Transformative education is for everyone: The role of educators for Palestine

Institutions across the world are deeply entangled in the machinery of Palestinian oppression. Pension funds bankroll weapons manufacturers. Universities invest in firms linked to Israel’s military occupation. Corporations profit from land theft and surveillance tech used against Palestinians. More and more people are confronting just how complicit their own workplaces, communities, and institutions are.

Yet stepping up for Palestinian freedom has become a professional risk. Time and time again, we hear the same concerns: fear of being accused of antisemitism, fear of losing one’s job, and fear of being targeted (often in explicitly racialised ways) for naming what is happening on the ground: genocide, settler colonialism and military occupation.

At the same time, many well-meaning advocates remain unsure how to act or what to say. Without a clear political framework and analysis, it’s difficult to connect the dots between our everyday roles and the broader structures of settler-colonial and imperial violence. We hear variations of the same concerns: “How do I explain this clearly?” or “How do I communicate without falling into rhetorical traps or scarecrow arguments?”. 

That’s where transformative education comes in. 

Over the past twenty months, the surge of requests we’ve received shows that transformative education is needed in educational institutions and spaces. Educators want to learn how to de-exceptionalise Palestine,  and to situate it within wider global movements for liberation, anti-colonial resistance, and racial justice – and face institutional backlash or discouragement from having the space to do so.  We believe that educators, teachers, students, trade unionists, and organisers across learning spaces, are among the most important actors in this moment – when we are receiving consistent requests to to train them because they are feeling not confident, knowledgeable or skilled enough to effectively advocate for Palestinian dignity within their spaces, what does this mean for the liberation movement and for wider educational practices?

Our Approach

Our workshops and personalised trainings support educators to:

• Build clear political frameworks centering Palestinian analysis and knowledge production to understand the Palestinian liberation struggle
• Connect Palestine to global struggles against racism, imperialism, and colonialism
• Navigate hostile institutional climates with clarity and confidence
• Replace “neutral” or “balanced” language with principled, liberation-aligned narratives
• Embed Palestine into their teaching, organising, and institutional practices

In our workshops, participants learn to question, and ultimately reshape, the dominant narratives that obscure Israel’s violence and marginalise Palestinians.

Our Impact

This year alone we’ve trained hundreds of educators from across various chapters of the National Education Union, Birkbeck University, Queen Mary University, London School of Economics, and University of the Arts London, among others. And the demand is continuing to grow!

Here’s what participants from recent trainings told us:

“I’ve always hesitated to get involved in conversations about Israel and Palestine because I am not a historian and I have always felt that I did not know enough to say anything meaningful. Now I feel equipped to advocate in a meaningful way on behalf of the Palestinians.” NEU

We were so grateful to have Makan lead a tailored workshop at our conference, centred on unpacking indigeneity, debunking colonial myths, and foregrounding Palestinian knowledge … The impact of their work continues to resonate with attendees long after the event and we couldn’t have asked for more intentional and skilled facilitators.” Cambridge Universities’ Department of Education

What we hope comes next

We want to see educators carry this learning forward by building deeper political clarity, expanding circles of conversation, and organising with accountability.

We hope our workshop participants walk away:

• More knowledgeable about Palestinian-led initiatives
• Equipped to become educators themselves by sharing what they’ve learned 
• Committed to situating Palestine within broader struggles against racism, colonialism, and imperialism
• Ready to take principled stands in their institutions

If you’re an educator looking to deepen your knowledge and advocacy on Palestine, sign up to our upcoming workshops or get in touch for a tailored training.