Students protest decision to bar Sheikh Wesam Charkawi from working at school

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A protest has taken place outside a high school in Western Sydney with students demonstrating against a decision to ban Muslim Vote co-ordinator Sheikh Wesam Charkawi from the school grounds.

Granville Boys High School student support officer Sheikh Wesam posted a video on social media criticising Australian politicians for "selective moral outrage" after footage emerged of two Bankstown nurses threatening to harm Israeli patients.

The Western Sydney Imam, who has worked at the school for 13 years, was then told by the NSW Education Department to do his job from home.

On Wednesday, students chanted "bring him back", "Sheikh Wesam" and "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free".

Sheikh Wesam has taken on the role of convener for the Muslim Vote, a "teal-style" movement backing independent candidates for the next federal election with a more assertive stance on Israel and strong support for Palestinians in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Among the students, parents and teachers supporting Sheikh Wesam was the Muslim Vote endorsed candidate for Watson, Ziad Basyouny, who's taking on Labor minister Tony Burke at this year's federal election.

"The people of Western Sydney are feeling the rough end of the stick because of the double standards. If you say something that the elites or the big parties don't like, you cop a serve," Dr Basyouny said.

The students aren't happy about it, they've asked for people to come along, so we've got parents, teachers and community volunteers like me attending, because there's a perception of double standards in how we're handling the issues we're dealing with at the moment.

He described the actions against Sheikh Wesam as "a pretty clear case of shutting down someone who's got a point of view".

They're just trying to shut us up

Public school teacher Eppy Najjarine, from the Teachers for Palestine organisation, visited to support Sheikh Wesam's students.

"There are heaps of students here because they're absolutely furious that Sheikh Wesam's been stood down," Ms Najjarine said.

He's a well-respected bloke in the community; everyone's got a high opinion of him; he's speaking out against the injustice of what's going on in Gaza in the Palestinian region.

Ms Najjarine said she condemned the nurses' comments.

However, Ms Najjarine said she agreed with Sheikh Wesam's social media post that a double standard was being applied to her community.

We acknowledge those comments were incorrect, we agree they were incorrect, but it's the double standard that's concerning – a Muslim woman was attacked in Bankstown, two Muslim women were attacked in Melbourne and we're not seeing the same level of outrage.

We're free to hold our own political opinions and speak out against injustice and mass killings. They're just trying to shut us down. Who's next on their radar?

Israel has consistently and strenuously denied allegations that it is carrying out a genocide in Gaza.

Sheikh Kamel Hamed, the Imam at Rahme Mosque in Guilford, addressed the crowd outside the school's front gate, saying, "Listen to the voice of our youth, they want Sheikh Wesam returned".

Shiekh Kamel told the ABC that he did not think Shiekh Wesam's statement was offensive.

"There's been no indication of hate speech, no indication of agreeing with the nurses' phrasing. All I've seen from Sheikh Wesam is a fair approach," he said.

The education department should give more consideration to the students' opinions.

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip said the rally outside the school was "troubling" and "outrageous".

These are extremely disturbing scenes.

"Fair dinkum, some real questions need to be asked about how this was allowed to happen," he said.

A NSW Department of Education spokesperson said on Wednesday that "any student who didn't follow instructions from staff" would face "fair disciplinary action".

The spokesperson also said that all NSW Department of Education staff have been reminded of their responsibility to maintain the reputation of the department as non-political and unbiased.

The subject of the department's response to Sheikh Wesam's social media post was raised at the NSW budget estimates hearing on Wednesday arvo.

In response, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said at the hearing: "Disciplinary proceedings have already been taken in relation to this person by the department."