Minister’s Israel trip a ‘propaganda mission’, says education committee chair

A trip taken by the education minister to Israel has been described as a “propaganda mission” by the chair of Stormont’s education committee.

Nick Mathison said there is “questionable judgement” around Paul Givan attending the trip due to it being paid for by Israel.

He added: “I think those concerns are absolutely right to be raised and I think it’s appropriate that we do so.”

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

Speaking to BBC’s Talkback programme last week, Givan confirmed that the trip had been facilitated by the Israeli embassy.

The Alliance Party MLA Mathison told BBC Radio Ulster’s The Nolan Show: “It looks to me like a propaganda visit really to hear 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 have shared photos of their tour, which has included 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 photos of the minister in Israel 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 those attacks on the 7th of October”.

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”.

The Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council (NITC) demanded he explain his actions and it further criticised the DE for “promoting” his visit on the department’s online platforms.

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”.

Mathison said that 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 don’t think that’s an acceptable state of affairs in our system.”

“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.

“It’s highly questionable from the minister, and I think when the lines are then blurred about whether he is actually there, potentially acting in his official capacity as a minister of the Northern Ireland Executive, I think those concerns are absolutely right… to be raised and I think it’s appropriate that we do so.”

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.”

Mason added she has questioned whether this visit was “undertaken in an official ministerial capacity”, or if elements of Givan’s visit “have been carried out with departmental support”.

“If not, I am requesting clarification as to why departmental social media has been used to comment on elements of this trip.”

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.

Also on Tuesday, 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 £300 million black hole in its budget adds further insult to injury.”

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.

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.

“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.

On Tuesday, the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council (NITC) said it was “deeply troubling” that Givan accepted an invitation to a state accused of genocide – a claim that Israel denies.

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 68,000 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.

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.