26 May 2021; MEMO: Parents and pupils are pushing back against efforts to suppress solidarity with the Palestinians following Israel's latest military offensive against Gaza, in which more than 250 people were killed, including 66 children, 39 women and 17 elderly people. At one British school in the Midlands, hundreds of people have called for a member of the teaching staff to be sacked in a row over pupils' support for Palestine.
A staff member at De Ferrers Academy, a secondary academy in Burton upon Trent has been accused of ordering pupils who had drawn the Palestinian flag on their hands to wash it off. According to the local Staffordshire Live, the teacher also "told the pupils off".
Another pupil got in touch with Staffordshire Live to claim that it was in fact the words "Free Palestine" that were written on the hands of two Year Eight girls which got them into trouble.
De Ferrers Academy has pledged to investigate the incident. A spokesperson for the academy trust which runs the school, said: "Late last week, school leaders at De Ferrers Academy were made aware that a pupil felt they had been spoken to inappropriately by a member of staff who was dealing with a behaviour issue. School leaders had not even had time to look into the matter before many deeply unpleasant and unacceptable posts were made about it on social media."
The trust insisted that it always takes any formal complaint seriously in order for any complaint to be resolved as quickly and fairly as possible. "The De Ferrers Trust and De Ferrers Academy always request that such matters are addressed formally via our complaints policy, not publicly via social media such as Facebook or Twitter." It added that the trust and staff have a duty of care to all parties involved. "All formal complaints of any nature are [thus] addressed confidentially. We therefore request and expect our communities to observe this confidentiality also."
The alleged incident follows eleven days and nights of Israeli bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip. Marches have been held across Britain in solidarity with the Palestinians, with one of the largest ever demonstrations in the country being held in London.
A number of schools around the country have seen pupils displaying solidarity with the Palestinian cause. On the whole they have gone unnoticed, but a number of schools have clamped down on such sympathy with Palestinians who are, according major human rights groups, living under an apartheid system imposed by the occupation state.
The head teacher of Allerton Grange School in Leeds, for example, sparked outrage after telling pupils that the Palestinian flag could be viewed as a "call to arms". He made the comments during an assembly after a group of pupils were disciplined for wearing lanyards bearing the Palestinian flag. Footage of the assembly was then shared on social media, where it was criticised heavily.
On Monday, around twenty protesters stood outside Allerton Grange School waving Palestinian flags and playing music.
