[UPDATED] Activists lambast ‘horrifying’ images of pupils toting toy guns

KUALA LUMPUR – Images of primary school students brandishing toy guns resembling M-16s and dressing up as militants, believed to be taken during preparations for the Education Ministry’s (MoE) Palestine Solidarity Week, have promptly garnered backlash from concerned activists.

Global Human Rights Federation president S. Shashi Kumar has called on the Education Ministry to put a stop to the programme, saying that the way the activities were carried out was not age appropriate. 

“The pictures of the young pupils can be seen clearly…they are just primary school children believed (to be) from a school in Klang, posted on WhatsApp by a person named ‘Cikgu Nisa’… 

This is horrifying, unimaginable and shocking. This is what all of us were worried about, just like the concerns raised by the NGOs from Sabah and Sarawak,” said Shashi. 

Lawyer and activist Siti Kasim took the government to task for enforcing the programme in schools.

Calling the scenes “sick”, she said: “Are we training jihadis now in our schools? What’s with the weapons and all?”

She said this is exactly the reason why there is opposition to the ministry’s directive on Palestine Solidarity Week.

MoE had earlier issued a notice dated October 21, calling for all schools to demonstrate and observe a solidarity week in support of the Palestinian cause.

The notice from the office of the Deputy Director-General of Education singled out six proposed activities to be carried out in all schools.

Untrained teachers, selective solidarity

Shashi cautioned that the teachers are not trained to conduct them. 

He said efforts to generate awareness on such conflicts should be universal and not limited to any particular ones.

“They (teachers) are not trained at all. If they want to conduct these programmes, they can call it solidarity week, excluding the word ‘Palestine’. 

They can do it on humanitarian grounds. Other parts of the world are also experiencing crises, like Yemen or Syria,” he said.

Worry about sanctions, plummeting domestic economy

Shashi also questioned why the Malaysian government is indulging in the Palestinian cause when the domestic economy is in critical condition. 

He cautioned about the possibility of economic sanctions being imposed on Malaysia by the European Union. 

“Malaysia is just recovering from the pandemic…many are still jobless and suffering until today. 

“Many cannot buy basic needs like rice, chicken, eggs. All the prices have gone up.

Our economy is now in a very bad shape. Look at the US dollar and Singapore dollar,” he said. 

Shashi said Malaysians, including the non-Muslims, have come forth to assist the innocent in the region, but bringing the conflict into our local schools is wrong. 

Palestinian cause: anti-colonialism

Criticism has also been levelled against MoE’s Palestine Solidarity Week for its potential ramifications stemming from the educators’ own lack of understanding of Palestinian resistance.

Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories such as Gaza and the West Bank has long been condemned by human rights organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Its ongoing brutal escalation of airstrikes on Gaza following armed resistance group Hamas’ unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 has been deemed by Israeli historian Raz Segal as “textbook genocide”.

One of such bombings by the Israeli army killed at least 16 Palestinian Christians at the St Porphyrius Church in Gaza on October 19, Al Jazeera reported.

In an opinion piece for The Guardian, Segal said: “Without the historical context of Israeli settler colonialism since the 1948 Nakba, we cannot explain how we got here”.

Tagging Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek, X user @nadsmarhaen said: “If this is what is meant by ‘solidarity with Palestine’, it’s obvious that Malaysia’s solidarity with Palestine is not based on any basic understanding of Palestine’s anti-colonial struggle.”

“This is shameful,” the user added.

Kalau inilah yang dikatakan solidariti dengan Palestin nampak sangat Solidariti Malaysia dengan perjuangan Palestin ni tak berdasarkan apa² fahaman asas perjuangan anti-kolonialisme Palestin itu sendiri, dan hanya bersifat performatif sahaja.

Ni memalukan. @FadhlinaSiddiq https://t.co/urh815x1Nn

— nadsjalil.bsky.social (@NadsMarhaen) October 27, 2023

X users such as @reinedeloup have also criticised the government for conducting such programmes without ratifying the 1951 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Refugees, which would allow Palestinian refugees to obtain formal education in government schools.

Palestine Solidarity but all refugee children (including those from Palestine) can't get formal education in government schools because we haven't ratified the 1951 Convention on the Rights of Refugees? Whack. https://t.co/1w9pW9emq8

— swamp (@reinedeloup) October 25, 2023

“As long as refugees, especially Palestinian refugees in Malaysia aren’t given access to schools and proper education, this is just fruitless,” said X user @Dan7902.

As long as refugees, and especially Palestinian refugees in Malaysia aren’t given access to schools and proper education. This is just fruitless.

Stop doing showmanship and start producing concrete actions. https://t.co/xaySiYU9qg

— Danny (@Dan7902) October 25, 2023

“Stop doing showmanship and start producing concrete actions,” urged the user. – The Vibes, October 27, 2023