Hundreds of Schoolboys Protest After Muslim Leader Removed for Publicly Backing Nurses

Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital where two NSW public hospital nurses allegedly made anti-Semitic comments and boasted they would kill Israeli patients in Sydney, Australia on Feb. 13, 2025. AAP Image/Dean Lewins

The New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education says “appropriate disciplinary action” will be taken against students who did not follow staff directions during a mass protest in support Sheikh Wesam Charkawi.

Charkawi, a support worker still employed by Granville Boys High School, had been asked to temporarily work from a different location after the Muslim leader posted a video on Feb. 16 defending two nurses who talked about killing Israeli patients.

One of the nurses has since been charged with a number of Commonwealth offences under anti-Semitism operation Strike Force Pearl.

It is believed senior officials met with Charkawi, advising him of his obligations as a school employee and public servant.

However, the decision to temporarily remove Charkawi from the school grounds angered many of the students in the immigrant-heavy western Sydney suburb.

The decision to remove Charkawi from the school grounds during investigations led to the student protest on Feb. 26, where boys at the school were filmed chanting slogans including “Allahu Akbar” repeatedly.

A number of adults, including some parents, also attended the protest which was held both inside and outside of school grounds.

A NSW Department of Education spokesperson said staff were expected to remain neutral.

“All NSW Department of Education employees have been reminded of their duty to uphold the reputation of the department as apolitical and impartial,” the spokesperson told The Epoch Times.

“Any student who did not follow directions from staff will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action.”

A New South Wales Police spokesperson said officers attended the school on Mary Street at 9 a.m. after being made aware of a “proposed gathering.”

“With assistance of officers from Highway Patrol and the Youth Command, police attended the gathering which concluded about 9.45am,” the spokesperson said.

“There were no incidents or arrests.”

Sheikh’s Video Comments

Charkawi posted a video to Facebook on Feb. 16 where he appeared to defend the two former Bankstown Hospital nurses who were filmed boasting about killing Israeli patients or denying them care.

Sheikh Charkawi, who also penned a Facebook post regarding the pair, said their comments were never intended to be literal or intended to be a threat to patient care.

The school support worker also accused Australian politicians of double standards.

“The most revealing aspect of the political outrage is the speed, intensity and coordination of the response from figures who have been otherwise largely indifferent, weak or outright complicit and enabling in the face of mass atrocities,” he said in his video.

“The prime minister weighed in, the NSW Health Minister Ryan Park declared it was the most vile thing he'd ever seen.

“Yet these same voices that claim to be the arbiters of moral decency have remained silent, hesitant when confronted with the most egregious acts of violence committed by Israel.”

Charkawi, a supporter of the Muslim Vote Islamic voting bloc movement, ended the video by urging support for independent candidates in the election.

“For far too long the community hasn’t had leverage, we’re about to get that,” he said.

The grassroot group is aiming to put pressure on Labor Party MPs, who have held western Sydney seats for decades, by leveraging community dissatisfaction over the response to the Israel-Hamas War, which is now undergoing a ceasefire.

Sheikh Charkawi’s video and comments remained online at the time of publication.