Quaker school suspends teachers over pro-BDS speaker invite

WYNNEWOOD, Pennsylvania (AP) — Two teachers at a Quaker school outside Philadelphia have been suspended after inviting a Palestinian speaker connected to the BDS movement to speak at a Peace and Equality in Palestine club, which they supervise.

A lawyer representing Ariel Eure and Layla Helwa told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the teachers were put on administrative leave Monday from Friends’ Central School in Wynnewood. .

Parents complained about their invitation to Swarthmore College Professor Sa’ed Atshan because of his involvement in the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement, a Palestinian-led global campaign to challenge what it calls “Israeli apartheid and settler colonialism.”

School leaders canceled his speech and the school’s administration said the teachers were on leave while a review was conducted.

About 65 students and Eure and Helwa walked out of a school meeting in protest.