When two Herzlia students ‘took a knee’ during the singing of the Israeli national anthem at their school’s prize-giving two weeks ago, they did so in order to draw attention to a number of issues.

As their actions filtered into the public sphere, the merits of their protest was widely discussed and debated, with many in the Jewish community unhappy with the two pupils.

We covered the initial story, including a summary of a WhatsApp voice note from one of the boys describing his reasoning, here.

The grade nine pupils are facing disciplinary action, and that has angered a number of former students, reports GroundUp:

…a group of Herzlia alumni penned a two-page letter condemning the school’s actions and expressing support for the learners. The letter was signed by over 100 Herzlia alumni, including “five former head or deputy-head boys or girls”.

In the letter, titled “Herzlia Alumni Support Freedom of Thought and Peaceful Expression of Dissent”, the alumni write that they “condemn in the strongest terms the school’s recent decision to discipline and publicly call to order students for peacefully protesting against Israeli political policy”.

The alumni note that Herzlia’s response to the students is “not surprising”, claiming that their education was “deliberately one sided” on Israel and Palestine…

Both the learners and the alumni group express criticism, but also hope to foster conversation amongst their larger communities.

This echoes the sentiment expressed by the pupil in the voice note, who spoke about having to do his own research outside of the classroom in order to better understand the Israel – Palestine conflict.

It’s also not the first time that the school’s stance with regards Palestine has come under scrutiny:

In 2016, Herzlia High School principal Marc Falconer, sent an email addressed to the Herzlia community following a speech given by lawyer for Equal Education and alumnus, Daniel Linde, citing that parts of Linde’s address were “unacceptable” due to his mention of Palestine.

Falconer [above] wrote that Linde briefly referred to his organisation’s alignment with what he referred to as “the Palestinian Struggle” and that this “constituted an unacceptable and unexpected hijacking of the agreed topic”. He went on to say that the school was “not rigorous enough to pre-screen and control what is and is not acceptable rhetoric at a formal school assembly”.

That doesn’t sound like an environment that breeds healthy debate.

The alumni went on to further criticise their school’s reaction to the latest ‘take a knee’ debate:

The alumni write that while they are “deeply disappointed” in Herzlia’s actions, they are “hopeful” the school will “carefully consider whether it has taken the right course of action” and “apologise for rebuking and punishing the children”.

After the publication of our story last week, the school sent us a statement (which we published) saying that the school had “resolved the issue amicably”.

Well, GroundUp has a list of the punishments handed down to the learners. You can decide if this qualifies as resolving the issue “amicably”:

…the students could not wear their colours for six months nor represent Herzlia for six months. They must write two 3,000 word essays, write an apology letter, attend four meetings with elected community members, and are not permitted to attend grade nine farewell. They also may not talk to the media.

Hmm.

These pupils quietly took a stand, by way of refusing to stand for the Israeli national anthem, and they are being treated as though they graffitied school property.

I’m sure the school has a set of rules and regulations that learners are expected to adhere to, but do you really want to be punishing two 15-year-olds who peacefully, and thoughtfully, exercised their right to free speech?

Sounds like those former pupils would agree.

Herzlia’s director of Education, Geoff Cohen (below), wouldn’t verify the “sanctions” taken against the pupils:

…he told GroundUp that the “parents and pupils reached a mutual agreement with the school, and both pupils apologised for hurt and offense caused”.

Further, Cohen noted “Herzlia Middle School staff take all pupils’ views and emotions seriously and have engaged them to contribute their thoughts on this incident and help us construct the way forward”.

In a nutshell, it sure looks like Herzlia’s reaction to the boys taking a knee has only further proven the exact point the pupils were making.

[source:groundup]