Two staff members at a primary school in Dublin resigned after claiming they were “harassed and bullied” by parents for wearing keffiyeh scarves, T-shirts and a tattoo in support of Palestine.
The man and woman, a teacher and a special needs assistant (SNA), expressed disappointment with the school’s handling of the issue, claiming a small group of parents were “allowed to harass and bully with impunity”.
The pair said they handed in their resignation this month and are due to cease employment in August. They claimed they were asked to stop wearing keffiyeh scarves at work following complaints from parents who accused them of “blatant anti-Semitism” and “psychologically abusive behaviour”.
One parent also allegedly complained about a T-shirt worn by the SNA that, the parent said, bore a “watermelon covering the full state of Israel” and about a tattoo on the male teacher’s arm “with the pre-1967 borders of my country, which is interpreted by many as a call for the annihilation of my people”.
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In a complaint seen by The Irish Times, the parent claimed the SNA’s T-shirt “promotes the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Israel”.
The teacher said he had been wearing a keffiyeh to work since he began teaching at the school in September. Following initial complaints over the scarf, he claimed, he was told to remove it while on school premises in a decision made by the school’s board of management.
Despite this, he said he continued to wear the keffiyeh and claimed his photo was subsequently taken on multiple occasions by a parent, which he described as “extremely intimidating”.
“It’s been so stressful and so deeply upsetting. We go home every day and we have a live-streamed genocide on our phones along with the fact that we were being harassed and bullied by this small group,” the teacher said.
The SNA claimed that on one occasion earlier this month, a parent confronted her over the clothing while another “shouted” at her in an encounter she described as “intimidating and distressing”.
“I just couldn’t continue to work there,” she said, adding that she raised a grievance with the school, though is “incredibly disappointed” by the response.
While saying staff should not be seen taking sides in times of war and conflict, she claimed, “this isn’t a war or a conflict, it’s apartheid, genocide and ethnic cleansing, and if you’re not taking a side, you have taken a side”.
Both say they exhausted “every avenue” with the school in an attempt to resolve the issue, including calls for a dress code, which they say is not currently in place.
The issue was raised with Tánaiste Simon Harris in the Dáil on Thursday by People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy, who claimed the staff members were “pressured by school management” not to wear the keffiyeh scarves.
“When Russia invaded Ukraine, schools organised shows of solidarity with Ukraine. But when it comes to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, some teachers are being silenced, and their clothing choices are being policed,” he claimed.
In response, the Tánaiste said: “There should always be a very high bar before you interfere with anybody’s clothing”, adding that he would discuss the matter with the Minister for Education.
In a statement, the school’s board of management said it “places the welfare and education of the children at the centre of all decisions”.
“As a diverse and equality-based school community, including children, families and staff from over 40 nationalities, the board is committed to ensuring that all actions taken are respectful, inclusive and welcoming to every child and family.
“The board will not be commenting on any individual staff matter, in line with its responsibilities as an employer,” it said.
