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Members of Victoria’s Jewish community have written to Premier Jacinta Allan and Education Minister Ben Carroll asking them to take a tougher stance on a planned student strike for Palestine this week.
The letter, sent to Allan and Carroll on Monday morning and purportedly signed by more than 6000 people, describes the government’s response to the proposed strike as confusing. The letter – which has children among the signatories – criticises the involvement of school children in the protest as exploitative.
Pro-Palestine protesters outside Flinders Street Station in Melbourne on Sunday.Credit: Chris Hopkins/The Age
“Although there is a careful balance that needs to be struck between various rights and interests, the health, safety and welfare of students should undoubtedly be the government’s number one priority in these circumstances,” says the letter, instigated by Melbourne woman Moran, a member of the Jewish public who did not want her full name published for safety reasons.
“This is particularly so when the organisers target and exploit school children. The right to demonstrate, while fundamental, is not absolute, and must be weighed against other rights including liberty, safety, security and tolerance.”
The government confirmed it had received the letter, which was distributed among Melbourne’s Jewish school communities and later sent to some media organisations by the state opposition.
Organisers of the strike have asked Victorian students to walk out of schools at lunchtime on Thursday and join a protest in the CBD over Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza.
Free Palestine Melbourne’s social media post about a student strike for Palestine planned for Thursday.Credit: Facebook
In response to news of the strike last week, Allan said she expected students to stay in school on Thursday but that it was up to schools to decide how to handle the attendance of pupils.
Education Minister Ben Carroll had also said that while it was important students took an interest in international affairs, education was the priority and students should attend school.
The letter questions whether the protest’s organisers are “truly concerned with hearing the voices of school children or is it about the mass exploitation of children to advance their cause?”
But one of the protest organisers, 16-year-old Melbourne student Ivy, told The Age she was proud to be involved in organising the school strike to protest “Israel’s genocidal war on the population of Gaza”.
“We reject the patronising claim that we are being used as ‘political pawns’ by outside groups – this strike has been organised by school students, for school students,” Ivy said.
“We are old enough to understand politics and old enough to know what is right and wrong – Israel’s blockade, incineration and starvation of Palestinians is wrong.”
The Age was unable to independently verify the more than 6000 people claimed to have signed the letter, but spoke to several of the letter’s signatories, including Melbourne doctor Jonathan, whose three teenage children attend a Jewish school in the city. He said he signed the letter because students should not protest during school hours and because the rally could stoke antisemitism.
“It’s difficult to fathom that some schools, principals and members of parliament are condoning students attending a pro-Palestinian rally during school hours, when kids at Jewish schools have been scared to wear their uniforms in public since October 7 [when Hamas launched an attack on Israel],” he said.
“I have no doubt that most kids see it as a good excuse to have a day off and nothing more than that, and haven’t contemplated what their attendance might mean for an already rising escalation of anti-semitism in Melbourne.”
Jonathan’s 17-year-old son also signed the letter and said many students were just jumping on a “social media bandwagon”.
“I would be surprised if most people planning to go [to the student protest] have a deep understanding of the conflict at all beyond what they see on social media reels.”
In response to a request for comment about the letter, a Victorian government spokesperson said: “Many in our school communities are affected by the devastating events in the Middle East – schools are communicating with parents and carers about the current situation, including providing extra support for any students who need it.”
Opposition education spokeswoman Jess Wilson said: “We don’t need school students being encouraged by professional political activists to skip school to attend a strike about an incredibly complex conflict in the Middle East.”
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