Latest news with #GregHannon
Daily Mail
4 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.
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
10-year-olds allegedly targeted by antisemitic abuse at Melbourne Museum
The Melbourne Museum is investigating an incident in which a group of high school students allegedly targeted 10-year-old children with antisemitic abuse. Grade 5 students from Mount Scopus Memorial College, a Jewish school in Burwood, reported that a group of students from an unnamed Melbourne secondary school yelled 'dirty Jews' as the two groups undertook a shared activity at the museum on Thursday. In a letter to parents, seen by The Age, Mount Scopus deputy principal Greg Hannon described the incident during a school excursion. 'A small group of students from the other school chanted 'free Palestine' towards some of our students,' Hannon wrote. 'Our group leader immediately confronted the senior school educators to address the behaviour of their students.' Hannon said the primary school students were quickly moved away from the other school group. He said that Mount Scopus would contact the principal of the high school. Mount Scopus parent Tristan Sternson said his 10-year-old boy had been subjected to a 'terrifying experience' by the high schoolers, believed to be 16 and 17 years old. 'He and his classmates were targeted by high school students from a different school,' Sternson wrote in an online post.
The Age
4 days ago
- The Age
10-year-olds allegedly targeted by antisemitic abuse at Melbourne Museum
The Melbourne Museum is investigating an incident in which a group of high school students allegedly targeted 10-year-old children with antisemitic abuse. Grade 5 students from Mount Scopus Memorial College, a Jewish school in Burwood, reported that a group of students from an unnamed Melbourne secondary school yelled 'dirty Jews' as the two groups undertook a shared activity at the museum on Thursday. In a letter to parents, seen by The Age, Mount Scopus deputy principal Greg Hannon described the incident during a school excursion. 'A small group of students from the other school chanted 'free Palestine' towards some of our students,' Hannon wrote. 'Our group leader immediately confronted the senior school educators to address the behaviour of their students.' Hannon said the primary school students were quickly moved away from the other school group. He said that Mount Scopus would contact the principal of the high school. Mount Scopus parent Tristan Sternson said his 10-year-old boy had been subjected to a 'terrifying experience' by the high schoolers, believed to be 16 and 17 years old. 'He and his classmates were targeted by high school students from a different school,' Sternson wrote in an online post.
Sky News AU
4 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Year 5 Mount Scopus Memorial College students receive vile antisemitic abuse during trip to Melbourne Museum
Vile abuse was hurled at a group of Jewish primary school students from Mount Scopus Memorial College during an excursion to Melbourne Museum, marking the latest escalation in a string of antisemitic attacks across Australia. The year 5 students, aged between 10 and 11, were called "dirty Jews" by high school students from a different institution as they shouted chants of 'free, free Palestine'. The abuse occurred on Thursday while the two groups were taking part in an activity in a shared space at the Melbourne Museum. Mount Scopus Memorial's deputy principal Greg Hannon told parents in a letter seen by the Herald Sun that he would be contacting the head of the other school. 'Our group leader immediately confronted the senior school educators to address the behaviour of their students,' he said. 'Upon returning to the college, we conducted a wellbeing check on all students to ensure they felt safe and supported.' The incident has outraged families of the young students, with one parent saying on social media that his son had been called a "dirty Jew", and labelled the act "pure, unadulterated antisemitism". 'Today, my 10-year-old son went on an excursion to the Melbourne Museum,' he said. 'What should have been a day of learning and culture turned into a terrifying experience when he and his classmates were targeted by high school students from a different school. 'They were tapped on the shoulder and then chanted at by these 16 and 17 year old students '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.' This is not the first time Mount Scopus has been the target of antisemitic abuse. Last year the leading Jewish school was defaced with hateful graffiti inciting death upon Jews, with parents keeping their children at home out of fear. The words 'Jew die' were daubed in black spray paint on the school's white fence. Dr Dvir Abramovich, chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, is pushing for an investigation into the ''chilling'' Melbourne Museum incident from the Department of Education. 'What happened at the Melbourne Museum is unforgivable and chilling,' Dr Abramovich said. Executive Council of Australian Jewry chief executive Alex Ryvchin also criticised the high school students for bringing 'disgrace to themselves, their school and their country'. 'Where would Australian high school students learn this behaviour?' he said. 'Form the belief that it is OK, even righteous to see a Jewish symbol on the uniforms of 8 and 9 year olds and subject them to chants about Palestine?' 'It comes from a certain moral collapse brought about by nearly two years of normalised abuse and violence, where anyone who holds an opposing view on the war is a Nazi and a baby-killer, where anything down to Jews living peacefully on the other side of the world is justified, or if impossible to defend, it's a false flag.' There has been a rise in both antisemitic and Islamophobic attacks since the Israel-Hamas war gripped the world on October 7, 2023. The Labor government's response to the escalation in antisemtic attacks has been widely criticised by the nation as well as Israeli officials. It comes as Australia's Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal vowed to call out the Albanese government if they don't support her in battling antisemitism in Australia. Ms Segal handed down a major report earlier this month, outlining a series of measures to combat antisemitism she claimed had 'reached a tipping point that threatens social harmony, undermines trust in institutions and marginalises Jewish Australian citizens'. Pressure is mounting against Mr Albanese to implement 49 of Ms Segal's recommendations in the report, which advises stripping funding from universities and artists if they fail to act against antisemitism. The Labor government has not yet committed to the recommendations, but Mr Albanese indicated he was open to parts of the plan.
