Teachers’ union at KU argues violence against Israel is necessary, as universities are rocked by pro-terror views 

An affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers issued a statement Wednesday in solidarity with Hamas that encourages violence toward Israel.  

The Graduate Teaching Assistants Coalition at the University of Kansas (GTAC), which is an ATF affiliate, argues that violence against Israel “will necessarily continue as long as apartheid and settler colonialism exist,” according to a copy of the statement found on GTAC’s website.    

“We encourage our members to educate themselves on and teach about the apartheid of Palestine, which is a direct result of racist violence, including both the forced displacement of Palestinians from their land and the forced displacement of Jewish people from Europe,” the statement reads.  

The GTAC homepage itself features a colorful illustration using the word “Resist.” 

“Leftist teachers and professors advocating violence, yet again.  And teacher unions wonder why they are increasingly distrusted and scorned,” commented one Twitter X user about the pro-Hamas statement by GTAC.  

News of the statement came via the X feed of Corey DeAngelis, a senior fellow at the American Federation for Children.  

The GTAC declaration follows calls by UAW 2865 in California for the “dismantling of the occupation and apartheid system in Israel-Palestine.”  

UAW 2865 represents over 36,000 Academic Student Employees, including Teaching Assistants, Graduate Student Researchers, Graduate Student Instructors and tutors in the University of California system.  

U.S. university systems have been rocked by student, and sometimes teacher, support for the Hamas attacks on Israel. Donors have cut ties with prominent universities such as Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, accusing academics there of being antisemitic.  

Faculty members at Cornell, Columbia and Yale have demanded the termination of fellow professors who have described the terror attacks by Hamas as “exhilarating,” according to Israel’s Haaretz.  

Associate Professor Russell Rickford of Cornell University was caught on camera saying about the Hamas violence, “It was exhilarating. It was energizing. And if they weren’t exhilarated by this challenge to the monopoly of violence, by this shifting of the balance of power, then they would not be human. I was exhilarated.” 

Rickford’s comments drew condemnation from university administrators and faculty alike, with over 5,000 Cornell-affiliated people signing a petition for his ouster.  

The pro-terror stance isn’t just confined to academics and their unions, however.  

Progressive darling Starbucks is suing its 9,000-member barista union for the use of the company’s image and likeness in a social media post by the union that’s headlined “Solidarity with Palestine!”, according to Newsweek.    

The GTAC statement condoning violence by Hamas continues teachers’ unions’ hard march to the extreme left. In May, the Colorado Education Association, an NEA affiliate, approved an assembly plank that condemned capitalism as exploiting children, causing climate change and racism, and creating a “patriarchy” as well as income inequality.   

The NEA is the largest union in the country.