Statement On World Teachers’ Day

Today, on World Teachers’ Day, we celebrate and honour teachers everywhere who dedicate their lives to nurturing knowledge, fostering critical thinking, and inspiring hope for a better future.

In Palestine, teachers embody this mission under some of the harshest conditions in the world. Despite military occupation, daily checkpoints, demolished schools, and shortages of essential resources, Palestinian teachers continue to guide their students with resilience and courage. They are not only educators of subjects; they are defenders of culture, identity, and dignity.

Teaching in Palestine is more than a profession — it is an act of steadfastness (sumud). Each lesson delivered is a statement that education is a right, not a privilege, and that no occupation can extinguish the Palestinian will to learn, to dream, and to thrive.

On this World Teachers’ Day, the Palestine Forum of New Zealand stands in solidarity with Palestinian educators. We call on the New Zealand Government, unions, and educational institutions to recognise and support the right of Palestinian children and teachers to safe, free, and quality education.

We pay tribute to teachers across Aotearoa and the world, and we particularly honour the Palestinian teachers whose classrooms remain beacons of hope amid adversity. Their determination teaches us all that education is not only about knowledge, but also about justice, freedom, and humanity.

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