cause he is Jewish

[Carycach4]

Apologies cant see a thread about this.
Staff at Bristol Brunel academy blocked a visit by Damien Egan, their local MP because he is Jewish. Clear case of antisemitism. AIBU to thinking that headteacher and those driving this decision should be sacked and reported to the Teacher Regulation Agency?
(Apologies thread title isnt correct, but i can't edit it)

Do you work there?

So the latest attempt at excusing discrimination is to introduce the suicide of Ruth Perry to the argument. Ruth's extremely sad circumstances have nothing to do with this situation and it's in extremely bad taste to raise her. Is that the depths people are now sinking to?

@MySandwich - hrrrrmph. I wasn’t on a slave ship. Nor in a concentration camp. Or even in a stinking muddy trench on the Somme. Guess I shouldn’t have an opinion on these then. Funnily enough I wonder if the ringleader teacher of the school has actually been to Gaza ?

The absolute best case scenario of this situation is still pretty dire. At bare minimum, a sitting MP who has a variety of views about a variety of subjects was invited to a school in his constituency and a group of parents and teachers decided his view on ‘one’ issue (whatever the issue) was worth protesting about. To such an extent that the school and police force felt unable to keep this MP safe. So taking out anything specific about religion or the actual issue it’s still pretty horrifying.

Why do teachers feel their views are more important than his? Why would they go to the union? Why would they cancel this amazing opportunity for their students to hear from their ELECTED official about his job - regardless of his stance (unproven at that) on one specific point. Do teachers think diversity of opinion should be stifled? What sort of world is this?

I agree with 99% of what you have said.
The only thing that I disagree with is that you have grouped all teachers in with this group.
I have already said that these teachers should be investigated and am happy that Ofsted are doing so (they are shite so I suspect that nothing to very little will happen).

Sorry - should have said ‘these’ teachers. I hope and pray they are in the minority!

There have always been some loud "activist" teachers but they have generally been few and far between.

The problem is that the older and more established teachers are being forced out (but that is another thread) and there is nothing to replace the guidance from them.

@MaturingCheeseball Oh obviously I don't mean that if you weren't in a situation you can't have an opinion...!
The facts though of the historical events you mentioned are well documented though.
In this case, it's someone's cousin's aunt's dog has written on Facebook that their sister's nephew has heard that a teacher was going to wear a keffiyeh and this has translated into 'all' staff were definitely 100% going to do that. That's not factual information so don't present it as so.

@Kingscallops No I don't work there. Do you? I work in the sector, in the same city though, and have a reasonable knowledge of the 'facts' that this thread seems to have drifted so far from. And I will mention Ruth Perry, as it's a case of Ofsted putting so much pressure on a single person. The comments regarding the head are vile and I believe could cause huge detriment to mental health.

@PurpleThistle7 again, what you've said isn't the facts. In every news article about this it's pretty clear that the event wasn't cancelled, it was rescheduled (which has already been done) due to safety concerns. Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. Safety for children comes first. It simply isn't the case that 'teachers' piled up en masse to complain.

So you DON'T work there and have no inside information. No, Ruth Perry is not relevant because she was affected by negative Ofsted feedback not for bowing down to political pressure, fascism and bullying. I think your referencing her was below the belt.

@Kingscallops I said I have knowledge of the facts. I'm not prepared on a public forum to explain how I have this knowledge, but as I said, I work in the same sector in the same city.
The head in this circumstance is being called out publicly, by the Ofsted chief HMI and by a number of MPs, including Sir Keir Starmer, having their resignation demanded, for reasons that are not factual. It is not factual that the school 'banned' an MP from speaking. The facts that people are peddling on this thread aren't correct. That is simply all I'm saying. I just asked that people use reasoning and a modicum of thought before piling in.

It's right the Head is under pressure. Seems nothing has been learnt from Batley. As for your so called expert knowledge, that doesn't stop me and other posters seeing this situation for what it is and what we've come to expect. If you're in the same field you will be well aware of the political and religious pressure that is put on schools to conduct themselves according to a certain community's values.

