Jahaberdeen: Having replica firearms in schools is an offence under the Firearms Act.
PETALING JAYA: The decision to introduce Palestine Solidarity Week in schools was an unwise one, says civil advocate Datuk Seri Dr Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos.
“My personal view is that it is not a good idea to introduce this in schools. We have never had a solidarity week for the oppression in Myanmar and other oppression going around the world,” said the founder of Rapera, a movement which promotes thinking and compassion.
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“We never had that. Why are we not doing that?” he said, adding that choosing the Palestinian-Israel conflict alone seems more about politicising the matter.
“We can have a compassion week and look at all the conflicts around the world as we speak about conflicts. What about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine?” he said, adding that conflicts have been going on around the world for a long time, which had also seen two world wars.
“We didn’t go around brandishing weapons,” said Jahaberdeen.
“The Israel-Palestinian conflict is very bad, it is no good, it is cruel, it is oppression and they can be taught that. They can be taught that the solution for that is compassion.
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“For example, we show compassion and justice and that is wrong to occupy somebody else’s land and there must be an international solution to this. The solution can come through the United Nations (for instance),” he said.
“However, if we are brandishing weapons in school, we will give the wrong idea to students that the solution is by way of war.”Jahaberdeen, who did a doctorate thesis related to terrorism, said extremist groups could also take advantage of the students to radicalise them.
“While I agree with (Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) that we should be against the oppressor, I don’t think it is a good idea to just specify this particular conflict.
“Having replica firearms in schools is an offence under the Firearms Act. Why are we teaching students to break the law? Where are we going to draw the line?” he said, adding that the police should investigate the school just to ensure there is no element of undue influence.
“I would say that even though the teachers (may) have had good intentions, I still believe the police can investigate so that we can be sure that the school has not been taken advantage of by any radicalised groups.
“We must be very careful. Investigate just to be sure that the schools or those teachers have not been influenced by any radical elements,” he said, adding that compassion could be taught as a subject in schools to instil that value in students.
Meanwhile, the Global Human Rights Federation has started an online petition urging the Education Ministry and the government to keep global conflicts, religious disputes and calls to arms out of public institutions.
“We are looking at the seriousness of dragging schoolchildren into becoming part of the global, grown-up adult world of protests, and not subject young minds... to this Middle East crisis or international conflicts and war,” the petition said.
In its preamble, the petition said the collective of NGOs and citizens expressed its deep concern over the controversial event that came by through a simple administrative ruling without discussing its appropriateness at the Dewan Rakyat, or consulting parents.
At press time, the petition had garnered more than 2,300 signatures.
