Melbourne students plan school walkout in support of Palestine

Hundreds of Melbourne students are planning to walk off school on Thursday while more rallies are planned for Sydney’s Town Hall and Wollongong Town Hall on Friday.

But NSW Education Minister Prue Car has warned students they should not be “skipping school” for protesting.

“We understand that people feel passionately about a range of things, but you need to be at school,” she said.

Speaking to 2GB on Thursday, she also urged university students who are promoting the strike on social media to “stay in their lane”.

“They’re outside schools handing out things to school students, many of whom are in their first term of Year 12. They’ve got important things to focus on,” she said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns made on Wednesday said: “If you want to change the world, get an education and this is precisely why we have a world class public education system.”

“We want young kids to be fully educated to be knowledgeable about the world to form their own views when they graduate from school.

“To make school the enemy why striking against it, I think sends the wrong message about education.”

The rally has been inspired by similar walkouts at schools in other countries including the US, UK and Canada.

Event organiser Ivy, who played a part in the establishment of School Students for Palestine, said the walkout was a way for students to be heard.

“Schools talk about politics all the time but on this issue we are silenced,” she said.

“We are walking out because there’s genocide happening right now and we have to take action.”

It’s a move that has sparked concern in the Jewish community, who penned an open letter to the state government claiming that the move could cause anti-Semitic behaviour, also stating the naivety of those likely to take part.

“Most students in Victorian schools will not have a direct connection or a comprehensive (if any) understanding of the attacks on Israel and war in Gaza,” the letter said.

The rally will begin on the steps of Flinders Street Station.

A similar protest is also planned for Thursday in Adelaide at Parliament House.

One of the thousands of the petitioners who signed the letter asked parents to think of the dangers before supporting their child’s decision to protest.

”My message to fellow parents is please think really hard about whether you want your child exposed to violence, vandalism and graffiti with a group of people that you don’t know,” they told 9 News.

State Premier Jacinta Allan said she expected students to stay in school on Thursday but that living in a democratic society included the right to protest.

“We live in a democracy,” she said.

“Being able to come together and hold a rally, a peaceful rally, depending on the issue that you’re concerned about or the issue that you’re exercised about, that’s a fundamental principle of our democracy that must not and should not change.”

Real Schools chief executive Adam Voigt told the Today show that the planned walkouts had put schools and its administrations in an awkward position.

“It is a tricky issue for them to handle and to handle sensitively and with respect to the way that families are feeling,” he said.

“The good part is from an operational point of view schools are well equipped. These are the people who switched to remote learning and did it really successfully.

“They are trying to manage the people part of it and trying also to encourage their young people to be safe and I can understand that. “Tensions are high and schools are really trying to lean into their moral obligation at the moment.”

jordan.mccarthy@news.com.au | @JordoMc85