Two Jewish schools in north London have said they will not open today “in the interests of the safety of our precious children”.
One primary, Torah Vodaas in Edgware, and Menorah High School in Neasden informed parents yesterday evening. It is thought that the schools decided to close after Khaled Mashal, the former leader of Hamas, called for worldwide protests in support of Palestinians.
The principal of Menorah High School said the “difficult” decision was taken “because of the risk of violence on the streets”. Ateres Beis Yaakov in Colindale was earlier reported to be closed, but said on Friday that it remained open.
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On Monday the Jewish Free School in Kenton, north London, cancelled after-school detentions so pupils could take their normal bus home and advised some pupils to remove their school blazers to avoid being identified as attending the school.
Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, and Robert Halfon, the universities minister, have also said in a letter to university leaders that students are having to hide their Jewish identity to ensure their safety.
They asked vice-chancellors to act swiftly against any threats to students and suggested that they should tackle inflammatory statements from student societies that showed support for Hamas, which is a proscribed terrorist group. The ministers wrote: “Not only are such statements of questionable legality, they are deeply troubling and hurtful to Jewish people, given that so many have friends and family based in Israel.”
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The letter reminded universities of their responsibilities under the Prevent counterterrorism programme to have “due regard” to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and warned them to pay attention to invitations issued by students or staff to ensure they do not “provide a platform for illegal speech”.
