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Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Daily Mail
These Aussie kids went on a school excursion to the museum - but what happened inside left parents horrified
A group of children as young as 10 have been 'traumatised' by vile anti-Semitic abuse hurled by older students during an excursion to Melbourne Museum. Year five pupils from Mount Scopus Memorial College took part in a shared activity with students from a Melbourne public high school on Thursday. A group of older students from the other school repeatedly chanted 'Free Palestine ' and called the children 'dirty Jews', along with other racist slurs. The children were quickly moved away by their teachers to de-escalate the situation. 'Our group leader immediately confronted the senior school educators to address the behaviour of their students,' Mount Scopus Memorial College Deputy Principal Greg Hannon said in a letter to parents. 'Upon returning to the college, we conducted a wellbeing check on all students to ensure they felt safe and supported.' Principal Dan Sztrajt has commended his pupils on their dignified response. 'They really have lived up to the community's set of values, I'm proud of them,' he told Australian Jewish News. 'They were strong, they were of good courage. They did not respond in kind. They did not see this as an opportunity to launch slurs, to attack back at the other school. They responded like mensches, and I'm proud of them.' The college has previously been targeted by vandals, who spray-painted 'Jew Die' on the fence at the front of the school. Furious families have demanded answers. 'My granddaughter really doesn't understand why this happened, this is the first time she's ever experienced any anti-Semitism,' one man told 3AW radio on Friday. A father posted online: 'They were tapped on the shoulder and then chanted at by these 16 and 17-year-old students [who said] 'free Palestine' and then, as they walked away, were called 'dirty Jews' and other racist comments. 'This is not a political debate; this is pure, unadulterated anti-Semitism and hate.' The incident has sparked outrage from Jewish community leaders, who have expressed concerns about the rise of anti-Semitism in Australia since the Israel-Hamas war ignited tensions worldwide in October 2023. 'All Australians should be outraged that 10-year-old Jewish children were accosted during a school excursion to a museum, simply because of their ethnicity,' Australian Jewish Association chief executive Robert Gregory told Daily Mail Australia. 'Children aren't born with hate. What we're seeing is the tragic result of the relentless demonisation of the world's only Jewish state, driven by activists, media figures, and sadly, even politicians. 'These attacks are becoming more frequent. I'm hearing from an increasing number of Jewish Australians who no longer feel safe in their own country.' Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich called for an immediate investigation by the Department of Education and mandatory anti-hate education following the 'unforgivable and chilling' incident. 'If we can't protect grade five students from hate in a museum, then we have failed as a society. We cannot allow this to be normalised. What happened in that museum is not an isolated outburst,' he said. 'It is part of a rising wave of anti-Semitism that is engulfing our country.' Victoria Deputy Premier and Education Minister Ben Carroll also condemned the 'unacceptable' incident. 'I've spoken with the principal of Mount Scopus College today and conveyed my disgust at the anti-Semitic attacks on their students,' he said. 'I have offered every support possible to help them through this incident. 'It is unacceptable that students or staff feel unsafe in the community where they learn, work and play.' Museums Victoria chief executive Lynley Crosswell has launched an investigation.
The Guardian
25-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Sydney writers' festival chair resigns amid debate over Israel-Palestine programming
The chair of the Sydney writers' festival board has resigned over concerns about the festival's balancing of views on matters such as the Israel-Gaza war, saying 'freedom of expression cannot and should not be used as a justification to accept language and conversations that compromise the festival'. The festival board confirmed Kathy Shand's resignation on Monday, less than a month before the 2025 lineup of writers, speakers and panelists is due to be announced on 13 March. Shand, a board member of the Sydney Jewish Museum and a former co-publisher of the Australian Jewish News, wrote in her resignation statement that while artistic freedom and independence were essential, 'freedom of expression cannot and should not be used as a justification to accept language and conversations that compromise the festival as a safe and inclusive space for all audiences'. 'Every session that is planned needs to reflect the values of the festival and represent the highest standard of consideration and curation,' she wrote in her resignation letter, sent to the Sydney Morning Herald. 'The reputation of the Sydney writers' festival has been hard won and is well deserved. This needs to be protected and great care needs to be taken with the stages that carry the imprimatur of the festival. At a time when cultural organisations are faced with challenges I wish the festival well.' The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the board had been engaged in a 'years long tussle over the emphasis placed on presenting a diversity of views on issues such as the Middle East conflict and geopolitics'. Weeks before Shand's resignation, Guardian Australia was briefed about the 2025 program, and can independently confirm it includes multiple prominent Jewish and Palestinian writers and thinkers. The speakers names remain embargoed until 13 March. Late on Monday, Robert Watkins, the new chair of the festival and Ultimo Press's publishing director, said the festival was a champion of freedom of speech and respectful debate. The 2025 program, set for release on 13 March, would 'demonstrably reflect the festival's ongoing commitment to presenting a plurality of voices [and] a diversity of thought', Watkins' statement said. 'This includes both Jewish and Palestinian writers and thought leaders. The board are united and supportive of the 2025 program,' he wrote, also praising Shand's 'dedication to championing writers and fostering meaningful engagement'. Since the conflict in Gaza erupted in October 2023, a steady flow of resignations and calls for boycotts have plagued literary festivals and arts organisations. Most recently, Creative Australia dumped artist Khaled Sabsabi as Australia's representative at the 2026 Venice Biennale, over past works by the Lebanese-born Australian artist that involved imagery of the now dead Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. That decision that has been widely condemned by prominent artists and art organisations. At the 2024 Melbourne writers' festival, deputy chair of the board Dr Leslie Reti resigned over the programming of a poetry session involving Aboriginal and Palestinian poets reading their work and sharing their experiences of being colonised. At last year's Perth writers' festival, an open letter signed by more than 500 writers and arts workers called for the deplatforming of Jewish singer-songwriter Deborah Conway over her previous comments in support of Israel. Some Jewish figures also called for feminist writer Clementine Ford to be banned from the 2024 Adelaide writers' week due to her social media posts opposing Israel's actions in Gaza.
