Furious veterans and education officials have criticized a plan by “activist” teachers to “indoctrinate” students against Anzac Day.
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare on Wednesday denounced plans shared within the group Teachers and School Staff for Palestine to “dismantle” the “myth-making ceremonies of Anzac Day”.
Anzac Day, April 25, marks the landing of Australian and New Zealand soldiers at Gallipoli in 1915 and serves as a national day of remembrance and reflection for military veterans of both nations.
However, Teachers and School Staff for Palestine distributed a 40-page “teaching resource” for pro-Palestinian educators to “dismantle” the Anzac legacy and link the alleged murders committed by Anzac troops in the First World War to the current one. war between Israel and Gaza.
“In the run-up to the glorification of the Anzac Day war, this is a useful resource…describing the Anzac massacre of a Palestinian village, never talked about in school myth-making ceremonies of the Anzac Day,” he said.
‘In the midst of a new genocide, which we cannot talk about in schools, Anzac Day attempts to cement oblivion. We insist on remembering.’
Pro-Palestinian teachers have planned to “dismantle” the Anzac legacy, while protesters have staged demonstrations in major cities to disrupt Anzac Day events.
Clare accused the group of “attacking our Anzac heritage”.
“It is disrespectful to those who have fought and died in our name,” he said. The Australian reported.
Opposition education spokeswoman Sarah Henderson also condemned the group and said educators should not “indoctrinate” students.
“Attempts to link the sacrifice of our Anzacs with this type of activism are not only misguided but deeply disrespectful to the men and women who served our country,” he said.
‘Our classrooms should be places of objective learning, not indoctrination. It is not the role of educators to push political agendas or promote divisive ideologies.’
RSL Victoria president Dr Robert Webster was similarly critical of planned student demonstrations in Melbourne.
A group of students will camp outside the University of Melbourne’s Parkville campus on Thursday to demand the institute “cut all ties to guns”.
Several other pro-Palestine protests are planned across the CBD.
The group Unimelb for Palestine wrote online: ‘Support the camp, Anzac Day our way. Solidarity with Gaza’.
‘They are choosing to disrespect the veterans of this country who consider tomorrow to be our national day. Veterans will be upset if their day is interrupted,” Dr. Webster told the Herald of the sun.
RSL Victoria president Dr Robert Webster (pictured) said protesters are “choosing to disrespect this country’s veterans who treat tomorrow as our national day”.
Australian Vietnam Veterans Association president Bob Elworthy also called for Anzac Day to be “left alone”.
“Anzac Day is not about glorifying war, we are respecting those who put themselves in harm’s way so people can protest,” he said.
War veteran Lucas Moon asked protesters to choose a “better day” to hold their demonstrations.
“These protesters forget that the reason they are able to speak out and express their views is because of the men and women who have defended their freedom,” he said.
Victoria Police is aware of the planned protests and will increase patrols throughout the CBD to ensure Anzac Day events proceed smoothly.
In its ‘resources for challenging Anzac Day’, Teachers and School Staff for Palestine refers to accounts of the attack by Anzac vigilantes on the Arab village of Sarafand al-Amar, also known as Surafend, in the First World War.
The attack is not mentioned on the Australian War Memorial website, but does appear on the New Zealand Ministry of Culture and Heritage history website.
“Relations between the Anzac Mounted Division and the Palestinian Arabs reached a new low early on 10 December 1918, when Private Leslie Lowry was shot dead after disturbing a thief in his shop,” it states.
Victoria Police have planned to increase patrols in Melbourne’s CBD to ensure Anzac Day events are not disrupted by pro-Palestine protests.
“That night, a large group of New Zealanders and Australians demanded justice, burning the nearby Arab village of Sarafand al-Amar to the ground and killing about 40 of its male inhabitants.”
A spokesperson for Palestine Teachers and School Staff told the Herald that the group is “not planning any action to disrupt services.”
“We are participating in an anti-war picnic and supporting an anti-war protest,” they said.
Opposition veterans affairs spokesman Barnaby Joyce blamed the “rise in anti-Anzac sentiment” on the Albanian government, particularly its decision to make the Anzac Day holiday optional for some 350,000 public servants.
‘If you live in this nation and benefit from the freedoms of this nation, then you better respect the people who fought and died, those who were maimed and their families who were turned upside down to give today’s generation the right to Live the life. with all our freedoms and liberties,’ he said.