@Kingscallops I think it's best we agree to disagree. My concern was about the vast amount of misinformation being presented as fact in this situation which simply isn't true. People aren't seeing it 'for what it is' because what's being shared on social media isn't true. I'm completely content with the validity of my 'so-called expert knowledge' and will press on with the most important parts of education: keeping children safe and teaching them facts so that they can make reasoned judgements.

Fair enough.

In this case, it's someone's cousin's aunt's dog has written on Facebook that their sister's nephew has heard that a teacher was going to wear a keffiyeh and this has translated into 'all' staff were definitely 100% going to do that. That's not factual information so don't present it as so.

No one on this thread has said ALL staff, There is clearly a problematic hopefully minority, though, such as the one praising Hamas.

Also, no, no cousins aunts dog, its a staff member who gave the quote:

"Michaela Wilde, a pastoral support worker at City Academy, recalls staff mobilising fast: “[We had been] talking about things like people wearing keffiyehs to work that day… and the work that members could do with students in preparation for that visit."

Who did Wilde think she would be providing support to on this visit! I don't see why students would need supporting when the MP was coming partly, in an aspirational career capacity. I'd love to know what the purpose of Keffiyehs was going to bring. Then again, I've pondered that over the last two years plus.

@Omeom that's one news site reporting that. Also, City Academy isn't the school where this has taken place, so she's not a staff member at the school. She's part of a union, which doesn't represent the views of the staff nor likely the SLT. Another poster spreading misinformation!

Yes one news site posted about this in november, with quotes, are you implying this is false, the journalist made up quotes in order to cause drama several months down the line and the staff member, trust or union did nothing to correct this in the weeks after this? This is some kind of conspiracy, there is no whatsapp group, there was no talk about how to mobalise, this is just completely made up?

Its not misinformation, she's a staff member of the trust. Talking about a school within that trust and what was discussed on a whatsapp group with staff members about how to mobilise against the visit.

I'm not implying anything. I'm telling people facts. She's not a staff member at the school. A school and a trust are wildly different and what someone said in another school should have no bearing on the attitudes towards teachers at the school in question that have come up in this thread.

A journalist twisting something for a sensationalised story? Yes I think that's well within the realms of possibility.

A journalist at a small local paper, several weeks before this became mainstream news, made up a verbatim quote. Right. Wilde, should mobilise then to deal with the cable, get it corrected, and an apology, etc.

I hate how every single thread on antisemitism ends the same way, essentially telling Jews they're being hysterical. Yes, there is a problem with antisemitism in education, yes, there is a Hamas praising post from the inclusion coordinator at the trust, yes theres verbatim quotes from staff member at the trust talking to a journalist about how there was mobilising in advance of a Jewish MP, but thats clearly all lies or if there is antisemitism its at the trust level not at the school, so thats all groovy.

👏 ✌️ 👏 ✌️ 👏

Excellent.

Have I told anyone they're hysterical? No. I have not claimed or even implied that systematic issues don't exist. What I have said is that people on this thread are presenting things that are incorrect as fact. That isn't me calling anyone anything. I'm saying that there are people here absolutely baying for blood in a situation where the facts haven't been presented accurately. Easy example: the MP in question has not been banned from visiting, yet there are dozens of posters and even MPs saying exactly that. I'm merely suggesting people consider using rational thought before agreeing to what they read in the news.

Well his visit was rescheduled because there were threats of unsafe protests and teachers wearing those ugly scarves in some sort of bizarre protest against… the UK government I guess.

I think the least sensationalist version of this is still shocking and when you put this on the pile of ‘uncomfortable situations in schools and unions and general life’ as a British Jewish person it’s another item on the list. Is it the worst? No, not even close. But it’s another example of someone deciding that the best solution for a potentially unsafe situation is to cancel the Jewish voice, not to triple policing or come down hard on the protesters or do whatever else is on the list of options. What this teaches my Jewish British kids is awful (that they can’t be kept safe?) but it’s terrible for all other children too.

So, I see the Ofsted inspection came back as ' nothing to see here', what a surprise! As for the staff saying they had no idea who was threatening to protest, how can they be so disingenuous? Why did Ofsted not dig further and ask to see the email thread so they'd have a very clear idea of who was involved and take appropriate action? Instead, it's all business as usual. What a disgrace.

Clearly, they just wanted a tick-box exercise for show.