Many thanks to Gary Fouse for translating this article from Blick:

Anti-Jewish attacks in school

‘“I’m giving you ten seconds, then you’re dead”

Threats, insults, bullying. In the last months, there have been numerous attacks on Jews (females and males) in Swiss schools. The Israeli Community Association says the problem has massively increased.

A summer day in 2023: Joshua* (14) is afraid. For the last few weeks he has been attending a new school. A Muslim classmate says to him, “When class is over, I’ll give you ten seconds to run — then you’re dead.”

Joshua knows: The reason for the threat is his religion, that he is Jewish. His parents come from Israel, and the family has been living in Switzerland for five years.

Now he sits there, panic grabbing him. Joshua calls his father. Teachers accompany him to the tram stop so that he can get home safely. The young boy who uttered the threat — and is waiting for him in front of the school — is 15 years old. He describes himself as a Hamas supporter and consumes terror propaganda on the Internet.

A.H. ** is also 15 years old and a consumer of Islamist propaganda. A few days ago, he stabbed an Orthodox Jew 15 times with a knife in the Selnau-Quartier (Zurich). The 50-year-old family father barely survived. The teenager-terrorist had sworn fidelity to the Islamic State (IS), and in a video announced, “he wanted to kill as many Jews as possible.” Now he sits in pre-trial custody.

The school did too little

His attack unleashed a debate about online radicalization and the limits of juvenile justice. The non-partisan government counsel, Mario Fehr, demanded that the perpetrator have his citizenship revoked.

The Jewish student, Joshua, continued to go to class after the incident in the summer, and in his case, the threat remained. Still, some schoolmates made it clear to him: In this schoolhouse, they were “on the side of the Palestinians.” After the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, the parents took their son out of the private day school. “Unfortunately, we did not go to the police then,” says Joshua’s father today. He regrets that because the school itself has done too little.

The school principal sees it differently. She indeed confirms the incident and says, “The attack was clearly motivated by anti-Semitism.” She also stresses, however, that “intensive” conversations with the parents and children were subsequently held. The Muslim student has consequently apologized to Joshua. Anti-Semitism is, furthermore, a recurring theme in education — described as “very demanding” by the principal. “Many students have acquired partial knowledge of the Middle East conflict from social media.”

Sports day cancelled

There are many attacks like that against Joshua. The escalation in the Middle East has led to a series of anti-Jewish incidents in schools. Many have resulted in the Jewish student having to change classes or even schools.

Sunday Blick knows of cases in several cantons. In December, for example, a conflict escalated in a public primary school in Zurich. A game and sports day had to be canceled because the mood among the students was heated. A Jewish girl was severely bullied.

Marc Capres, spokesman for the city’s School and Sports Office, confirms the incident. It was handled together with the Violence Prevention Department, as well as the City Police Youth Service and other specialists. “The school leadership reacted in an exemplary manner.” He is unaware of similar attacks.

Last week, a group of Jewish parents from Bern warned that the schools were becoming a hotbed of anti-Semitism. As the Tamedia newspapers reported, they demanded in a letter that the city of Bern strengthen its commitment against anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitic incidents in schools had reached an unprecedented magnitude.

“Israel must die,” scream students

A report from the West Switzerland Organization, Cicad, comes to the same conclusion. On some playgrounds, “Jew” has become a curse word; in WhatsApp chat rooms, Hitler and Third Reich memes are popular. In a schoolyard in French-speaking Switzerland, Jewish students are shouted down with the words, “Israel must die.”

Are these isolated cases, or do Swiss schools have an anti-Semitism problem? Jonathan Kreutner, General Secretary of the Swiss-Israeli Community Association (SIG): “Numerous anti-Semitic insults and repeated bullying against Jewish and Israeli students are reported to us.”

Since October 7, the problem has massively “intensified”. Jews, across the board and completely unjustifiably, are held responsible for the war in Gaza. The SIG assumes the unreported cases are higher.

In the city of Basel, since the Hamas massacre, there have been 15 reports of anti-Semitic incidents in schools. This involves provocations, insults, and anti-Semitic words, says Gaudenz Wacker, spokesperson at the Department of Education.

Children taught to resolve conflicts

The educational leadership of the cantons of Aargau and St. Gallen, in contrast, are not aware of any anti-Semitic incidents in connection with the escalation in the Middle East. In Aargau, the problem is estimated to be limited, as Philipp Grolimund, co-president of the School Principals’ Association, writes. The canton of Bern will not comment on the number of incidents or any increase.

Thomas Minder, president of the Swiss School Principals, observes, “Schools are generally no more a violence-free environment than sports clubs or other places where people come together.” Anti-Semitism is just one aspect of xenophobia, and this, in turn, is only a part of intolerance.

“In the schools, we primarily try to teach tolerance to students as a value,” Minder says. From an early age, an attempt is made to teach children instruments and methods to be able to resolve conflicts constructively and sustainably. “Often that succeeds.”

Jonathan Kreutner from the Israeli Community Association feels it is important that the association and cantons support civil engagement and invest in prevention. It is clear for him. “There must be no tolerance for anti-Semitic bullying and violence in schools. The attackers must receive noticeable consequences. It is not the victims who should leave the schools, but rather the perpetrators.”