LONDON (Dispatches) – The advocacy organization CAGE has launched a legal challenge saying UK Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, discriminated against Muslim students and failed to protect freedom of expression in a letter to headteachers ordering them to clampdown on students who express solidarity with Palestine on school premises.
Some students were disciplined for wearing keffiyehs and holding Palestine flags during the Zionist regime’s 11-day assault on Gaza in May.
The deadly bombardment killed 250 Palestinians, including 66 children, and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes.
In May, Williamson wrote that there had been an “increased focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in many schools,” and a “worrying spike in antisemitic incidents.”
However, London-based CAGE, said that Williamson’s letter, “although cloaked in concerns around anti-semitism,” failed to “recognize the importance of the rights of political expression and association.”
“The aim was to set a fixed template within which pupils’ discussion on Israel-Palestine should be conducted.”
In a pre-action letter for a judicial review sent on Monday, Cage argues that the guidance discriminates against Muslim students by failing to mention “the increase in discriminatory behavior towards Muslim pupils by teaching staff.”
It also leads schools to violate their legal duty for impartiality, CAGE added.
Fahad Ansari, who is leading the judicial review, said in a statement that Williamson’s instructions stifled “the legitimate political views of Muslim students.” CAGE’s Managing Director Muhammad Rabbani said the government had “sought to censor discussions in classrooms and exert control over any political activity in schools”.
“This is fundamentally a matter of freedom of expression,” Rabbani added.
CAGE recorded 47 cases of students and teachers being censured for expressing solidarity with Palestine during the Zionist regime’s assault on Gaza in May. The censures included suspensions, verbal warnings and one referral to the Prevent anti-extremism program. All 47 cases involved Muslim children and adults.