BREAKING 🚨 AUSTRALIAN STUDENT BANNED FOR USING FREE PALESTINE AS YEAR BOOK QUOTE.

“PALESTINIAN AND PROUD WAS also BANNED”

The Education Department has been forced to intervene after Harrisdale Senior High School banned a Year 12 student from using the phrase “Free Palestine” for a yearbook quote.
According to an online petition sparked by the decision, the student was told the quote “may offend some people” because it was “not apolitical”.
An alternative offered by the student — “Palestinian and proud” — was also flagged as needing review.

The impasse was resolved when the student agreed to modify her comment to say “proud Palestinian”.
The department’s deputy director-general for schools Steve Watson said it was the school’s responsibility to take into consideration the potential impact a yearbook comment could have on others.

All students should be free to celebrate their cultural heritage and the department has worked with the school to achieve an outcome that enables this,” he said.
Mr Watson said the school had advised that yearbook comments were submitted earlier this month and were now being finalised.
“The department expects that schools choosing to celebrate the achievements of their Year 12 students with a yearbook set clear guidelines for content,” he said.
“The department will work with the school on guidelines for future yearbooks.”

People who signed the online petition claimed that banning the phrase “Free Palestine” was censorship and an example of racism.
“Students should be encouraged to engage thoughtfully with global issues, not silenced for caring about them,” one commented.
The phrase “free Palestine” — frequently chanted at pro-Palestine rallies — is seen by some as a call to stop the oppression of Palestinians, while others view it as an anti-Semitic slogan demanding Jewish people be expelled from Israel.
The Education Department recently released new guidelines for public schools on teaching controversial topics.
The guidelines warned teachers they should not promote “personal, religious or political beliefs” in WA schools, but should “foster critical thinking”.
More than 2000 students attend Harrisdale SHS, which opened in Perth’s south-east in 2017.