An East London schoolteacher is featured in a Facebook video, clearing supermarket shelves of Israeli products and chanting “free Palestine”. She appeared in a Redbridge Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) video, as part of their Boycott Apartheid Day of Action on 5th April 2025.
Credit: Screenshot from PSC Facebook video
UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) brought this to the attention of her school’s head teacher, highlighting that she is likely to have committed the criminal offence of aggravated trespass, contrary to section 68 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.
It is an offence under section 68 for someone to trespass on land and do anything intended to obstruct or disrupt any lawful activity taking place there. The teacher appeared to be obstructing or disrupting the shop’s lawful trade by removing whole sections of goods from shelves without intending to buy them. She is unlikely to have had permission to enter the shop for this purpose and was therefore a trespasser.
UKLFI flagged to the school that a teacher committing a criminal act on video that is then broadcast on social media is not only setting a very poor example for pupils, but places the school at risk of breaching its legal obligations relating to political indoctrination.
If a teacher feels so strongly about opposing Israel that she is prepared to commit a crime for this, there is a risk that she would be eager to spread the same partisan political views to pupils.
Section 406 of the Education Act 1996 requires the governing body and head teacher to forbid the promotion of partisan political views in the teaching of any subject., and section 407 requires thegoverning body and head teacher to take steps to ensure the balanced presentation of opposing views on political issues when they are brought to the attention of pupils.
UKLFI has warned the school to take steps to ensure their compliance with legal obligations.
A spokesperson for UKLFI commented: “While the teacher is free to have her own political views, she is not free to commit criminal offences and to set a bad example to her students. We hope the school, will give her a strong warning with regard to future behaviour”.