NSW cabinet minister Jihad Dib’s teacher wife counselled for pro-Palestine activism at school
NSW frontbencher Jihad Dib’s wife has been disciplined by the education department for pro-Palestine activism at the public school where she teaches, audio alleges | LISTEN
NSW frontbencher Jihad Dib’s wife has been disciplined by the education department for pro-Palestine activism at the public school where she teaches, audio aired by Sky News alleges.
“I did get disciplined by my director for what I did at school … my principal got a directive from the director that I had to be spoken to, other teachers had to be interviewed, and then I was spoken to about three times within that week,” the audio – broadcast by Sky News host Sharri Markson – has Ms Dib saying.
The report said a NSW Education Department spokesperson said a Burwood Girls High School teacher was counselled last year for “communications on the conflict in the Middle East”.
The report also said the audio was from a ‘Teachers for Palestine’ video meeting with about 15 participants three days ago. The video meeting was planning to hold a pro-Palestine rally outside a ministerial office or parliament.
Erin Dib teaches at the publicly funded Burwood Girls High School in Sydney’s inner west. Mr Dib has previously said Ms Dib teaches Japanese.
“Sorry, can I just also be totally transparent … and just let everybody know who doesn’t already know that my husband is also Jihad Dib who is the state member for Bankstown,” Ms Dib said on the audio.
Another participant on the call suggested that they extend their activities to their teaching: “So you know, if I’m a maths teacher, I might talk about how you can use numbers to describe what’s happening in Gaza, if you’re doing English, you can use a Palestinian text … as a corrective to the beyond-biased media that we’re getting.
“Obviously that ruffles a few feathers – it could be considered industrial action.”
Another participant asked Ms Dib what involvement her husband could have in their activities.
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