Australian Jewish students prepare for school climate strike

While some Jewish students will play key organising roles in this Friday’s event, Jewish day schools were mostly lukewarm about the strike. Nell Cohen reports

SCHOOL STRIKE 4 CLIMATE protests will again be taking place across at least 38 cities and towns in Australia this Friday. The last strike action held in September 2019 attracted 300,000 people, according to protest organisers.

Sydney student Bailey Linton-Simpkins attends Epping Boys High School and his family goes to North Shore Temple Emanuel. He has been active in the School Strike movement since the national protest action in September 2019.

Linton-Simpkins, 16, will be involved as a police point of contact and marshal captain at the protest in Sydney this Friday.

“I think it’s incredibly important to attend to show our leaders that we still need urgent climate action, and they can't use Covid as an excuse to splurge on gas, which is destroying First Nations’ land, and fracking our future,” Linton-Simpkins told The Jewish Independent.

“Australia could be a renewable energy superpower, but our leaders have let us let us become a global disappointment.”

Linton-Simpkins said he views Judaism as synonymous with social justice, citing formative experiences such as volunteering at the Asylum Seeker Centre with his mother and grandmother when he was younger.

“I believe there are parallels to be drawn between my experience growing up in the Jewish community and my activism. I think the idea of coming together as a family to share stories, celebrate and connect, as we do on Friday nights for Shabbat, is so similar to the experiences I have at climate strikes and other peaceful protests.”

Melbourne student and School Strike organiser Ella Simons, 14, also connects climate activism to her Jewish identity. Simons, who attends Albert Park High School, draws inspiration from stories of activists standing in solidarity for Jews, such as Yorta Yorta man William Cooper, as well as stories of non-Jewish individuals who helped her family survive the Holocaust.

 “I don’t know the people that might be on the front lines of the climate crisis, but I still care, and I still want to help these people,” she told The Jewish Independent in March.

Ahead of the upcoming strike action, Simons emphasises the importance of young people showing up and playing their part in democracy.

“We need to show the government that we won’t wait for leaders who continuously ignore us. Students aren’t stopping the fight for climate justice. We will fight for these issues ourselves and we will fight until justice is served,” she told The Jewish Independent this week.

“I hope to see large groups from the Jewish community attend because I know how caring and powerful community can be on fighting for an issue and I think it’s important that we stand up for those on the frontlines.”

In contrast to Linton-Simpkins and Simons, Jewish day schools were lukewarm regarding on their positions on the strikes, in comparison to the schools’ views of the strikes in 2019.

When approached by The Jewish Independent, Mount Scopus College in Melbourne, Masada College in Sydney and Carmel School in Perth all preferred not to comment.

Melbourne schools Bialik College and King David School could not be reached for comment.

While Moriah College in Sydney could also not be reached for comment, a staff member of the school said there had been no mention of the upcoming school strike amongst students or staff.

Andrew Watt, Principal of Emanuel School in Sydney, issued a statement that the school was not encouraging students to attend the strike. But the school informed the students that if they were thinking of attending, they must take necessary precautions.

“If they are thinking of attending, they should do so with the right motives and understand the risks of being in a large and possibly unpredictable crowd. We have also encouraged them to attend in a group and not alone. Regardless, each student attending the strike would need to provide written permission from their parents,” the statement said.

“Many of our students were part of the large crowd of Australian students that participated in the previous strikes and many took part in the School’s own climate rally, held on campus in 2019. It is clear that many of our students passionately feel the need to step up and fill the climate leadership vacuum left by our politicians and other leaders.

“However, students can feel very passionately about climate change issues without attending the strike. They can do much in their own lives, to reduce their carbon footprint and encourage others to do likewise, without attending the strike.

“They can pressure our politicians and leaders to move the change agenda more quickly without attending the strike; and they can learn more about the dangers of global warming and the benefits of sustainable living… all without attending the strike.

“We do recognise that meeting with other people who are also passionate about saving our planet, and hearing from expert speakers, also has benefits.”

Linton-Simpkins said Covid-19 had affected the momentum of the movement but believed the issue of low traction and numbers was temporary.

“As we come out of the pandemic, I think this will definitely change and more people will go out on strike. For now, strikes will be smaller than they once were, but soon we will be as powerful as we were back in 2019.”

Photo: Ella Simons (supplied)