The Australian Council for Physical Education and Recreation has conceded, after refusing to do so for six weeks, that an anti-Israel claim in Year 12 coursework it produced was factually incorrect.
As recently as Friday, ACHPER had issued an apology but refused to retract the assertion that Jews in Israel persecute non-Jews, angering members of the Jewish community.
On July 16 The Australian revealed ACHPER had created a Year 12 sample assessment that said Israel persecuted Arab families and demolished their homes because “they don’t follow the Jewish religion”.
Last week Victorian Education Minister James Merlino threatened the organisation’s funding, saying their failure to adequately make amends for the anti-Israel coursework would be “front of mind” as he considers whether to renew a contract which is up for renegotiation next year.
Hours before the Jewish Sabbath began on Friday, ACHPER Victoria CEO Hilary Shelton issued a statement apologising for presenting “an interpretation of a context in Israel that was divisive and hurtful to members of Australia’s Jewish community.”
Mount Scopus Memorial College principal Rabbi James Kennard — who brought the coursework to public attention after Jewish students, some of whom came from Israeli families, were alarmed by the coursework — said the apology was not adequate.
“The apology is for the ‘hurt and offence’. It is not an apology for falsely asserting that Jews in Israel persecute people for not being Jewish,” Rabbi Kennard said.
“ACHPER now refers to this assertion as an ‘interpretation’, and the CEO of ACHPER Victoria repeatedly refused to retract that allegation in a conversation with me.
“ACHPER’s position remains that the assertion is valid, and (it) has only apologised for it appearing in the sample exam paper.”
Read the article by Rachel Baxendale in The Australian.