Revealed: How two Jewish schools faced campaign of fear on October 7 anniversary

Offficials at two schools, King David in Birmingham and King Solomon High in Redbridge, east London, both said they had experienced a barrage of abuse because of their perceived connection to Israel. The former chair of the governors of King David, Simone Bryant, told the JC of her “terror” at receiving a series of online threats after some Muslim parents accused her of supporting genocide.

“I didn’t want a brick through my window,” Bryant said, adding that rumbling questions among the local Muslim community about the school’s “Zionism” since October 7 culminated in the police monitoring her home.

She said she never imagined her 13 years of service on the board of governors at the primary school would end in threats, police involvement and resigning from her role in fear.

She added that she would never forgive the parents who “drove a wedge” into a once harmonious community and tried “to pull the fabric of the school down”.

Meanwhile, King Solomon High was forced to postpone its memorial to mark October 7 after a backlash led by a controversial Muslim website.

At the start of the school year, the school informed parents about an optional after-school memorial to commemorate the massacres. The event was intended as an opportunity to reflect on the biggest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust.

However, Islamic website 5Pillars shared the letter on social media, claiming Muslim parents had criticised the school’s stance. The site accused the school of citing “Israeli regime statistics” and alleged double standards, claiming that students had been reprimanded for showing solidarity with victims of the war in Gaza.

Anti-Zionist academic David Miller, who has 79,000 followers on X, shared the 5Pillars post and accused the school of “forcing Zionist propaganda down the throats of the students, whether Jewish, Muslim or Christian”.

In response to the social media attacks, the Redbridge school felt forced to increase security.

The Community Security Trust said the campaign against these Jewish schools was “being driven by extremists with a long record of hostile behaviour and in some cases open antisemitism”.

As anti-Zionism has spread across parts of the UK, the two schools have found themselves at the forefront of inter-communal tensions since October 7.

Both Jewish state schools have a large proportion of Muslim students and have historically been seen as models of diversity, praised in Ofsted reports, with non-Jewish parents happily enrolling their children.

In the wake of the war in Gaza, a small number of King David parents levelled accusations of “genocide” and “apartheid” against the school and its leadership, according to Bryant, while prominent anti-Zionist activists stoked the anger on social media.

The only Jewish school within 100 miles, King David has 250 pupils, of which around 75 per cent are Muslim and only 18 are Jewish.

Despite the religious mix, the school has maintained its Orthodox Jewish ethos. With traditional values and a kosher kitchen – which is also halal – parents of many faiths are attracted to the school because of its respect for religion.

The schools’ regulator and inspector, Ofsted, described it as a “warm and welcoming” place, where pupils of different faiths worked “harmoniously together”. But in the last ten months that harmony has been disrupted, leading to what the inspection body called “a number of challenges for school leaders”. The school was downgraded from “good” to “requires improvement” in its latest Ofsted report, with inspectors citing academic concerns.

Bryant links the school’s troubles to October 7: “It started quietly and then bubbled quickly.

“The wider community worried about the security of the school, while some in the Muslim community began questioning how the school relates to Israel.”

She added: “The Department for Education rightly prohibits politicisation in schools, but there are maps of Israel, prayers, and flags.” After the war started, nothing changed in terms of the school’s curriculum or outlook. Children learn Hebrew and sing the Shema, but they do not learn Israel’s national anthem, Hatikvah.

Apart from Kodesh (Jewish studies), “everything about the school is completely British, from learning about the monarchy, to British governance and rule of law,” Bryant said.

But by mid-October, parents were questioning the school’s stance on Zionism. After conversations with the school, some parents said they did not “accept” the definition of Zionist presented to them.

“They were trying to unpick Zionism... They weren’t willing to accept how we define it for ourselves because that’s not how they define it for themselves,” the former head of governors explained.

The school leadership found themselves navigating increasingly fraught conversations. According to Bryant, by November, one parent claiming to speak for others accused the school of supporting Israel’s “genocidal destruction of a people”.

Soon afterwards, 25 other parents joined in, accusing the school of promoting “apartheid”.

Bryant described the tone of the complaints as “hostile and intimidating”, leading the school to involve the CST and West Midlands Police.

“We had to decide whether to press charges against parents in our school. But the reality was we just wanted to defuse it and avoid making the situation worse,” she said.

