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Reading the Tricia Rivera column, (Teachers ratchet up pressure on Israel, The Australian, 18/12/23), it occurs to me that particularly at this reflective and contemplative time of year, it’s worth remembering that Israel is ground zero for the entire Judeau Christian project and ethos, the wellspring of which is itself anchored and underpinned by the common foundations of both Judaism and Christianity as expressed in the books of the Bible.
And with Israel as ground zero for the entire Judeau Christian ethos, it follows that it is also ground zero for what we commonly refer to as Western Civilisation.
Without that ethos, Western civilisation doesn’t exist. That’s us. It is what we’re about.
And with Israel as ground zero for the entire Judea Christian ethos, it follows that it is also ground zero for what we commonly refer to as Western Civilisation.
Without that ethos, Western civilisation doesn’t exist. That’s us. We’re here. It is what we’re about.
The global attack by institutions of the West against Israel, a nation of just over 9 million or so and its right to exist and 16 million Jews total, in the entire world, compared to 1.8 billion Muslims is totally disproportionate and doesn’t makes sense either in terms of numbers, the serviette sized real estate that is the state of Israel or any kind of perceived threat, unless under attack.
That’s because it’s not about Israel as such or even the Jews.
The attack on Israel is an attack on all of us.
It’s about the entire idea of the Judeau Christian ethos and Western civilisation that stands in the way of the Marxist aspirations and the Marxist state.
The campus call of the 60’s and 70’s, β€œπ‘πžπ², 𝐑𝐞𝐲, 𝐑𝐨, 𝐑𝐨, π–πžπ¬π­πžπ«π§ 𝐜𝐒𝐯 𝐑𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨” is still the cri de coeur of the left.
When viewed through that prism, everything crystallises and comes into finer focus.
It all makes perfect sense.
How else to explain why Victorian teachers are pitching in on what would ordinarily be considered a matter of little interest or relevance to the teachers unions and their core business or the public sector generally and its selective and flexible code of conduct.
Where is their similar outcry over the hostages in Gaza or the Uighurs in China?
READ ON β€”
TEACHERS RATCHET UP PRESSURE ON ISRAEL
Tricia Rivera
β€œβ€¦Federal and state education ministers Jason Clare and Ben Carroll are under pressure from Victorian teachers to condemn β€œhuman rights abuses being carried out by Israel” and advise principals that Palestinian advocacy is in line with the public sector code of conduct.
More than 700 teachers and school staff have signed their names to an open letter urging the ministers to β€œprotect children’s and young people’s wellbeing” in regards to Palestine.
The open letter states that Palestinian children and young people have been disproportionately killed, injured and displaced and the Australian governments should take β€œan ethical stand”.
β€œOur own students are also witnessing the catastrophic devastation unfold, which will have short and long-term effects on their social, emotional and cultural wellbeing, impeding their capacity to live and learn well,” it says. β€œIn response to the indefensible actions causing catastrophic harm, it is essential for people and governments to take an ethical stand, including those who remain accountable to the responsibility of caring for children and young people.”
The letter says that it is within teachers’ β€œprofessional and ethical duty to model an anti-violence position”.
Some teachers used the weekly Free Palestine rally in Melbourne’s CBD on Sunday to march to the Department of Education building.
A Department of Education spokesman said the Victorian Public Sector Code of Conduct requires employees to seek to build and maintain public trust and demonstrate integrity and impartiality. β€œTeachers should not use their professional position to make political statements but instead support students to consider and think critically about a range of perspectives on complex issues,” the spokesman told The Australian.
β€œThe overwhelming majority of principals and school staff continue to do an excellent job – as they have done since the events of 7 October – in supporting school communities through what continues to be for so many a deeply distressing time.”
Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich said he wanted principals to demonstrate β€œmoral leadership”.
β€œThis is textbook strategy to exploit schools as recruiting grounds and teachers as weapons to brainwash young people and promote a toxic, ugly anti-Israel agenda. I would not be surprised if there are Jewish parents who insist that their child not attend any lesson delivered by the educators who have attached their name to this one-side, poisonous letter,” he said.
β€œAs we witness an alarming surge in anti-Semitism and a growing rhetoric of radicalisΒ­ation across the country, teachers have a role in promoting an inclusive culture, not to act as agents of propaganda and division. If they do, they are violating and betraying every tenet and code they have sworn to uphold and should reconsider their role in the education system.”
Teachers Professional Association of Australia secretary Edward Schuller said the group β€œvehemently oppose any attempt to push political agendas onto children…”