Jewish children targeted in antisemitic attack at Questacon

Two Jewish primary school students on a Canberra excursion were subjected to a Nazi salute slogan by a fellow student.

This episode is just the latest in a string of attacks targeting visibly Jewish children in public spaces.

Two Year 6 students from Mount Scopus Memorial College, a Jewish independent school in Melbourne, visited Questacon National Science and Technology Centre on Wednesday and encountered a group of junior students from Crookwell High School, a public school in the NSW Southern Tablelands.

One of the Crookwell students directed the phrase “Heil Hitler” at the boys, who were identifiable as Jewish because they were wearing kippot. A fellow Crookwell student immediately challenged the behaviour.

The two Mount Scopus students reported the incident to a teacher immediately. Staff from Questacon and Crookwell High School were both notified and, according to a letter to Mount Scopus parents reported by the Daily Telegraph, expressed strong concern.

The school was subsequently assured the responsible student had been identified and the matter referred to school leadership. A year adviser addressed the cohort involved on Thursday morning.

In his letter to parents, Mount Scopus principal Dan Sztrajt said the incident was “appalling” and that he was “incredibly disappointed, yet not surprised” by the language used.

“We are appalled by this incident and the frequency with which our children are subjected to disgraceful acts of antisemitism,” he wrote. The college would press Crookwell High School to ensure consequences were real and that meaningful education followed.

A NSW Department of Education spokeswoman said the school was taking disciplinary action commensurate with the seriousness of the behaviour and extended a formal apology to those affected.

She also commended the students who had spoken out at the time. “Antisemitism has no place in our schools,” she said. “We take all reports of religious intolerance seriously and respond promptly and decisively when concerns are raised.”

NSW Deputy Premier and Education Minister Prue Car called the comment completely unacceptable. “Antisemitism and hate have no place in our schools or anywhere in our community,” she said, adding she was pleased by the speed of the school’s response. “Every student and staff member has the right to feel safe, respected, and included.”

Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich told the Telegraph that the phrase used against the children was far more than a slur. “It carries with it a threat of intimidation and violence that no child should ever have to face,” he said. “A child on a school excursion should be thinking about science exhibits, not being targeted with hatred and venom for who they are.”

Abramovich said the incident speaks to a deeper question about whether Jewish children can safely express their identity in public. “Jewish kids are learning, far too early, that who they are can make them a target. That a kippah can draw hatred,” he said.

The Questacon incident is not the first time Mount Scopus students have been targeted on a public excursion. In July 2025, Year 5 students from the school were subjected to antisemitic chanting during an excursion to the Melbourne Museum.

Students from Gladstone Park Secondary College chanted “free, free Palestine” at the group while both schools were working in the same museum space. A grandfather of one student said his granddaughter was left “totally traumatised” and had no understanding of why she was being called a “baby killer” and a “dirty Jew”.

The school’s perimeter wall was also daubed with the words “Jews Die” in a separate attack, prompting condemnation from political leaders across the spectrum.

Speaking at a parliamentary inquiry into antisemitism in NSW, Moriah College principal Miriam Hasofer warned that in 2025 “open antisemitism targeting schoolchildren has become ambient,” saying her school community had endured nearly two years of relentless, targeted abuse and now operates with two extra layers of security, Community Security Group NSW and NSW Police.

The incidents form part of a documented surge in antisemitism nationally since October 2023. ECAJ president Daniel Aghion has said anti-Jewish racism has “left the fringes of society” and is now “normalised and allowed to fester and spread, gaining ground at universities, in arts and culture spaces, in the health sector, in the workplace and elsewhere”, leaving Jewish Australians with “legitimate concerns for their physical safety and social well-being.”

After the terror attacks at Bondi in December 2025, the federal government began to act. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a 12-month Antisemitism Education Taskforce chaired by David Gonski AC. A teacher-training programme developed with UNESCO was launched on 17 March, piloted with the NSW and Victorian Departments of Education, with national rollout to follow.