Jewish parents say sending children to school is “not worth the risk” as several schools have closed amid a rise in antisemitic incidents since the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas militants.
It comes after a former head of Hamas called for protests across the Muslim world on Friday in support of Palestinians, sparking fears from Jewish schools in the UK which have already increased security since Saturday’s attacks.
Torah Vodaas Primary School in Edgware, and Menorah High School in Neasden all told parents on Thursday that they would not reopen until Monday. A third school is also reportedly closing on Friday, according to Sky News.
A mum at the Jewish Free School (JFS) in northwest London said that although her children’s school wasn’t closed, half of parents weren’t sending their children in.
She told The Independent: “It’s awful to have to keep your kids at home for fear of what terrorists would want, but it’s not worth the risk. I feel sick when they’re at school praying I don’t get a text that there’s been an incident. I drop them there and back because I won’t let them on public transport. This is the worst most people have seen in their lifetime. Parents are not sleeping. It’s gut-wrenching.”
In a letter to parents, Rabbi Feldman, of Torah Vodaas, said while there was "no specific threat to our school" it had taken the decision to close.
Esther Pearlman, headteacher of Menorah High School for Girls told parents in a letter seen by the BBC: “Please be aware that this difficult decision has been reached because the [sic] of the risk of violence on the streets.
“The police are concerned that as the girls are not in school, they will venture outdoors and have asked us to advise you that it is incumbent on you as parents that your children remain indoors.”
Parents say ‘half’ of children are not attending some schools out of fear— (Getty)
Earlier this week, schools advised students to disguise their uniforms due to fear of retaliatory attacks. Several schools said they had carried out drills, where pupils practice sheltering in safe areas or reinforced rooms in the event of a threat, The Guardian reported.
One concerned parent from London wrote on X, formerly Twitter,: “Tomorrow, my four-year-old daughter will have an active shooter drill training at her school, because it’s a Jewish school.”
The Community Security Trust (CST), a Jewish charity security group, said such security measures have existed for many years to deal with the “longstanding threat of terrorism that Jewish communities face in many countries”.
Pro-Palestinian graffiti was sprayed on a railway bridge in Golders Green, north London, an area with a prominent Jewish population— (PA Wire)
Antisemitic incidents in the UK have increased by more than 300 per cent since Hamas’ attack on Israel, according to the CST. The Met Police said on Friday that it had seen a “massive increase” in antisemitic hate crimes in the past two weeks, with 105 incidents and 75 offences. That was up from just 14 incidents and 12 offences during the same period in 2022.
Following this morning’s news that schools were choosing to close, one mum wrote on X: “This morning sending my son into his Jewish school was like nothing I’ve experienced before. The place was surrounded by police. Police car opposite, police outside the gates, up and down the road, and school was fairly empty with not many parents fearful.”
However, other parents, schools and officials don’t believe closing is the right thing to do.
Another dad at JFS, Shneor Crombie, 39, said: “They are letting the terrorists win, even without doing anything. Just with the threats they are winning. If Jewish people are not safe here, no one is.”
Jewish parent Shneor Crombie says schools should not close— (Supplied)
“Kids need to go to school, and they need to be safe at school,” the father-of-three said. “It could be a day but maybe it will be a week or weeks so what are we going to do every time that they publish threats? Will we just stop our lives? We need to manage risk, of course, we need to manage risk - but we don’t need to surrender to terror threats. This is achieving that [Hamas] are looking to achieve.”
John Dalziel, headteacher at King David High School in Manchester said the school has “never been safer”.
He told The Independent: “I understand that some children and parents are anxious, but school is a safe place to be. It’s probably never been safer thanks to the fantastic response we’ve had from Greater Manchester police and volunteers. We have a fantastic community spirit in school and here the students can be away from the 24-hour media feed. We are proud to be open.”
CST echoed his sentiments, saying “Jewish life should continue and schools should remain open as normal”. Schools and the CST have been working with police to provide extra security outside of schools in response to the increasing threats.
Met Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, who is leading London’s response to the conflict, said that “no specific threat” had been made towards schools.
According to Mr Taylor, 300 dedicated school officers were working alongside community leaders and headteachers, and a frontline commander had held a meeting with 2,000 parents to address their concerns.
He added that they were “closely engaging” with the three north London schools to offer support, but that the decision to close remained with the schools.
