Radicalisation Beyond Roedean

The exposure of Roedean’s alleged reluctance to play sport against the Jewish school King David shines a broader light on the prevalence of antisemitism in South African schools, particularly in the realm of sport.

Numerous commentators have noted that antisemitism on the sporting field has occasionally surfaced in inter-school competition. Typically, this has involved individual students weaponising antisemitic slurs as a form of competitive intimidation, or reflecting prejudices brought from home or the broader social environment. These incidents often take the form of crude Nazi references or Hitler salutes. To their credit, schools have generally acted decisively in such cases, disciplining offenders and providing education on the dangers and historical reality of antisemitism.

What is different in the case of Roedean, however, is not individual misconduct but the fact that the school itself has sought to avoid fixtures with King David because it is a Jewish school. This would suggest institutional pressure, whether from students, parents, or segments of the broader school community.

There is also precedent for controversy at the school. In 2023, following the Hamas attacks on Israel, it emerged that Roedean had appointed an external provider, Ummah Heart, to assist with Islamic education for Muslim students during the time slots when other students attended Christian services. The provider had been recommended by Muslim parents at the school.

Subsequent reporting raised concerns about the organisation’s public messaging and ideological affiliations. As tracked by Richard Wilkinson on his School Capture website, posts from Ummah Heart’s Instagram account included quotations from Islamist scholars encouraging martyrdom, such as: “For the Western world, death is defeat. For us, death with Imam is victory.” Their social media posts also featured imagery of hang gliders, widely understood as a reference to the paragliders used by Hamas during the 7 October attacks.

Concerns

The fact that such an organisation had initially been appointed to provide religious education, with parental endorsement, raised serious concerns. Following a public outcry, Roedean reversed the appointment and instead implemented a process to vet individual educators directly. However, the episode highlighted the broader challenges faced by elite schools in managing the risk of educational radicalisation among students, which can result not only in prejudice but, in extreme cases, even violence.

In South Africa, these concerns have long been visible at the university level. Institutions such as the University of Cape Town have been criticised for hosting speakers and events linked to terror groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. More recently, similar dynamics to those at Roedean have appeared in elite secondary schools, where student activism, parental pressure, and social media engagement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have intensified.

Officially, schools are intended to be apolitical spaces, but framing such activity as “activism” has increasingly brought it into the centre of the educational environment, and students have engaged in protests and walk-outs, among other activities.

However, this activism can also endorse violent messages. Images recently circulated of a poster outside a government school in a middle-class suburb reading “Resistance against occupation can never be condemned” next to a picture of Hassan Nasrallah, the former leader of Hezbollah. Hezbollah is an Iranian-backed organisation responsible for attacks on civilian targets in multiple countries.

Resistance Activism

This form of “resistance activism” has also been structured into formal educational initiatives, including a “Palestine curriculum for middle and high school learners” endorsed by the United Ulama Council of South Africa and the Muslim Judicial Council Education Desk. These organisations support Hamas and its violent conduct, framing it as resistance. Related material for even younger audiences has included a colouring book titled From the River to the Sea, featuring a Palestinian terrorist responsible for the murder of Christian pilgrims. While not every educational initiative constitutes an endorsement of violence, the Roedean example demonstrates the importance of careful vetting to ensure that impressionable minds are taught responsibly.

Where such precautions are absent, activism can extend beyond general political expression into targeted hostility. Jewish students and teachers, both internationally and in South Africa, have reported feeling pressure within educational environments, some have left due to it. Jewish institutions that rent out facilities have faced cancellations, and some elite schools have cancelled participation in Holocaust education programmes. In certain cases, Jewish public figures, such as comedian Nik Rabinowitz, have faced organised protests and opposition from parents when appearing at school events, reflecting the increasingly charged atmosphere surrounding Jewish identity and Israel-related issues.

While these developments are troubling, South Africa has thus far remained relatively free of the violent manifestations seen elsewhere, including attacks on Jewish individuals, the firebombing of synagogues, or terrorist attacks on Jewish gatherings. Vigilance will be required to ensure that this remains the case.

The outcry over the Roedean controversy is an important first step, and proper, transparent institutional processes should be encouraged to identify and address antisemitism wherever it emerges within the educational system.