Ivrit teacher was lawfully sacked after showing 18-rated film about Israeli war
Tribunal finds that Jonathan Guetta was legally dismissed by Mearns Castle High School for airing the graphic movie Waltz with Bashir
A Hebrew teacher in Scotland who showed his 12-year old pupils an 18-rated film about a massacre that took place during the Israel-Lebanon War was lawfully sacked, a tribunal has ruled.
Jonathan Guetta, an Ivrit teacher, was dismissed from Mearns Castle High School in May last year after parents complained that he had shown their children the award-winning graphic war film Waltz with Bashir during an after-school class.
Guetta, who remains a registered teacher who also teaches French, alleged that he was dismissed from the East Renfrewshire school for reasons of antisemitism but employment tribunal chair Michelle Sutherland disagreed.
Waltz with Bashir was written and directed by Ari Folman, who served in the 1982 war as an infantry soldier and put the film together in order to help him and others piece together the events of the conflict, which involved Israeli teams infiltrating Lebanon in order to kill Palestinian militants.
The film’s depiction of the slaughter of hundreds of innocents, including children, during the Sabra and Shatila Massacre has been described as “shocking”. Other scenes have been described as showing “explicit” animated pornography.
Although Guetta is understood to have stood in front of the screen during the more disturbing scenes, one father described it as “wholly inappropriate for children” and Sutherland agreed, saying it was “akin to a graphic novel”.
In finding that East Renfrewshire Council acted lawfully, she said: “It contains war violence, including real life video footage of the aftermath of the massacre showing lifeless bodies of adults and children. It also has a brief explicit pornographic scene showing an animated man penetrating an animated woman.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
