Students stand in protest for Muslim leader ordered to take down controversial online posts

The chants were heard as students outside a Western Sydney high school protested to support a controversial Muslim leader asked to work from home for allegedly breaching government social media guidelines.

School students in Sydney’s west have been filmed chanting “Allahu Akbar” outside their school in protest after a staff member and prominent Muslim leader was asked to work from home for allegedly breaching government guidelines.

Sheikh Wesam Charkawi, the man behind the grassroots movement the Muslim Vote, works at Granville Boys High School.

Videos shared online show a crowd chanting “Allahu Akbar” and carrying Palestinian and Lebanese flags.

School students gathered behind the fence and were accompanied by a large crowd outside.

The crowd was led by a man on a megaphone shouting “What do we want?” to which the crowd responded “Sheikh Wassem”.

Another post shared online called on people to “Stand up for Sheikh Wesam Charkawi” by gathering outside the high school at 9am on Wednesday.

Sheikh Wesam Charkawi speaking at the United Community Rally for Palestine and Lebanon being held at the Lakemba Mosque. Picture: Jonathan Ng

It was shared online by Teachers4Palestine NSW and encouraged parents to join in.

It is understood Mr Charkawi has been asked to work from home after he went online to comment on anti-Semitic comments by two Sydney nurses from Bankstown Hospital about Israelis.

In a since-deleted video, Mr Charkawi criticised politicians who were outraged by the nurses comments for failing to show similar outrage over Israel’s actions in Gaza.

He claimed Australian politicians had displayed selective moral outrage.

Mr Charkawi was met by senior department officials and counselled about his obligations as a public servant under the state government.

He has not been stood down.

“All NSW Department of Education employees have been reminded of their duty to uphold the reputation of the department as apolitical and impartial,” a spokesman for the Education department said.

“Any student who did not follow directions from staff will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action.”

David Ossip, President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies said the vision was “incredibly troubling”.

“For how much longer are we going to tolerate teachers employed by the public service misusing their positions under the banner of ‘Teachers for Palestine’?

“We need to confront the reality that we are facing a campaign designed to disrupt and destabilise all aspects of Australian life - including our schools.”