Education minister's Israel trip a 'propaganda mission', say Alliance

Nick Mathison chairs Stormont's Education Committee

A trip taken by Northern Ireland's education minister to Israel has been described as a "propaganda mission" by the chair of Stormont's education committee.

Nick Mathison, of the Alliance Party, said there is "questionable judgement" around Paul Givan attending the trip due to it being paid for by Israel.

Givan, a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) assembly member, is among a group of unionist politicians who are on a six-day tour of Israel, which Givan called a "fact-finding mission".

Givan has confirmed the trip has been facilitated by the Israeli embassy.

The delegation attending the Israeli tour also includes Givan's DUP colleague Sammy Wilson; Steve Aiken from the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and Ron McDowell from the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) party.

Mathison told BBC Radio Ulster's The Nolan Show said the visit hears "one particular side of the story".

"The fact that the voices of the people of Gaza are completely silent in anything we're hearing from the education minister coming from Israel is very concerning."

In recent days, Givan and other politicians shared photos of their tour, including a visit to a Holocaust National Memorial Centre and Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and meetings with Israeli victims of Hamas attacks.

Mathison said the "optics" of the photos are "quite a jarring image when we we think of the the absolute destruction that has been inflicted on the people of Gaza following those attacks on the 7 October."

Paul Givan is among a group of unionist politicians who are on a six-day tour of Israel which the minister called a "fact-finding mission"

'Lines have become very blurred'

On Tuesday, the body which represents Northern Ireland's main teaching unions criticised Givan for visiting Israel amid international condemnation of its actions in Gaza.

The Department of Education (DE) said Givan was "invited by the government of Israel to participate in an official visit as part of a delegation of representatives from Northern Ireland".

Dr Graham Gault, of the National Association of Head Teachers, said DE should remain "political neutrality".

He said the department "should not be putting out anything that can be perceived by anybody as leaning one political way or another".

The department publicised Givan's visit to Ofek School in Jerusalem on both its official website and its social media accounts.

It confirmed that Givan met the school's staff and students "along with representatives of the Israeli Ministry of Education".

DUP MP Sammy Wilson said the Executive press office checks for "political content" on releases put out by any department.

"It was passed obviously by the department and it also refers only to the lessons that he (Givan) learnt in the school that we visited," he added.

Mathison said the trip to Ofek School is "where the concern really does begin to become more of an issue".

He added: "I think it's really important in our system that we have clear lines between individual members, party political activities and their official roles if they hold an office such as minister and I think the lines have become very blurred here."

"I think that the idea that we should be there as guests of the Israeli government to hear what the message is that they wish to put out around this conflict, to me, is unacceptable," he added.

No confidence motion

The Sinn Féin MLA, Cathy Mason, has written to the education minister and submitted a series of questions over the trip.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, she said Givan has "chosen to visit Israel at a time when that very same state is committing genocide against the Palestinian people".

"Meanwhile, schools here continue to lurch from crisis to crisis... Israel has bombed nearly every school in Gaza out of existence and murdered tens of thousands of children."

Leader of the opposition, Matthew O'Toole from the Social Democrat and Labour Party, said Givan's "propaganda junket to Israel after the killing of thousands of kids is an appalling thing to do".

"Especially concerning is the use of civil service resources to publicise it," O'Toole added on X, formerly Twitter.

The People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll announced he is submitting an Assembly motion of no confidence in Givan

The People Before Profit MLA, Gerry Carroll, said he intended to submit an assembly motion of no confidence in Givan.

"The Department of Education has been actively promoting the minister's visit, which is totally inappropriate. This trip is clearly politically motivated," he said in a statement.

"The minister and his colleagues setting off on this junket just as the Education Authority revealed a £300m black hole in its budget adds further insult to injury."

Speaking to BBC News NI's Talkback programme on Wednesday, Carroll said Givan is "supposed to be a minister for everybody", but that he is using his position to "bolster the reputation of Israel worldwide".

He said this was "really, really dangerous to Palestinians".

When asked if Sinn Féin will be supporting the motion of no confidence in Givan, party MP Chris Hazzard said "all options are on the table to hold the minister to account".

Meanwhile councillors on Derry City and Strabane District council backed a proposal calling for the minister to resign immediately.

People Before Profit councillor, Shaun Harkin, who put the proposal forward at a full council meeting on Wednesday afternoon, said Givan's trip was "a disgrace," adding it was "a propaganda stunt designed to whitewash and normalise genocide".

The proposal was opposed by DUP and UUP councillors but supported by Sinn Féin and the SDLP.

It was passed by 28 votes to seven with one abstention.

A DUP spokesperson said the party's representatives are part of a wider group and that the visit comes at no cost to UK taxpayers.

"It is not a visit shrouded in secrecy - from the moment our representatives landed in Israel they have posted detailed updates of the engagements they have taken part in," the DUP spokesperson said.

The current military campaign in Gaza began following a Hamas-led attack on Israel 7 October 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were abducted.

Israel responded by launching ground and air strikes which have led to more than 68,500 deaths so far, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Last month, the world's leading association of genocide scholars declared that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

At the time, the UN and some Western nations said that they would only consider a ruling by a court that genocide is taking place as authoritative.

Analysis - 'A very rare statement'

When the main teaching unions speak with one voice it is usually over pay or education policy.

So the strongly-worded statement they issued over Paul Givan's visit to Israel is notable.

It is very rare for all of the unions to criticise a minister – and comment on world affairs – so directly.

Sources suggest that union leaders were receiving plenty of concerns from their members about the minister's visit, and the way he had publicised it.

Some also felt it was unnecessarily putting the Department of Education on one side of the conflict in Gaza.

It will have been a difficult balancing act for some teaching unions, though, who will know that not all of their members will agree with the joint statement.

It is also unlikely to make the minister back down, though he can expect further scrutiny of his visit at Stormont in the days and weeks ahead.