Germany: Teacher Attacked After He Asks Student to Stop Wearing Palestinian Flag at School

In Germany, a high-school student wore over his shoulders, as a kind of cape, a Palestinian flag to school, as well as a keffiyeh around his neck. There is a rule that no political symbols can be worn by students at German state schools. A teacher asked him, most politely, to remove the flag. For trying to enforce the rules, the teacher was immediately attacked by another Arab student, who head-butted him. And the teacher then defended himself, as who would not? More on this latest display of Muslim violence against teachers in European schools — think of the murder, by decapitation, of Samuel Paty — can be found here: “Arab students suspended after beating teacher who objected to their provocative display of Palestine flags in schoolyard,” by Thomas Brooke, Remix News, October 10, 2023:

A high school in Germany will have a larger security presence after a Muslim student was suspended for assaulting a teacher who objected to another Arab student provocatively waving a Palestinian flag in the schoolyard.

The incident occurred at the Ernst-Abbe-Gymnasium school on Monday, initiated by a 14-year-old student who arrived at the school wearing a Palestinian flag as a cape and wrapping a Palestinian scarf around his head.

The student was asked by a 61-year-old teacher to refrain from displaying the items in adherence with the school’s policy against the wearing of political symbols.

According to a police statement, another Arab student, a 15-year-old boy, confronted the teacher and squared up to him in a threatening manner. The student headbutted the teacher, prompting the educator to respond in self-defense by striking the boy in the face. The teacher was then subsequently kicked to the floor and beaten.

Footage of the incident was published online by left-wing lawmaker Ferat Koçak.

Ferat Koçak, a Turco-German Muslim, seemed to think that it was the teacher who should be condemned. He’s now faced a backlash of criticism, and as a consequence, he has taken down his Twitter post.

According to the German newspaper Tagesspiegel, the two students involved in the altercation have been suspended until the end of the week, while the teacher is also under investigation….

Why should the teacher be under investigation? He was only enforcing the rules. He did not start the violence. After being head-butted, he then slapped the student responsible — under the circumstances, that was quite a mild response. He was then beaten to the ground and kicked while on the floor. Does that sort of behavior merit only a few days of suspension? Why are the authorities being so lenient? Isn’t it likely that they are frightened of an even larger display of Muslim anger if the two boys in question are suspended for several weeks, or even for a month, or for the rest of the term?

“One thing is clear: Teachers must not be aggressive or violent toward students,” said a spokesperson for the education administration….

This comment by the spokesman for the education administration is unhelpful, and indeed, deplorable. It’s not the teacher in this case who was “aggressive or violent toward students.” He only asked that the Palestinian flag be put away, in accordance with the rules. And then it was he who was assaulted, and was merely responding with a single slap, to defend himself. His was clearly not “aggression” or motiveless violence. For god’s sake, this 61-year-old teacher had just been attacked with a head-butting. What should he have done? Pass over such an act without responding? Note that after that single slap, he was further violently aggressed, beaten to the ground and, while on the ground, he continued to be kicked by one of the Arab students..

Senator for Education, Youth and Family of the State of Berlin Katharina Günther-Wünsch has called for wider discussions in schools about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East between Palestine and Israel over fears that tensions could spill over into diverse areas of Germany.

I don’t think that more discussion about the Israel-Palestinian conflict in German schools will do anything but infuriate Muslim students, and they will take out their fury both on their teachers, and on fellow students who dare to speak up for Israel. The only “discussion” that Muslim students will permit is one that puts all the blame on Israel, praises Hamas, and concludes that “Palestine will soon be free/From the river to the sea.” They will certainly try to intimidate both teachers and students.

“It is to be feared that manifest or latent Israel-related antisemitism plays a role among some students. It is advisable to talk to the students about the events and help them to classify them,” she warned in an email to school management on Monday.

Of course, if these students could control their hatred, that extends not only to Jews but to all non-Muslims, and be willing to accept the rules set down by Infidel school authorities in Germany, perhaps such a discussion could take place calmly in the classrooms about the justification for the rules banning political symbols in schools. And there could be further discussion about the absolute necessity for students to obey their teachers, and how violence inflicted by students on a teacher can never be justified. The discussion should also focus on the events that just took place in the Ernst-Abbe-Gymnasium and the teacher’s quite mild effort — a single slap — to defend himself. It is most unlikely that Muslim students will be willing to, or even be able to, take part in a rational discussion of the rules and their enforcement, but nonetheless the school officials, including teachers, should make the effort to explain to all the students just why there is a ban on political symbols in German schools, why violence against teachers is never justified, and why those who violate those rules deserve to be punished by expulsion. And perhaps the two Arab students involved in this latest incident should be expelled from school for a period longer than a week — possibly a month, or even to the end of the fall term — to make clear just how unacceptable their behavior has been.