A rally outside a Western Sydney public school in support of a staff member stood down after he defended the two Sydney nurses who allegedly made vile anti-Semitic comments heard repeated cries of ‘Allahu Akbar’.
On Monday, Sheikh Wesam Charkawi, was ordered to work from home for allegedly breaching the NSW Education Departments’ social media policy and code of ethics.
In an Instagram post on February 16, the Granville Boys High School support officer spoke up in support of the two Sydney nurses who were recorded boasting about withholding treatment from Israeli patients and even killing them.
Sheikh Wesam slammed the ‘selective moral outrage’ of Australian politicians, claiming that the two nurses’ comments were ‘never meant to be literal or intended to be a threat to patient care’.
After the Western Sydney Imam was ordered to work from home, a rally was organised outside the government-funded school by a group called ‘Vote4Palestine’ on Wednesday.
Footage of the protests showed at least 150 pupils, parents and members of the community, chanting ‘Palestine will live forever’ and ‘stop arming Israel’, while waving Palestine flags.
One individual with a megaphone also led chants of ‘La ilaha illallah muhammadur rasool allah’, an Arabic phrase that translates to ‘I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger’.
On Monday, ,Muslim Vote convener Sheikh Wesam Charkawi (pictured), was ordered to work from home for allegedly breaching the NSW Education Departments’ social media policy and code of ethics
After he was ordered to work from home, a rally was organised outside the government-funded Western Sydney school by a group called ‘Vote4Palestine’ on Wednesday
These were followed by chants of ‘Allahu Akbar’, meaning ‘God is most great’.
The single-sex school has about 770 male pupils, 96 per cent of whom are from non-English-speaking backgrounds.
Sheikh Kamel Hamed, the Imam at the nearby Rahme Mosque in Guilford whose four children went to the school, addressed the crowds through a loudspeaker.
‘He’s (Sheikh Wesam) a man of honour, a man who loves family, a man who loves peace, a man who love justice and fairness,’ he said.
‘Listen to the voice of our youth, they want Sheikh Wesam back. Give them Sheikh Wesam. Do the right thing.’
Ahmed Ouf, an independent candidate who is hoping to oust Education Minister Jason Clare in the seat of Blaxland where the school is located, led the pupils on a call and response chant of ‘Who do we want? Sheikh Wesam. When do we want him? Now’.
Daily Mail Australia approached the school for comment.
Sheikh Wesam, who has worked at the school for over a decade, is a convener of ‘teal-style’ Muslim Vote movement aiming to oust federal Labor MPs at the forthcoming election over their perceived inaction on the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Footage of the protests showed at least 150 pupils, parents and members of the community, chanting ‘Palestine will live forever’ and ‘stop arming Israel’, while waving Palestine flags
Nurses Ahmed ‘Rashid’ Nadir (left) and Sarah Abu Lebdeh (right) were stood down from their roles after they allegedly threatened Jewish patients in a rant during a video call. Lebdeh, 26, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with three Commonwealth offences
In his social media post defending the two Sydney nurses, he claimed that ‘in current times, in which genocide is unfolding live on our screens, emotions can sometimes get the better of anybody’.
‘The most revealing aspect of the political outrage is the speed, intensity and coordination of the response from figures who have been otherwise largely indifferent, weak or outright complicit and enabling in the face of mass atrocities,’ he added.
He accused the Prime Minister and leaders across the political spectrum of ‘hypocrisy’ and ‘double standards’.
‘It’s an orchestrated moral framework where outrage is not dictated by the severity of an action, but by the one who commits it.’
He added: ‘We refuse to accept a political a media landscape when Muslims are only visible when they are being condemned but invisible when they are being killed.’
David Ossip, President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, condemned the ‘incredibly troubling scenes’ outside the school.
‘It is outrageous, scandalous and sad that children at a taxpayer-funded school were exploited as props at a divisive political rally,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Serious questions need to be asked about how this was allowed to proceed. How were radicals allowed to stand outside the school gates and whip students into a fervour?
‘How could any student or staff member who doesn’t share the views of the demonstrators feel safe in that environment?
He added: ‘We need to confront the reality that we are facing a campaign designed to disrupt and destabilise all aspects of Australian life – including our schools.’
Sheikh Wesam was ordered to work from home while the NSW Department of Education investigated the video.
After meeting with senior department officials, he deleted it.
However, a copy remains up on the Instagram page of Vote4palestine, who organised Wednesday’s protest outside the school.
‘All NSW Department of Education employees have been reminded of their duty to uphold the reputation of the department as apolitical and impartial,’ a spokesperson for the NSW Department of Education said.
‘Any student who did not follow directions from staff will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action.’
The two nurses, Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, made global headlines when they appeared in a video earlier this month, boasting about sending Israeli patients to hell.
The video, which was recorded by Israeli influencer Max Veifer, sparked outrage.
But an initial examination by NSW Health found no evidence the care of any patients had been affected but said a more thorough investigation would follow.
Detectives arrested 26-year-old Lebdeh when she attended Sutherland Police Station in southern Sydney with her lawyer at about 7.30pm on Tuesday.
The Condell Park woman was charged with three Commonwealth offences: threatening violence to group, using a carriage service to threaten to kill and using a carriage service to menace/harass/offend.
She was granted conditional bail and is scheduled to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on March 19.
But police have yet to speak to Nadir or lay charges against him.
On Wednesday morning, NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia that Nadir was ‘receiving ongoing medical treatment’.