Swastika drawn on school window
Visitors to a Melbourne school’s open day were confronted by a large swastika etched into a hallway window.
Daniel Aghion
On Thursday, 1,300 visitors visited Sandringham College during its open day.
The incident was reported to principal Amy Porter who told The Age, “she was shocked but was of the firm belief that the vandal was not a college student”.
She added: “We have Jewish staff and Jewish students at our school and we have strong racism training.”
The Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Council Dvir Abramovich, told 3AW’S Neil Mitchell: “I am deeply concerned that we are running out of time before we go over the cliff and public schools are becoming no-go zones for Jewish students.”
The president of The Jewish Community Council of Victoria, Daniel Aghion, told J-Wire: “The JCCV urges Sandringham Secondary College to act swiftly to remove any antisemitic or extremist symbols from school property to avoid causing harm to students and the broader school community.
“It is deeply regrettable that the Jewish community continues to receive reports of hateful acts in Victorian schools. However, the JCCV does not agree with the hyperbole of others that Victorian public schools are ‘a no-go zone’ for Jews.
The JCCV will be writing to the principal at Sandringham Secondary College to ensure she is aware that a new antisemitism training program is now available for all Victorian government school staff to help understand, identify and address antisemitism when it arises in schools. This program was developed jointly by the Department of Education and the JCCV. We would encourage all Sandringham Secondary College staff to undertake the program and follow this up with in-person learning opportunities provided by the Jewish community.
The JCCV continues to urge community members to report any suspicious incidents to CSG Victoria on 1300 000 274.”
