Teachers face being banned from wearing pro-Palestine badges following a review of anti-Semitism in schools.

The report by Sir David Bell, commissioned by the Government, will detail the scale of abuse suffered by Jewish pupils, with three in five reporting that they had been targeted.

Sir David, a former Ofsted chief inspector, will make 27 recommendations to deal with anti-Semitism in schools and colleges in England. These will include strengthening guidance on political impartiality, particularly regarding geopolitical issues.

He will also say schools should “consider the appropriateness” of political expressions or identifiers. It comes after reports that some teachers had taken to wearing pro-Palestine badges in the classroom, including the Palestinian watermelon symbol.

There is currently no blanket ban on teachers wearing pro-Palestine badges in schools. Schools have a legal duty to prevent teachers from promoting partisan political views, but it is left to their interpretation whether such badges fall foul of this.

While Sir David will stop short of recommending a blanket ban on pro-Palestine badges, his advice is expected to lead to some schools banning such badges.

Speaking to Sky News, Sir David said there needed to be guidance on political impartiality in schools so that students could “debate topical and difficult issues without feeling that teachers are imposing their own views on students”.

He added: “I think what this review has demonstrated is that a general commitment to tackling racism or prejudice or hate has not properly identified anti-Semitism as a particular kind of hate, and certainly that’s one of the themes of this report.

“We do need to name anti-Semitism as a particular kind of prejudice and hate, because I think if you don’t name it, you don’t actually know what you’re tackling.”

‘Robust reporting and response’ needed
He added that schools should make sure that policies on staff behaviour should be clear that anti-Semitism is not acceptable, and when pupils experience it, robust reporting and response mechanisms should be in place.

Sir David was commissioned in March to investigate anti-Semitism in schools on behalf of the Department for Education (DfE). His report, which was leaked to The Telegraph, is to be published in full on Wednesday.

The former schools inspector, who has gathered evidence from pupils, teachers, governors and parents, from both state and private schools, said one in five students had witnessed anti-Semitism and three in five Jewish students had experienced it.

His recommendations, which the Government is expected to accept in full, will encourage schools to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of anti-Semitism, and ensure teachers receive anti-Semitism awareness training.

They include developing media literacy lessons to help in recognising and confronting online anti-Semitism and conspiracy theories.

Sir David also recommended changes to Holocaust education – ensuring anti-Semitism was taught as a central, explicit theme of the atrocity – and ensuring modern-day Judaism was comprehensively taught in religious education classes.

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