A 17-year-old JFS student was attacked by two teenagers on Thursday evening outside the school premises after he was allegedly coerced into saying “Free Palestine.”
According to a statement released by JFS Headteacher Dr. David Moody, two individuals approached a Year 13 JFS student and, following an exchange about Palestine, one of the teenagers punched him. Despite being seen by security guards, the attackers were able to carry out the assault and run away.
The school has two security guards on the High Street from the end of school until 5.00pm but, according to Dr. Moody’s statement, “the incident occurred before the end of school due to the student leaving earlier because of the Year 13 mock examinations.”
Dr. Moody said that, going forward, the school will maintain a security presence on the High Street from 3.00pm, which is the finish time of local school Kingsbury High. However, he added that “Kingsbury High have been extremely supportive and have made a number of long-term suspensions where anyone has used anti-Semitic language or physical aggression.”
“It sadly remains the case that a very small number of very small-minded people wish to use what is happening in Israel and Gaza as an excuse to perpetuate their desire to cause trouble. To that end, I spoke with the Inspector for Brent Schools yesterday and they have tasked 12 officers with overseeing the security of JFS, in addition to extra support to be provided by the British Transport Police. They are taking these incidents very seriously.”
The incident is being investigated by the police while JFS also work with local schools to identify the teens involved in the assault.
CST was notified of the incident yesterday. A spokesperson for the organisation said: “This was a distressing assault in which a Jewish student was singled out and attacked, and the link between extreme anti-Israel hatred and anti-Jewish violence was made clear by his attackers. We are working with the police and JFS security to provide increased protection for JFS students when they leave school each day.”
