Pro-Palestine activists slammed over protest outside Jewish school

A Perth rabbi who witnessed a pro-Palestine protest outside WA’s only Jewish school has slammed protesters’ actions as ‘stupid and egregious’.

Pro-Palestine protesters outside Carmel School, Perth's only Jewish school. Picture: Australian Jewish Association.

A Perth rabbi who witnessed a pro-Palestine protest outside Western Australia’s only Jewish school has slammed protesters’ actions as “stupid and egregious”.

Several protesters wearing Palestine flags and carrying placards gathered outside Carmel School in the Perth suburb of Dianella on Monday morning, before police dispersed the group.

Rabbi Daniel Lieberman happened to arrive at the school just as the demonstration was taking place and told The Australian he was shocked by what he saw.

He said the school location had been deliberately chosen to cause intimidation.

“It is absolutely the right of every Australian to protest, and they should exercise that right, but they should not exercise that right outside a school,” he said.

“Whatever your feelings are, however strong they are, you need to control yourself. You want to protest, there are places where that is appropriate, and there’s many places to choose from. A primary school should not be one of those choices.”

Carmel School describes itself as a modern Orthodox Jewish day school and is consistently among the best-performing academic schools in WA.

The school adjoins a community hub that includes the Holocaust Institute of WA and The Maccabean Jewish newspaper.

Rabbi Lieberman said that while the school was a very important institution within Perth’s Jewish community, any school should be off limits to protesters.

“If you’re in support of a terrorist organisation and you’re chanting the slogans of terrorist organisations, it’s not a big step to go and do something as stupid and egregious as protesting outside (a) school,” he said. “It’s a free country, they’re allowed to say and believe whatever they want, but I personally don’t believe that they should be protesting outside (a) school. They should exercise some common sense.”

Rabbi Lieberman praised the response of WA Police, who he said moved the protesters to the other side of the road and then dispersed them. That response, he said, would help ease some worries among parents at the school.

“The knowledge that there are people out there on our doorstep who are willing to do something like that is concerning, but on the other hand, it was dealt with expertly and very quickly,” he said.

Labor MP Patrick Gorman, whose seat of Perth includes Carmel School, told The Australian there was no place for such protests outside any school and thanked WA Police for the prompt response.

“I am disgusted by these actions. These individuals undermine our democratic and multicultural society,” he said.

“Children must always be safe and feel safe at their school. There is no place in Australia for antiSemitism or any kind of racism, vilification or hate speech.”

A spokesman for WA Police confirmed the protest began around 9.50am on Monday: “One male was arrested ... he has since been released without charge pending further inquiries.”

WA Premier Roger Cook condemned the protest.

“Schools should be a safe place where children can learn without intimidation or fear, he said. “Australians have a legal right to protest but WA students and staff should be allowed to go about their work without being targeted.

“The idea that protesters would deliberately target students and staff at any school, let alone a Jewish religious school is abhorrent and I condemn it in the strongest terms.”