To stop my son from presenting as Jewish at school

[Wonderberry]

I really wish this wasn't the case.

My son wants to wear his kippah (skullcap) at school. This is entirely his choice, and something that he has chosen to start wearing recently. He just wants to express his religious and cultural background.

Unfortunately, I don't feel like he would be safe to do so. I hate that this is where we are at currently in the UK, but I know it is the reality. He goes to a community school in London, and doesn't understand why he cannot wear his kippah at school. On cultural days, he also cannot share his culture either.

You have my sympathy @Wonderberry

It’s awful if your son can’t wear what he wants to ( within the boundaries of the school dress code) because of fears of bullying etc.

It’s not right at all but I would share your fears as a parent.

What do other Jewish children wear at his school?

I know 2 teenage girls who have stopped wearing their necklaces which say "life" in Hebrew. I found that upsetting. Who could be offended by that? "life"? No-one, it was the Hebrew letters which were a problem.
No community should live with this fear and we ought not to normalise it.

It isn't that common for non orthodox jewish people to wear skullcaps outside of synagogue and most orthodox jewish people send their children to jewish schools where there is extremely tight security. Orthodox jewish people are also more likely to live in jewish areas so even if they don't for whatever reason, there would be a sizeable jewish population in the school without it being a Jewish school..OP probably doesn't live in such an area.

A few friends work at a Jewish school locally, and there’s been so much abuse and heckling towards students going to/leaving school since 7th October they’re having any students entering/leaving the grounds having the school logo and any kippahs covered/removed - so it’s still an issue even within the Jewish schools! And FWIW, the abuse isn’t coming from Muslims, but from local, white, non-Muslim bullies who’ve seen an opportunity to abuse people and feel good about it.

I’m really surprised by this too. And I’m not Jewish. I am, however, against racism and have been following the situation for Jews in Britain since October 7th. It might help some posters if they followed the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism.

My DS is at a London state secondary. He desperately wants to keep his Jewish heritage a secret. Anti-semitism exists in his school - it seems to be socially acceptable- even jokes about beating jews up. Not amongst a few bullies, this is more widely discussed.

What do you mean one sided?

Me too and people still walk to synagogue and to Jewish schools wearing blazers. Maybe it’s not all of these places then sadly.

I agree, @Dangermoo and @Frozenbreadrolls . I have lived in a northern town for many years. For the first time I saw antisemitic graffiti in the town centre. It made my blood run cold. I reported it, it's gone, but we need to stand up and step up for all members of our community and have zero tolerance for hatred.

Yeah right. Stop gaslighting us please.

In theory it shouldn’t be a problem but sadly from media reports it could well be.
I’d be more concerned about his journey to school but obviously school pupils could pose a threat to your son of bullying or worse.
So sorry you face this issue but I would try to discuss this with your son again. It’s wrong that he can’t express his faith openly but we live in strange times.

This thread only has one side and that's the right for a Jewish boy to wear a symbol of his religion and ethnicity.

What? The side of being horrified at the rise of antisemitism in the UK?

I assume you are joking? This is because religion and racial differences have been increasingly used to push political agenda's. Where prime ministers have made openly racist comments (looking at Johnson) and nothing was done. People feel emboldened to be racist again. The media has loved stoking up divisions.
Antisemitism has never gone away and because of the current actions of the only Jewish state people feel they are allowed to let it surface.
This hasn't happened it in a vacuum. This is because all racism and xenophobia is much more tolerant than it was pre Brexit.

This is horrible. I am so sorry OP but the grown men where I work wear baseball caps on the way to work to cover theirs and one of them was out with his family and they got called the y word when out (in North London!) I want to say sod them all and your son should be proud of his heritage but how can you risk you child’s safety?

As for the multi-culturalism comment, I think this country having a proud tradition of including and accommodating other cultures is an asset. However, I agree we have sacred cows- there are some cultures or groups which cannot be criticised. Or more to the point, it is seemingly acceptable to justify anything done in the name of that group as they are the “most oppressed”. Which is why we have crowds of useful idiots waving Palestinian flags, shouting about intifadas and of course the moronic “queers for Palestine”. Which is also why it is now acceptable to air what is usually a fig leave for anti semitism dressed up as being “anti Israel”. So if that was the sense in which the comment was made, I agree.

I am truly outraged by this! You should be free to express your religion without fear, I am so sad to hear you have been made to feel this way x

My DS is looking at Universities. He is 1/4 Jewish, which he has spoken about at school. I am going to tell him not to speak about it if he goes to University.
Much of the aggression is from White British people. The pro Palestinian protesters who have been arrested several times for damaging Kier Starmers house and breaching restraining orders (where his Jewish wife and children live/d) are White.

Which is, of course, how it becomes so prevalent: people refusing to believe it happens. Trust me when I say “Jews are evil and want to take over the world” is a trope that exists amongst some non-Muslim white people too!

What an absolutely disgusting comment. Your whataboutery reveals your anti-Semitism. You are a racist.

Twist and turn

This is a white British issue is it? So when the Palestinian flags were flying in Tower Hamlets, the area of England AND Wales with the highest Muslim population and a Muslim leader: just a coincidence then?

Gaza

What other people, when the racism they face in the UK is being discussed, do you minimize the racist threat they face because it’s not as bad as what ‘their kind’ are doing elsewhere?

You are an out and out racist.