A federal court in Australia has ruled that Brighton Secondary College violated laws prohibiting racial discrimination when it neglected to protect five Jewish students from antisemitic bullying.
“This ruling is an unambiguous victory for the legal rights of Jewish students to be free of antisemitic harassment and intimidation at school,” said Brooke Goldstein of The Lawfare Project, a Jewish civil rights group that provided financial and logistical support to the complainants.
“It is appalling that this horrific behavior was ignored for so long by the school, and it is shocking the State Government of Victoria disputed every aspect of this claim instead of taking strong and resolute action to remedy the situation and protect these students.”
Goldstein added, “The ruling makes crystal clear that Jew-hatred cannot be tolerated or ignored, but must be rooted out.”
The verdict comes three year after the students came forward accusing administrators of ignoring antisemitic discrimination and fostering a “prison culture” that contravened their human rights.
According to Australian media reports, former Brighton student Liam Arnold-Levy testified that no action was taken after someone punched him in the stomach and threatened to slit his throat, or when others called him “Jewboy,” “f___ing Jew,” and told him to “die in an oven.” In another incident, a school official allegedly accused him of “being dramatic” when a group of female students “violently” pushed him.
