‘I’ve been called into the principal’s office'

Earlier this month, news broke that a 17-year-old student at Condell Park High School in Sydney's west has filed a complaint against the school with the Australian Human Rights Commission. The student, who has not been named in media reports, was banned from attending his school formal because he wore a scarf with a keffiyeh pattern to his year 12 graduation ceremony.

The teenager, who is of Palestinian heritage, told The Sydney Morning Herald how several school staff members tried to confiscate his scarf while he waited to receive his graduation certificate, and warned him that he "wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of the higher-ups so close to the end of the year".

“I kept explaining that it’s a cultural thing that I wear on special occasions, but they kept saying that I was making a political statement in a public school and I can’t do that,” he said. "The experience has ruined my high school memories. It’s supposed to be a place where I feel safe, and I’m not judged for who I am, but I was wrong."

On November 25, more than 100 people staged a protest outside Condell Park High. In a statement read on his behalf by a speaker, the student recounted how his request for an apology and to attend the formal was turned down by the school, the NSW Department of Education and the office of NSW education minister Prue Car.  

"The response came over three weeks later, in a letter from the Department’s lawyers. They said that the school had done nothing wrong," he said.

Although the rally took place outside school hours, speakers told the rally that Condell Park High staff and students were banned from attending.

"The Department said teachers had to stay back after the school day had finished, potentially up to 6pm, as a way of preventing them from attending," said Teachers and School Staff for Palestine's Miro Sandev.

"Teachers were also instructed to tell students not to attend."

In response to public backlash, Condell Park High has doubled down. On Thursday November 28, school staff and private security hired by the school denied several students entry to their formal at Doltone House for wearing keffiyehs in solidarity with their classmate. (Responding to online criticism, Doltone House has stated that their staff and management had no involvement in the decision.)

‘What’s “controversial” about our families being killed?’

The incident has made international headlines and prompted a wave of negative commentary on Condell Park High's social media accounts. More than 5,000 people have signed an online petition demanding that the Department of Education formally apologise to the student and allow students to wear the keffiyeh in public schools.

It has also shone a light on the repression of Palestinian national and cultural symbols in NSW public schools. For over a year, teachers, staff and students have faced academic and professional censure for expressing solidarity with Palestinians, support for a ceasefire in Gaza or displays of Palestinian national and cultural identity.

"There's been complete silence in schools," says Chris, an organiser with Teachers and School Staff for Palestine NSW. "Students have been given detention for drawing Palestinian flags on their hands. Students and teachers have been told they can’t talk about Gaza in the classroom. We have people of Palestinian backgrounds who’ve been told they can’t wear the keffiyeh, essentially told that their identity has become a problem."

"Students started seeking me out and telling me ‘I’ve been called into the principal’s office, I was told I can’t have this flag on my bag’; ‘I drew a Palestinian flag and the teacher got really angry and she took it off me’," says Olivia, a Sydney public school teacher.

"We've been very politely told that any conversation of that nature was to be shut down – we’ve got to remain neutral, apolitical, and we don’t discuss the conflict."

In May, the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network launched the Anti-Palestinian Racism in Schools Register. Since then, they have collected 126 anonymous first-hand testimonies from teachers, staff, students and parents and guardians.

“My child was told she could not present a geography project on Palestine,” reads one. “She was told to present on another country. She argued to be able to present. Was instructed to remove her slide with ‘Free Palestine’ on it as it was ‘political’ and was forbidden to wear her keffiyeh.”

“I was told that as per the Department policy I was not allowed to wear my keffiyeh or shirt which had only the Palestine map on it,” reads one from a teacher. “I was told I would not be a good role model for the students if I continued to wear it. I am Palestinian and this map represents my identity.”

“After a parent approached a non-teaching staff member aggressively in the carpark about a free Palestine poster in the window of their car (a heart shaped watermelon illustration with the words ‘Free Palestine’), the parent reported them to management,” reads a third.

“The staff member was then instructed that they could not park on school property unless they removed the poster and ‘Free Palestine’ stickers from their laptop and phone case. They were also advised they were not allowed to speak to students about Palestine even if they asked them about it.”

Multiple directives from the NSW Department of Education have effectively instructed principals and school administrators to enforce an unofficial ban on discussion of Gaza or displays of Palestinian national and cultural identity in public schools.

In October 2023 the Department published a memorandum, 'Supporting the school community during the current conflict in the Middle East: Advice for schools', instructing school staff to respond to student questions about Gaza in line with the Department's 'Controversial issues in schools' policy.