By December, Bryant was “terrorised” by fear. She hoped the situation would calm by the new year. “I thought, perhaps naively, that by January 2024, the toxicity might have reduced,” she said.

Instead, a formal complaint was lodged, and Bryant and the board were overwhelmed.

Bryant said complaints escalated until the school was accused of teaching children to support the policies of Benjamin Netanyahu and the school was labelled genocidal and a child abuser. “An awful allegation,” she said.

In May, 5Pillars reported on a letter from a parent complaining about King David’s planned Yom Ha’atzmaut celebrations, and the atmosphere worsened. Posts about the school reached hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, on social media.

This summer, anti-Zionist academic Miller appeared on a panel in Bristol titled: “The infiltration of Zionism in our education system.”

Advertising the event on social media, he told his followers: “Did you know that the King David School in Birmingham is a Jewish school in which the pupils sing the Israeli national anthem Hatikvah? Did you know more than 80 per cent of the pupils are Muslim?”

Attendees at his panel event would hear about “the national scandal of schools which openly identify as ‘Zionist’”, according to Miller.

David Miller tweeted about the primary school (Photo: X/Twitter)[Missing Credit]

Meanwhile, the online attacks grew, Bryant said: “It reached such levels of toxicity and hostility, I felt I had to protect myself.” Friends urged her to think of her mental health, while police monitored her home for protection.

Though she did not believe any of the parents meant her physical harm, she feared extremists from outside the school community.

The Orthodox Jewish values that initially attracted Muslim parents to the school became a source of division. “What changed after October 7 is the realisation that Orthodox Judaism is inextricably linked to Israel,” Bryant said.

The King David website does not lay out the school’s connection with Israel, but its admissions policy states it is “essential that the Jewish character of the school’s education be fully supported by all families in the school”.

But Bryant said: “We never told parents: should [our connection to Israel] not align with your values, let us know and the local authority will look at another school for you. We never did that. I didn’t want a brick through my window.”

With hindsight, Bryant wished the institution had affirmed its support for the Jewish State: “That we couldn’t defend our faith in our own school – it still breaks me. Until other people can accept our heartfelt feelings towards Israel, we are not going to resolve this.

“This is not a few mums walking out of school feeling sorry for children in Palestine, this is trying to unpick Jewish institutions,” the former governor added, adding that most parents in the wider community were supportive.

Bryant, who sent her children to King David, said she will never forgive the parents who “drove a wedge” between a once harmonious community and tried “to pull the fabric of the school down”.

Meanwhile, the same website that targeted King David, 5Pillars turned its attention to another Jewish school – King Solomon High in Redbridge – over plans to hold an October 7 memorial event. Like King David, King Solomon is an Orthodox Jewish state school, and parents are aware of its Jewish values when they enrol their children. It has around 20 per cent Jewish and Muslim students respectively.

At the start of the school year, King Solomon informed parents about an optional after-school memorial to commemorate October 7. The event was intended as an opportunity to reflect on the biggest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust.

“October 7 has changed the way that many Jews feel about Israel and their Jewish lives in the diaspora, and we are united in our sorrow at the events of that day, and all that has followed,” the letter read.

5Pillars said Muslim parents at the school had complained about its Israel-focused activities (Photo: 5Pillars)[Missing Credit]

However, 5Pillars shared the letter on social media, claiming Muslim parents had criticised the school’s stance. The site accused the school of quoting “Israeli regime statistics” and claimed that students had been reprimanded for showing solidarity with victims of the war in Gaza.

Miller shared the 5Pillars post, adding: “A reminder that we need to #DismantleZionism in this country as well as in Palestine.”

Brian Westbury, the chair of governors at King Solomon, disputed the claims by 5Pillars, saying he had not received any complaints from Muslim parents. On the event, he said​: “It was an optional, after-school event. No one was required to attend.”

After 5Pillars’ post went viral, the school sought guidance from the CST and police, eventually cancelling the memorial.

“We’re a modern Jewish Orthodox school with a multicultural student body, and we do what we can for everyone,” Westbury said.

He added that many Muslim parents choose King Solomon for its ethos, which aligns with their faith, despite political differences.

Like Bryant at King David, Westbury stressed that while the school believes in a Jewish homeland, it does not engage in political issues.

“We’re not involved in what the [Israeli] military or government are doing.”

However, in response to the 5Pillars post, the east London school has increased security.

5Pillars and David Miller have been approached by the JC for comment.