state of Israel."
OEA later walked back the statement. According to parents, on Monday night the organization passed a different resolution saying that the OEA stood "unequivocally in support of Palestinian liberation." The resolution also said OEA would distribute educational materials for teachers to use in classrooms to teach about Palestinian liberation.
KPIX reached out to the OEA for a comment on the resolution but have not heard back.