United Teachers LA Co-Sponsors “Resistance” Event at Bookstore Selling Pro-Terror Literature
Findings from Navi K-12 Extremism Tracker reveal that UTLA is co-sponsoring a “Solidarity Forum” at Midnight Books, a bookstore that markets titles celebrating leaders of designated terror groups
The Navi K-12 Extremism Tracker released a report revealing that the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA), which represents approximately 35,000 educators across the Los Angeles area, has agreed to co-sponsor an event titled “Solidarity Forum: Resistance, Repression, & Defense“.
The event is scheduled for February 16 at Midnight Books, a Los Angeles bookstore known for carrying radical and extremist political literature. Its inventory includes titles celebrating individuals designated by the U.S. government as terrorists, as well as foundational texts associated with communist and Islamist revolutionary movements.
The event brings together a coalition of co-sponsors including Educators for Justice in Palestine, the Educator Defense Network, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. According to the event description, the forum aims “to discuss the coming battles in defense of workers, activists, and movements” and “to build a united front of organizations and movements to fight back against state repression.”
Midnight Books’ Promotion of Terrorist Propaganda
According to findings by Navi K-12 Extremism Tracker, Midnight Books describes itself as a “revolutionary bookstore“ and community space. Documentation of the bookstore’s inventory and marketing language raises concerns that it promotes propaganda materials that glorify members of U.S.-designated terrorist organizations.
Midnight Books sells an autobiography of Leila Khaled, a member of the U.S.-designated terror group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The bookstore describes Khaled’s book as featuring “her exciting tale of plane hijacking,” referring to her involvement in the 1969 hijacking of TWA Flight 840.
The store also sells “Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement,” which it describes as featuring “the founding works of the PLO, DFLP, Fateh and the mighty PFLP.”
The bookstore markets former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s novel and describes him as the “legendary Lion of Gaza.”
“Axis of Resistance” Publication Series
The store sells materials described as “The Axis of Resistance“ (parts one through three), which it markets as collections of “speeches and correspondences from the Axis of Resistance, those fighting for the liberation of Palestine.” Part two specifically focuses on “October of 2023, when the Al-Aqsa Flood changed the course of history,” referring to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
Texts Promoting the Islamic Republic of Iran
Midnight Books stocks writings by “the legendary” Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of Iran’s Islamic Republic, which it describes through favorable characterization.
Materials on Militant Strategy and Warfare
The store sells the “Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare,” by Kwame Nkrumah, which it markets as “a step by step instructional guide on warfare and propagandist tactics that are absolutely relevant.”
Co-Sponsoring Organizations Led by UTLA Members
Educators for Justice in Palestine
Educators for Justice in Palestine (LA EJP) consists of Los Angeles public school teachers, including UTLA members, who engage in pro-Palestine activism. The organization has successfully lobbied UTLA to pass resolutions supporting divestment from Israel and has advocated against LAUSD partnerships with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
The Educator Defense Network
The Educator Defense Network is a California activist organization comprising teachers from both the California Teachers Association (CTA) and UTLA who center their work on Palestine advocacy and "collective liberation." Their Instagram presence emphasizes anti-Israel and anti-Zionist activism. The organization worked to oppose AB 715, a California bill designed to combat antisemitism in K-12 schools that passed in October 2025.
Conflicts of Interest and Institutional Alignment Questions
The co-sponsoring organizations—Educators for Justice in Palestine and the Educator Defense Network—consist primarily of UTLA members and are led by UTLA members. This means the union is effectively co-sponsoring an event organized by its own membership factions.
Several members of these organizations are currently running for UTLA leadership, which creates a potential conflict of interest: union resources are being allocated to co-sponsor events organized by leadership candidates. This raises questions about whether UTLA’s institutional approval reflects broad leadership consensus or alignment with particular activist blocs competing for union control.
Someone needs to tell these teachers what happened to the leftists who helped bring about the Islamic revolution in Iran. I doubt they want to share the same fate.
Thanks for the article.