Scopus Students praised for dignified response

Mount Scopus Memorial College Principal Dan Sztrajt has praised his Year 5 students for their dignified response to an antisemitic attack at Melbourne Museum.

But he’s expressed serious concerns about the failure of supervising teachers from the other school involved to act.

Speaking to The AJN, Sztrajt revealed disturbing details about Thursday’s incident, in which Year 7 students from another school subjected 10- and 11-year-old Jewish children to chants of “Free Palestine” and called them “dirty Jews” along with other antisemitic slurs.

“Our staff stepped in immediately to move our students away,” Sztrajt explained.

“Our staff went and engaged with the staff from the other school. [but] they were disappointed with the response. My understanding is that [there was] a comment along the lines of, ‘Well, if that’s how our students feel, there’s nothing we can do about it’, which obviously majorly rattled our staff.”

However, Sztrajt has nothing but praise for how his own students handled the traumatic situation.

“They really have lived up to the community’s set of values, I’m proud of them,” he said.

“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 incident has left parents “absolutely understandably livid,” according to Sztrajt, whose own daughter is in Year 5.

Sztrajt confirmed he has been in contact with multiple parties following the incident, including the CEO of Museums Victoria, who “provided her full support to the school, and was really mortified by the fact that this had happened at one of their sites.”

He has also spoken with the principal of the other school, who he said, “is also very, very disappointed, expressing the fact that this is certainly not reflective of the values of their school. She is investigating what happened. She wants to understand the students involved, the staff involved, and she’s committed to working together with us in a path forward.”

Sztrajt has offered the other school principal educational resources to help address the underlying issues.

“I suggested to her a number of different agencies and Jewish organisations that would be happy to help support a process of education for her students and staff, should she wish to partake. I did mention to her that obviously Mount Scopus ourselves would be happy to be involved in anything, but certainly the Melbourne Holocaust Museum and Courage to Care.”

This latest incident follows a previous antisemitic attack on the school, with graffiti reading “Jew die” spray-painted on school walls.

“The entire global Jewish community has been rattled by the huge, almost unprecedented in our generation, rise in global antisemitism, and unfortunately, Melbourne seems to be absolutely copping the brunt of it,” Sztrajt said.

However, he was adamant that the solution is not for Jewish students to avoid public spaces.

“There will be calls, I’m sure, by some to say for the sake of safety, we need to be very cautious. And of course, we always are. Our safety is our number one priority when dealing with our students, our staff, our community,” he said.

“But there cannot be an expectation here that Melbourne City, the CBD, the Melbourne Museum, needs to be judenfrei.”

Sztrajt said the solution to this problem is not for the Jewish community to say we’re not venturing out into public spaces for fear of antisemitism.

“I genuinely do believe our response needs to be in a safe way, in a coordinated way that makes sure our community is safe. We have every right to be participating in activities as anyone else would. It is our right as Australians. It’s our right as Australian Jews.”

Sztrajt believes our response cannot be “to curl up and run and hide.”

The Mount Scopus principal expressed particular concern about the professional conduct of the supervising teachers from the other school who failed to act.

“If the staff from the other school chose not to act in the face of an act of racism, I’m actually quite concerned that this is a breach of their responsibility under the Victorian Institute of Teaching code of conduct,” Sztrajt said.

“In my mind, it goes beyond just some comments by some students – the inaction of adults, of teachers, of educators, to not take further action when this occurred is what really is shocking our community.”

Despite the trauma of the incident, Sztrajt noted that his students are learning important lessons about resilience and pride in their identity.

“I think it’s important that for our students, they have a sense of Jewish pride. As Australian Jewish students, they have every right to be anywhere, and they have every right to expect not to be vilified and not to be the victims of racism,” he said.

“It’s difficult, but they shouldn’t need to learn these lessons at this young age. But they are. They’re learning and they’re understanding. They’re learning how to look after themselves and how to respond appropriately. It’s a shame that they need this lesson at this age.”