An angry demonstration triggered by pro-Palestine activists outside the gates of a Manchester school was triggered by a “false accusation” by a pupil against a member of staff, its headteacher has said.
The protest, organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign Manchester, was staged outside Hyde High School in Old Road, Hyde yesterday, over claims that a pupil had been ordered to wash the Palestinian flag off of their hand.
However, in a letter to parents shared on the school’s website in which he acknowledged what he called “escalating chatter online”, headteacher Rorick Houghton dismissed the allegation as out of hand.
He wrote: “For context, this originates from a false accusation made about a member of our staff which was investigated thoroughly and, in conversation with the pupils directly involved, found to be entirely untrue.
“Following this, a number of pupils have posted comments on social media repeating the false and misleading accusation.
“Had the accusation been true, this would have been an extremely serious matter and we would understand pupils’ frustration; however this simply isn’t the case.”
The decision had been taken, in consultation with Greater Manchester Police, the Local Authority and the Local Independent Advisory Group, to close the school for the day and move to remote learning, Mr Houghton continued.
He explained: “While there is no indication that this won’t be a peaceful protest, we are concerned that the relatively small space outside our gates might become overcrowded.
”This could be intimidating for pupils or cause dangerous overspill into the road putting both protestors and pupils at risk.”
A Facebook post by Palestine Solidarity Campaign Manchester said it had organised the protest after being “asked to so by students”.
The message said: “In response to repression against students at Hyde High School for supporting Palestine at a time when the people of Gaza are being subject to genocide, YFFP has been asked by students to stage a demonstration this Friday at 3pm.
“We have been informed that students have been labelled ‘terrorists’ for simply having painted the Palestinian flag on their hands.”
The post continued: “We extend our full solidarity to all students in schools who have shown their support for Palestinians during this crucial time.
“We have heard too many examples of teachers and school managements across the country cracking down on students for simply standing up for humanity.
“No doubt it is under the pressure of our blood-stained, genocide-supporting government, but let it be clear: we will not stand for censorship. The youth have the right to political activity, the right to protest, and the right to object to genocide.”
The post also attempted to draw parallels between Israel’s military action against Hamas and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of his neighbour last year, saying: “If schools will encourage open support for Ukraine, as thousands have done, they cannot justify censorship of Palestine. Join us and show your support for the resistant youth!”
However, others commenting on the post were less than impressed.
One said: “Doing this outside a primary school and nursery isn’t a good idea (opposite the road to Hyde high school).
“All you do is scare the children there as well and they don’t deserve that either being so young.
“Such large groups of people even though I assume it will be peaceful will do nothing but cause more worry for the innocent children over here.”
Another added: “I don’t want my child having walk past a protest. If parents have concerns they should contact the school. It is nobody else’s concern.”
