A prominent Israeli-Australian says Australian schools are facing a catastrophe – and the warning signs have been there for a while.
Dr Dvir Abramovich
Ver video en el siguiente link: https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/school-life/frightening-antisemitic-abuse-is-on-the-rise-in-australian-schools/news-story/80af8ac3064ad014c4003458120a1e9d
OPINION
The recent gut-wrenching story of the Jewish student at a Launceston school subjected to anti-Semitic and Nazi abuse is just the tip of the iceberg.
For Jewish students, public schools in Australia are not what you would imagine.
Anti-Semitic bullying is alive and well, and these terrible forces are gaining traction.
The frightening reality is that we are getting very close to a point where many young Australians will be hiding their Jewishness for fear of being targeted, singled out and mocked.
Schools are supposed to provide an inclusive and nurturing environment in which our young people can learn, free from religious and racial assaults – that is, unless you are Jewish.
A reality check on the catastrophe we are facing is badly needed. The warning signs have been here for a while.
Over the last few years across the country, we have seen terrifying incidents of Heil Hitlers in class, Nazi swastikas scrawled on lockers and desks, and Jewish students intimidated on social media and physically beaten.
In Melbourne in 2019, a Jewish student at Cheltenham Secondary College was threatened with group violence in a public park unless they knelt and kissed the feet of another boy, the ugly act filmed, photographed and shared on social media.
In the same year, we even heard of a five-year-old in Hawthorn West Primary who was called a “Jewish cockroach” and forced to leave after months of verbal bullying by classmates.
Last month, several students at Sydney’s exclusive Knox Grammar were suspended for posting vile racist material, including anti-Semitic rants.
And in Victoria, five Jewish students have filed a lawsuit against Brighton Secondary College and the state over what they allege was years of anti-Semitic bullying and discrimination at the government school.
One Jewish student told the court he was pushed into the toilet cubicles by a group of students, punched and had a knife held to his throat. He described being curled up and crying and traumatised by the attack.
He said he thought of hurting himself and eventually, after a lack of response to his suffering by the school administration, left Brighton Secondary.
Another Jewish student testified that he was spat at, kicked, called a “f***ing Jew”, and told to get in an oven.
It is no surprise that Jewish parents are beginning to lose confidence that their children can be protected in our public school system and are wondering whether it’s safe to send their kids to class every morning.
I have sounded the alarm bells, warning that soon students at public schools will feel uncomfortable simply for being Jewish and that this toxin is chipping away at their dignity, self-esteem and worth.
I have warned that we were reaching a point of no return; where being Jewish will be a liability.
So, who is protecting our children and standing by them as they are harassed and dehumanised?
Often, Jewish students fear that if they speak up, they will become pariahs or bigger targets for torment. They are willing to relate their harrowing stories on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution and reprisals.
Every victim of anti-Semitism I have spoken to has had their lives derailed, left with emotional scars that they will carry with them forever.
Like other viruses, once anti-Semitism is inside a school, it does not rest until it infects the entire body. I fear the pervasive intimidation and violence against Jewish students is just a dress rehearsal for something much worse.
And if we don’t disrupt this phenomenon now, a Jewish student will be killed.
As I write this, there are principals and teachers who are in complete denial about the scale of the problem. When told of the ordeals Jewish pupils are experiencing, they are either deliberately indifferent to their plight, or they accept, excuse or choose not to act on complaints.
Treating abuse against Jewish students as jokes, or ‘one-offs’, or telling the accusers they are lying, or letting the aggressors off with a slap on the wrist, is dangerous.
It’s a thumbs up for the haters to continue their campaign of terror against their classmates.
It empowers and inflames this mob passion who start to believe that Jews are easy marks.
Anti-Semitism is at its most dangerous when it is not spoken about, soft-pedalled, whitewashed and justified.
Slogans about zero-tolerance from Department of Education spokespeople mean nothing if they are not backed up by real action and enforcement from senior leaders at schools.
The time of reckoning is now.
Instead of being blissfully ignorant, we need to stare this menace down and weed out the poisonous roots that are taking hold in our schools.
Because if Jewish students don’t feel safe in the playground or the classroom, then this will mean the belief that we are a tolerant, multicultural nation, and the age of innocence in our lucky country would have come to an end.
It would mean that no parent could ever promise their newborn that they will not be victimised just for being Jewish.
School administrators who fail in their duty of care must be sent packing, and anti-Semitic bullying and violence must be viewed as hate crimes.
Students must be warned, on the first day of school, that if they engage in any anti-Semitism or racial vilification, they will pay a heavy price – expulsion and potential criminal charges.
This is a societal crisis that requires the collective voices of our community to say that this situation is unacceptable.
Something drastic needs to happen right now.
Or the next column might be about a Jewish student who has taken their life.
And then it will be too late.
Dr Dvir Abramovich is chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, Australia’s leading civil rights organisation fighting anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry. He is the author of seven books.
Fuente: https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/school-life/frightening-antisemitic-abuse-is-on-the-rise-in-australian-schools/news-story/80af8ac3064ad014c4003458120a1e9d
