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By Michael Starr
(September 3, 2025 / Jerusalem Post) The U.S. Congressional Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions and the Committee on Education and Workforce is set to hold a hearing on antisemitism in unions on Tuesday, the Committee on Education and Workforce announced on Tuesday.
The “Unmasking Union Antisemitism” hearing will be chaired by Rep. Rick Allen and comes after Committee on Education and the Workforce chair Tim Walberg announced on August 21 that the forum was investigating the National Education Association (NEA) for its alleged antisemitic positions.
Walberg had sent a letter to the president of the largest American teachers’ union officially requesting documents, communications, meeting minutes, and agreements relating to antisemitism, Israel, and the Palestinians since Hamas’s October 7 massacre.
The letter raised concerns surrounding the NEA’s policies in 2025, including a proposal to promote Holocaust commemoration in a manner that Walberg argued obscured that Jews were the prime targets of the Nazi genocide. Another proposal sought to educate members about “the difference between anti-Zionism and antisemitism” and to teach about Nakba in a way that insinuated that the creation of the State of Israel was a catastrophe.
Last Tuesday, the ZOA filed a complaint with the Massachusetts attorney-general against the MTA, alleging that it had created and fostered a hostile and discriminatory environment toward Jewish members in violation of their civil rights.
The committee was also concerned about a July 8 non-binding resolution passed by the NEA Representative Assembly barring members from using, endorsing, and publicizing Anti-Defamation League materials. The NEA Board of Directors and Executive Committee decided not to implement the proposal.
Last Tuesday, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) filed a complaint with the Massachusetts attorney-general against the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA). ZOA, reportedly backed by Jewish union members, alleged that the MTA had created and fostered a hostile and discriminatory environment toward Jewish members in violation of their civil rights.
“The ZOA’s complaint gives the attorney-general more than enough evidence to finally put a stop to the bigotry and discrimination promoted by the MTA, which many Jewish educators have courageously been battling on their own,” said ZOA Center for Law and Justice Director Susan Tuchman.
“The MTA is obligated to represent all its members fairly, including those who are Jewish and support Israel. We are counting on the attorney-general to exercise her authority and seek an end to the MTA’s hostility and discrimination, which has inspired intimidation and outright fear in some Jewish members. Jewish educators are entitled to fair, safe, and equal treatment in the union that claims to represent them.”
ZOA accused MTA of facilitating a curriculum resource for teachers that included the imagery of a dollar bill folded into the shape of a Star of David.
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