A Victorian secondary school has apologised after several year 12 students attended muck-up day celebrations dressed in traditional Arab clothing.
Guardian Australia understands the year 12 students from Brighton Secondary College came dressed on Friday in white robes and keffiyehs, a certain type of scarf that has come to be known as a symbol of Palestinian nationalism.
It comes just a month after a federal court ruled that the same school failed to take complaints of antisemitism made by five Jewish students and their families seriously.
The students are understood to have been called into the acting principal’s office and told to remove their outfits immediately.
A spokesperson for the Victorian Department of Education has confirmed the incident is under investigation.
“The college is continuing to investigate the incident and appropriate action is being taken in response,” the spokesperson said.
“The school apologises unreservedly that this has occurred, with support available to students in light of recent events.”
Dvir Abramovich, chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, said the Melbourne Jewish community feel “under siege in its own city”.
“I am outraged by the dramatic surge in disturbing antisemitic incidents that have taken place over the last few days in schools, the streets, workplaces, shops, universities and in the online sphere,” he said.
“The troubling episode at Brighton Secondary College by young adults who should have known better and who showed a staggering lack of sensitivity and care, demonstrates that we have much work to do in educating young people about the evil committed by Hamas. I trust that they will be counselled and disciplined.”
Abramovich called on the Victorian government and police to keep working to ensure that Jewish people are safe and are not harmed.
“The intensity of such hate should set off the alarm bells. There are Jewish parents on edge wondering if something bad will happen to their kids as they walk into the classroom,” he said.
Victorian Liberal MP David Southwick, whose neighbouring electorate of Caulfield is home to the state’s largest Jewish population, said agreed that there had been a rise in antisemitic incidents in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel.
“I’d hate to think those kids were doing anything more than just not thinking. People just need to be absolutely mindful of their actions and their words during these times,” Southwick, who is also Jewish, said.
“It’s incumbent on schools to ensure that students understand how these things can be very, very hurtful – but even more than that – that they create fear and anxiety, particularly amongst young kids during this very traumatic time.
“We can’t have that, we can’t have people not wanting to leave their homes because they don’t feel safe.”
Last month, the federal court’s chief justice, Debra Mortimer, ordered the Victorian government pay $435,000 in damages after finding the Brighton Secondary College students had been subjected to antisemitic bullying.
She found the former school principal, Richard Minack, breached racial discrimination laws by failing to take “appropriate and reasonable steps” to discourage antisemitic bullying, harassment and Nazi swastika graffiti at the school.
The court heard Brighton Secondary College had a “different and less favourable approach” to dealing with bullying claims brought by Jewish students than other vulnerable minorities, and an “inexplicable and unusual tolerance for antisemitic graffiti”.
It comes as the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, and opposition leader, John Pesutto, addressed a rally at Caulfield Park on Friday night, which was organised by several Jewish community organisations in a show of support for Israel.
“It’s very much a rally of solidarity and peace. It will largely be conducted through song, and memorial candles,” Southwick said.
“We want to send a strong message that we support Israel and we support those that are really hurting at the moment, particularly the families that have lost loved ones and those who have been kidnapped, to see them returned.”
Several federal MPs, including attorney-general Mark Dreyfus, Josh Burns and Zoe Daniel, as well as senators Bridget McKenzie and James Patterson, also attended the event.
