A video circulating on social media, which was filmed from among a crowd of students in the grounds of the Ernst-Abbe-Gymnasium in Neukölln, shows a young student unfurl a Palestinian flag and display it to his schoolmates. Almost immediately, an adult schoolteacher heads towards the student.
The camera is then obscured for a while before we see the crucial incident: the boy and his teacher come together, the adult raises his hand and strikes the student. The boy kicks back and the teacher falls to the ground. After that, the children scatter and we do not see any more of the conflict.
The footage was first shared on X (formerly Twitter) by German politician Ferat Koçak (DIE LINKE) who was sent it directly some some of the students. We spoke to Koçak on Tuesday morning, he said “I posted the video to emphasise that this is clearly a pedagogical failure. I learned at school that we should talk about conflicts, not use violence. Berlin is the city with the largest Palestinian community in Europe. We need more understanding.”
“All the reporting that has come out so far only has the teacher’s point of view. It comes from the police report, but the police have not yet even interviewed the students. And, so far, the school has suspended only the student. Not the teacher.”
