Antisemitism in unions and other sectors is at a real crisis point. Last week, the House Committee on Education and Workforce held a hearing titled "Unmasking Union Antisemitism." We closely monitored the hearing and support Congress’s critical responsibility to conduct oversight and examine discrimination, including antisemitism, in institutions under their jurisdiction.

Last week's hearing highlights why the recent attack against ADL and the Jewish community by the National Education Association (NEA) is significant. When the NEA — representing 3 million educators — considered severing ties with ADL, our team had to move fast to protect Jewish students and educators’ access to critical materials. The following conversation shares a behind the scenes look at how we fought back against antisemitism by mobilizing 25,000 people from communities across the country, coordinating with partners, and protecting Holocaust and antisemitism education in classrooms everywhere.

Read on to learn more and take action yourself.

I'm Max Sevillia, ADL's Senior Vice President of National Affairs, and I'm joined today by two colleagues who were instrumental in our response to the NEA boycott threat — Shira Goodman, Vice President of Advocacy, and Ariel Behrman, Vice President of Education.

We’re a few months out from this crisis, let’s debrief what we did behind the scenes. From the start, Shira, Ariel, what were initial reactions?

Shocked and concerned. The NEA represents 3 million educators who use our materials to educate students about the Holocaust and antisemitism. I thought “this cannot be happening.” Antisemitic incidents in schools are at record levels — which is devastating enough. The thought of this group that represents teachers, passing a resolution like this seemed unreal.

We needed to move fast, but to be strategic about it. There was a narrow window to open the eyes of the NEA leadership that this would harm students and educators, not help them.

Agreed, I was shocked! We’re talking about programs that have reached millions of students. Our Echoes & Reflections program alone has trained over 20,000 educators in the last school year. These materials are evidence-based and have taken decades to develop, and they aren’t political tools. The idea of losing this was terrifying, and the gap that could have been created in Holocaust education and antisemitism prevention would have come precisely at a time when it is most desperately needed.

The timing was urgent, and you organized ADL’s response immediately, right?
 

Yes exactly — but we also didn’t even know what the timeline was – it wasn’t public. We launched a "360-degree advocacy campaign," grassroots mobilization, institutional pressure, all the works. We ended up getting over 25,000 people to send more than 210,000 emails to the nine Executive Committee members.

But our real breakthrough, I think, was understanding that in the Jewish community, we all saw this NEA threat for what it was: it was not an attack against only ADL, but it was also antisemitism. We coordinated with Jewish Federations and community organizations to show this wasn't just ADL advocating for itself — this wasn’t about just us, but the broader Jewish community was saying this is an attack on all of us.

The coalition piece was massive.

 

It changed everything. Conference of Presidents, AJC, basically everyone, there were nearly 400 organizational that signed on to our letter to NEA.

We also had allies inside the NEA too. The Jewish Affairs Caucus was incredible and helped us lift voices. Having internal pushback was key.

I think it was also helpful that we led with facts and data. Through our education programs we reach nearly 3 million students annually, and we had teachers and school leaders sharing personal stories on how they use our materials and look to us for guidance.

We also met with the NEA President, Becky Pringle. This was a big step. We got the chance to explain the state of antisemitism and how this would hurt the entire Jewish community, not just ADL.

A lot happened in those two weeks... and spoiler alert here, on July 18th the Executive Committee rejected the boycott.

Well, that was incredible. The combination of grassroots pressure and institutional relationships really worked. Our supporters were flooding their inboxes with personal stories, but major Jewish organizations were also making it clear this boycott would damage relationships with communities that care deeply about education.

And the effort tied to our broader work. With antisemitism spiking everywhere, this victory sent a clear message to other educational organizations: partnership works, boycotts don't. It shows that when the Jewish community mobilizes strategically, we can protect the resources students and educators depend on.

The congressional attention we're seeing now — one hearing on union antisemitism, another hearing on K-12 antisemitism just last week — feels connected to this fight?

We can’t say that for certain, but I think we’re being heard. Our supporters are willing to speak up when it matters. This NEA fight proved that individual actions create collective impact. So, when thousands of people take the time to contact decision-makers and share why these partnerships matter, it makes a real difference.

And it really wasn't just about defending ADL, but teachers and students, and ensuring they get the education they deserve.

Exactly. And it validates our approach to fighting antisemitism. The NEA's decision means Holocaust and antisemitism education remains accessible to the millions who depend on these resources. At the end of the day, that is what really matters.

And we’re continuing to track and support Jewish union members across the spectrum who are concerned about and responding to problematic activity and resolutions, including regarding BDS and curricular issues. Thanks for walking through this with me. The NEA fight shows that strategic advocacy and community mobilization can beat back efforts to isolate Jewish organizations from their educational mission. I think this is a pretty powerful lesson for future efforts to counter hate wherever it happens.