Executive Council of Australian Jewry Co-CEO Alex Ryvchin has sounded the alarm Australian school children are being indoctrinated and lamented how social cohesion is a “fiction in this country”.
Mr Ryvchin, who co-organised Sky News Australia’s Antisemitism Summit, said there was a “concerted effort to indoctrinate children into a certain ideology” in Australia after dozens of schoolchildren gathered outside a western Sydney school and chanted “Allahu Akbar”.
The gathering at Granville Boys High School Wednesday morning was organised by Teachers and School Staff for Palestine New South Wales to demand the return of a staff member, Sheikh Wesam Charkawi, who criticised Australia’s “selective moral outrage” after two Sydney nurses allegedly threatened to “kill” Israeli patients.
Some of the gathered students were waving Palestine, Lebanon and Aboriginal flags and shouted “bring him back”, “Sheikh Wesam” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.
Mr Ryvchin said the children involved were being used as a “political tool” to advance an agenda when they should be “opening their minds” and learning.
“Instead, again, they’re being fed one line, one ideology, and this is what’s going to be with us for generations to come,” he told Sky News host Chris Kenny on Wednesday evening.
Mr Ryvchin said there was a problem of activist teachers seeking to indoctrinate students instead of educating and guiding them in forming “rational judgements and views of society”.
Public school teacher Eppy Najjarine, from Teachers for Palestine, attended the protest alongside the students supporting Sheikh Wesam.
“There are so many students here because they’re outraged at the fact that Sheikh Wesam has been stood down,” Ms Najjarine said.
“He’s well-known in the community; everyone respects him; he’s speaking out against injustice with what’s happening in Gaza in Palestine.”
Mr Ryvchin, whose former home was the target of an antisemitic attack last month, said Australia was in a “very dangerous place” when children were being “used” in this manner.
“We’ve seen school strikes where children were urged to leave their classes to protest against Israel. We’ve seen anti -Semitic slogans chanted by primary school children with adults cheering them along and urging them along in this,” Mr Ryvchin said.
“We’ve got a real problem here.”
Mr Ryvchin said ASIO boss Mike Burgess had articulated the number one national security and “persistent terrorist” threat in Australia was emanating predominantly from the Islamic world.
He said the deeply entrenched ideology was a “dangerous and chilling” issue facing Australia after it was revealed a Sydney-based religious leader, Abed Al Majeed Mourtada, had returned from Lebanon having attended terrorist leader of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah’s funeral.
Mr Mourtada was contacted by Sky News about his visit after he posted a picture to his social media.
“Yes, I’m a proud Australian citizen. I flew to Lebanon to pay my respects to our beloved and esteemed clergy,” Mr Mourtada said.
Mr Ryvchin said the Hezbollah sympathiser said he was a proud Australian, but he had travelled across the world to pay homage to the former head of a listed terrorist organisation.
Mr Ryvchin questioned who such individuals were mixing with overseas and how deep their ideology goes.
“We know that we have this problem in our society. We know there are people amongst us who are sympathetic to this ideology, who view Hezbollah and Nasrallah as being heroes to be emulated,” Mr Ryvchin said.
“That is a very dangerous and chilling thing that we’re dealing with.”
Mr Ryvchin said he had faith in ASIO and the AFP as they continued to deal with the number one risk to Australia’s national security.
“And in a way, by outing themselves as being open supporters of Hezbollah and Nasrallah, perhaps they’re making the job of ASIO easier,” he said.
“But we need to ensure that these people are very carefully vetted and monitored upon their return.”
