Jewish students tripped up as part of school game, inquiry told

School response framework to antisemitism and hate speech criticised at royal commission Thu 30 Jul 2026 at 12:05pm , updatedThu 30 Jul 2026 at 12:10pm Students at a New South Wales public school competed to be crowned "king of the Jews" in a game they created to trip up their Jewish peers, the royal commission on antisemitism has heard. Antisemitism in schools and against young people has been a key focus of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. The inquiry on Thursday heard from NSW Board of Jewish Education (BJE) CEO John Hamey. Mr Hamey said parents of Jewish-Australian students often reported instances of antisemitism to the BJE, with one incident involving a game called "trip the Jew" being played at a NSW public school. He said students would score points if the Jewish student fell, and whoever had the most points at the end of the day was "crowned the king of the Jews". Mr Hamey, who is Catholic and not Jewish, spoke of another incident where he observed a teacher at a NSW public school using a laptop decorated with a "free Palestine" sticker which included a crossed-out image of the Israeli flag and Star of David. "They said to me that they were proud to be anti-Israeli," he said. Mr Hamey, who was the principal of Jewish day school Moriah College from 2011 to 2018, said he told the teacher they were "creating a hostile environment for students that were Jewish in that classroom context". "She was not fulfilling her responsibility to be non-partisan and apolitical in the classroom," he said. Mr Hamey said there must be "better systems to respond to hate speech" in schools. "There needs to be a clear reporting of instances of antisemitism and hate speech in schools, and that can take place within existing frameworks," he said. "There needs to be a much more formalised system so we understand the degree and extent and reach of antisemitism in our public schools."