Two arrested on suspicions of anti-Arab graffiti

Five Jewish students are suing the government of the state of Victoria in Australia alleging they faced years of anti-Semitic harassment and bullying at a Melbourne high school. According to Sky News Australia , the plaintiffs claim that as students of Brighton Secondary College they had to endure a “prison culture” on school property, including being held at knife point, spat at, pushed down stairs and punched while the school did little to nothing to stop the behavior. The human rights case is being heard by a federal court and involves the potential violation of the Australian Racial Discrimination Act and negligence. They are also suing the school’s former principal and two teachers. The five Jewish students allege that between 2013 and 2020 they were “subjected to normalized assaults and batterie, with constant anxiety and fear of attack, dreading school and having a sense they were not allowed to be openly Jewish (without unbearable treatment),” court records show. Incidents mentioned by the plaintiffs include being told to “burn in an oven,” and being called a “dirty Jew” and “Jew boy,” as well as being subjected to students saying “Heil Hitler.” The classmate of one Jewish student, the grandson of Holocaust survivors, allegedly picked up dirt and told him, “I’ve found your grandparents.” Their claim further detailed that their kippahs were torn off their heads, how one of them was held at knifepoint in the school restroom, and a 2020 incident in which one of them was tricked into going to a park where school bullies beat and robbed him. The boys also said that hundreds of swastikas were graffitied on school ground and most were not removed when reported to administrators. In their complaint, they said that attempts to speak with the school about the incidents were mostly met with silence. The allegations are being denied by the school and the Victorian government. The school said in court documents that while it admits some acts of discrimination did occur by students against the five boys, the number of incidents was smaller than claimed and they were not committed by the school or the principal, and that each incident was investigated and dealt with by school staff. “If half of the accusations are found to be valid, it looks very much like systematic negligence,” Chris Merritt, the vice president of the Rule of Law Institute, told Sky News . “The human rights protection for religious liberty in this country is clearly inadequate.” The case goes to trial in May. Related articles: Celebrating Passover 8.7 thousand miles away from home Queensland moves to ban swastika tattoos Report into shocking crash finds pilot not aware of other copter Australian politicians pledge money for religious safety (Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)