"Maintaining objectivity in relation to controversial and complex issues is critical for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all students and in fostering harmony within the broader school community," the Department stated.

"For staff who are directly affected, that was almost triggering," Olivia says. "What’s 'controversial' about our families being killed?"

A month later, Department Deputy Secretaries [for] School Performance Cathy Brennan and Deb Summerhayes sent an email to NSW public school principals regarding the planned school strikes for Palestine.

"NSW public schools are neutral places for rational discourse and objective study. Discussion about controversial issues in schools allows students to explore a range of viewpoints and should not advance the interests of any particular subject and/or group," Brennan and Summerhayes wrote. 

Regarding the "organised events on Friday 24 November in relation to the conflict in the Middle East," principals were told to "remind staff that department employees must not participate in such events while on duty, and are not entitled to apply for paid leave to participate in such events.

"It is important that all staff balance their role as a government employee with their right to participate in political and community activities in a personal capacity,"  Brennan and Summerhayes wrote. "The Code of Conduct sets out our clear duty to retain public confidence in public education and ensure the department remains apolitical and professional."

Principals were also instructed on how to respond to requests from students seeking to participate in the rallies.

"We know students are passionate about a variety of topics and some may be planning to participate in a demonstration. The department’s clear position is that all students who are enrolled at school are expected to attend that school whenever teaching and learning is provided," Brennan and Summerhayes wrote. "Any student not in class will be marked absent and unexplained absences will be followed up by the school in line with the attendance and behaviour policies.

"Thank you for the thoughtful and measured leadership of your school communities and for supporting our students and staff to act according to department policy and procedures."

‘This risk needs to be carefully managed’

The Condell Park High incident is not the first time the Department has sought to ban students and staff from wearing the keffiyeh. On March 18, Department Secretary Murat Dizdar sent an email to NSW public school principals giving "advice on Harmony Week".

"Wars and international conflicts, such as the current conflict in the Middle East, can heighten people’s sense of insecurity and evoke a range of emotions," Dizdar wrote. "Given the current international tensions, there is a heightened risk that the wearing of national colours, the display of flags and conducting similar activities that may be interpreted as dividing students on national, cultural or religious grounds may unintentionally impact on the wellbeing of students, staff and/or the community and their sense of safety within the school environment. This risk needs to be carefully managed.

"As you celebrate Harmony Week, please be mindful of your local communities with planned activities and events. I encourage you to communicate explicit advice to students, staff and families about your activities and behaviour expectations. Consult with your Director, Educational Leadership if significant problems arise in your school concerning the management of these issues."

More than 10 schools subsequently banned students from wearing the keffiyeh and other items of Palestinian national and cultural identity during Harmony Week events, the theme of which was 'Everyone Belongs'.

“In schools, Harmony Day is traditionally a day where students come in dressed in the clothing of their national or cultural background," Chris says. "We’ve had students told they couldn’t bring the Palestinian flag to Harmony Day, they couldn’t wear the keffiyeh – there were quite a number of parents who were angry about that."

A Teachers and School Staff for Palestine petition urging Car, federal education minister Jason Clare and NSW premier Chris Minns to allow the free expression of support for Palestinian human rights in public schools was signed by more than 560 NSW public school teachers, staff, students and parents and guardians. Questions put to Car in June by NSW Greens MLC Abigail Boyd regarding whether students of Palestinian heritage are allowed to wear items of national or cultural identity were given brief and vague answers a month later.

“You sometimes get the argument in schools: ‘What’s this got to do with us?’" Chris says. "But it very much has to do with the pro-Israel position taken by the Minns government – lighting the Opera House in Israeli colours, constantly saying Israel has the ‘right to defend itself’, as if that’s what’s happening in Gaza.

“There’s Australia’s arming of Israel, the contract with Elbit, the government’s supplying parts for Israeli F-35 fighter jets. Weapons companies that supply Israel are allowed to sponsor or run third-party STEM programs for NSW school students. We want to try and stop these things.

“At the very least, we want to be able to express human solidarity and be able to talk about these things in schools. It’s not like students can discuss things from multiple perspectives. At the moment, there is no perspective. There is no discussion."

Fundraiser for Noor and Hoor Hammad

If you’ve got anything to spare, please consider giving some money to this fundraiser I’m running for Noor Hammad, a young mum in Gaza, and her baby daughter Hoor. Any money raised will be sent to Noor's brother Abdallah Abdalrahim, who lives in Sweden and can send her money directly.

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