A school administration in Hawally, prevented the students from showing solidarity with the people of Gaza. In a recent event, students were protesting against an attack on Gaza by wearing the Palestinian Keffiyeh scarf to support Gazans. However, the school administration ordered the students to remove the Keffiyehs and t-shirts featuring the map of Palestine over it.
Instead of wearing the keffiyeh openly, students were advised to wear t-shirts inside out to conceal the imagery during their presence on the school grounds.
However, the principal and school management defended this decision. As per them, wearing keffiyeh and a map depicting t-shirts is a sheer violation of the rules and regulations of the school.
The parents, on the other hand, stated that students were not involved in any kind of disruptive activity; rather, their actions were limited to just wearing the keffiyeh and the t-shirts with the Palestine map.
It is to be specifically mentioned that this whole incident happened at the event, which was going to be held in the school on the theme of addressing bullying in school.
In this event, the students were supposed to get educated on the protection of the rights of others, including the freedom to express themselves. However, critics condemned the school’s decision as a violation of right of peaceful demonstration to show solidarity with victims of violence in the Gaza Strip.
In another development, an MP also criticised the move of the school. He also stated that many international and foreign schools in the country are prohibiting the students from wearing the keffiyeh and other clothes aimed to express solidarity with violence’s victim.
Voices among many sections of society are growing for strict action against the school management for this decision. Many representatives of different organisations called upon the Education Minister to announce every Thursday as a day for students across Kuwait to show their solidarity with the people of Palestine.