KUALA LUMPUR – The Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) has urged the Education Ministry to cancel Palestine Solidarity Week in all educational institutions.
Its chairman, Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, said this was to ensure that the issue would not escalate into a more serious controversy.
“It would be more beneficial for all Malaysians to focus on programmes that encourage reading,” she told Scoop today.
She said although the ministry had issued clear instructions to promote peace and humanity, some teachers and students have chosen to fuel the intifada struggle.
“The Education Ministry has already provided concise guidelines and themes for the execution of Palestine Solidarity Week through the Deputy Director-General’s office,” she said.
“There are already indications that this kind of solidarity campaign is inflaming feelings of hatred and anger.”
The solidarity week had courted controversy today after images of students in a school wielding toy guns and donning clothes similar to Hamas fighters went viral.
A teacher from the school, however, explained that the activities supporting the Palestinian struggle were intended as symbolic gestures to visually convey the meaning of jihad.
In response, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today said programmes promoting solidarity with under-siege Palestine in schools must be properly managed.
A circular issued by the Education Ministry on October 21 declared October 29 to November 3 as Palestine Solidarity Week and directed all educational institutions under the ministry – including schools, vocational colleges, matriculation colleges, and teacher’s training institutes in the country – to conduct the programme.
Several educationists previously contacted by Scoop regarding the ministry’s move to initiate the solidarity programme expressed mixed responses to the decision.
Yesterday, the Education Ministry said the Palestine Solidarity Week was aimed at nurturing empathy and enlightening students who had been exposed to news on the humanitarian crisis resulting from the war waged by Israel on Palestine. – October 27, 2023