Schoolchildren targeted

Pro-Palestine group attacks Mount Scopus kids

College Principal Dan Sztrajt: 'This post is intended to antagonise the Melbourne Jewish community and direct violence toward Australian children and youth'

Mount Scopus Memorial College.
Mount Scopus Memorial College.

A vile social media attack against Jewish schoolchildren in Melbourne has prompted a call for police to take action.

The post by a pro-Palestinian group, which The AJN has chosen not to name, targeted Mount Scopus Memorial College.

It featured photographs of former pupils serving with the IDF and called for a reconsideration of the financial support the school receives from the government.

College Principal Dan Sztrajt said the school is disgusted by what he called an attempt to incite hatred against the Jewish community and instil fear amongst our school’s families.

“This post is intended to antagonise the Melbourne Jewish community and direct violence toward Australian children and youth. By choosing to intentionally include images of current primary and secondary aged children, the creators have no regard for the impact of their actions that directly threatens the safety and wellbeing of children,” he said.

Sztrajt said an example of this impact is that the post has inspired comments that have called for acts of violence against the school and students.

“The public targeting of children is simply unacceptable and should be illegal. I expect Victoria Police to act against those advocating for violence against Australian children and Jewish schools,” he said.

Sztrait said as professionals who have dedicated their professional lives to the care of young people, he and his staff are heartbroken to see their students being subjected to these hate-filled comments and calls for violence.

Even some of the pro-Palestinian commenters on the social media post seemed uneasy about harassing Jewish schoolchildren, warning it might damage the integrity of their movement.

Member for Macnamara, Josh Burns, who is Jewish and a former pupil at Mount Scopus, said this sort of behaviour should be seen as criminal.

“There is absolutely no justifiable reason to target Jewish day schools, and especially not Jewish schoolchildren. To target and intimate Jewish school children whether online or not is unacceptable,” he said.

Burns, a Labor MP, said people have seen too many incidents of doxxing, “Which is why we are going to be bringing in laws to criminalise this behaviour.”

Member for Caulfield, David Southwick, who is also Jewish and a former Mount Scopus student, said he was sickened by what he called an “act of hate from the pro-Palestine movement, who have managed to reach an all-time low”

He said there is a double standard at work, because if this happened to any other community, there would be outrage, “But because they are targeting Jews, the pro-Palestine movement gets off scot-free.

“I’ve written to the Minister for Education, the Minister for Police, and the Attorney-General because we need leadership. Our schools, our kids, and our entire community deserve better than this,” Southwick said.

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