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| Schoolboy accuses classmates of antisemitic assault | Schoolboy accuses classmates of antisemitic assault |
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| A Northern Irish schoolboy has suffered antisemitic abuse and a physical attack after a chance remark during a Holocaust history lesson, his family has claimed. | A Northern Irish schoolboy has suffered antisemitic abuse and a physical attack after a chance remark during a Holocaust history lesson, his family has claimed. |
| The mother of Matthew Lough, 14, says he has had to take time off from Carrickfergus College on the East Antrim coast after being taunted as a "Jew boy", having swastikas daubed on his school books and finally undergoing a physical assault. | The mother of Matthew Lough, 14, says he has had to take time off from Carrickfergus College on the East Antrim coast after being taunted as a "Jew boy", having swastikas daubed on his school books and finally undergoing a physical assault. |
| The Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed it was investigating the Lough family's allegations of antisemitism. | The Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed it was investigating the Lough family's allegations of antisemitism. |
| The family said that after a lesson on the Shoah and Matthew's revelation that his maternal great-great-grandmother was Jewish, bullies started a campaign against him. "It started last year with the swastikas drawn on his books, he was called 'Jew boy' and one fellow pupil even told Matthew: 'It's a pity that the gas chambers were not still open so we could deal with you.' This was before the physical assault," Sharon Lough told the Guardian. | The family said that after a lesson on the Shoah and Matthew's revelation that his maternal great-great-grandmother was Jewish, bullies started a campaign against him. "It started last year with the swastikas drawn on his books, he was called 'Jew boy' and one fellow pupil even told Matthew: 'It's a pity that the gas chambers were not still open so we could deal with you.' This was before the physical assault," Sharon Lough told the Guardian. |
| She said the abuse culminated in a physical assault that left her son, who has Asperger's syndrome, concussed just before the school broke up for this year's Easter holidays. | She said the abuse culminated in a physical assault that left her son, who has Asperger's syndrome, concussed just before the school broke up for this year's Easter holidays. |
| "Because Matthew had reported the verbal abuse and the bullying, one boy took exception to this and during an attack on my son he kicked him in the head. Matthew later came home and started to complain of headaches. By this stage there was the lump the size of an egg on his head and my husband got very worried. When we eventually got Matthew checked out in A&E we were told that he had concussion from the kick." | "Because Matthew had reported the verbal abuse and the bullying, one boy took exception to this and during an attack on my son he kicked him in the head. Matthew later came home and started to complain of headaches. By this stage there was the lump the size of an egg on his head and my husband got very worried. When we eventually got Matthew checked out in A&E we were told that he had concussion from the kick." |
| Lough said the school suspended the alleged attacker, adding that those involved were fully aware of the antisemitic content of their abuse. "They made constant references to Hitler and the gas chambers once Matthew stated in class that my great-grandmother was Jewish. They clearly knew they were hitting certain buttons in their bullying. | Lough said the school suspended the alleged attacker, adding that those involved were fully aware of the antisemitic content of their abuse. "They made constant references to Hitler and the gas chambers once Matthew stated in class that my great-grandmother was Jewish. They clearly knew they were hitting certain buttons in their bullying. |
| "These boys had all been taught about the Holocaust just like Matthew. They had even watched a film together in class about Anne Frank. So they knew exactly what they were doing," she said. | "These boys had all been taught about the Holocaust just like Matthew. They had even watched a film together in class about Anne Frank. So they knew exactly what they were doing," she said. |
| Asked why she had decided to speak out, Lough said: "We talked firstly to Matthew about it and suggested we go public about this. He was fully supportive and said that if we keep sweeping it under the carpet then it will just keep going on, not just against him. This kind of race hatred, even for someone with a connection far back in history to the Jewish faith, has to be highlighted like all other forms of racism." | Asked why she had decided to speak out, Lough said: "We talked firstly to Matthew about it and suggested we go public about this. He was fully supportive and said that if we keep sweeping it under the carpet then it will just keep going on, not just against him. This kind of race hatred, even for someone with a connection far back in history to the Jewish faith, has to be highlighted like all other forms of racism." |
| Her great-grandmother, although born Jewish, "married out" to a member of the Church of Ireland in Dublin in the early 20th century, but continued to attend the city's main synagogue, Lough said. | Her great-grandmother, although born Jewish, "married out" to a member of the Church of Ireland in Dublin in the early 20th century, but continued to attend the city's main synagogue, Lough said. |
| Antisemitism is less reported compared with other hate crimes in Northern Ireland. The majority of attacks have been directed at immigrant workers such as Filipino families working in the NHS, the Chinese community and the Roma, dozens of whom were driven from their homes after a series of attacks on their homes in south Belfast three years ago. | Antisemitism is less reported compared with other hate crimes in Northern Ireland. The majority of attacks have been directed at immigrant workers such as Filipino families working in the NHS, the Chinese community and the Roma, dozens of whom were driven from their homes after a series of attacks on their homes in south Belfast three years ago. |
| Carrickfergus College said: "His parent was contacted as soon as practical by his head of year and brief details of the incident were relayed. The other pupil was dealt with according to the school's discipline policy and within regulations set out by the Department of Education relating to the suspension of pupils." | Carrickfergus College said: "His parent was contacted as soon as practical by his head of year and brief details of the incident were relayed. The other pupil was dealt with according to the school's discipline policy and within regulations set out by the Department of Education relating to the suspension of pupils." |
| The North Eastern Education and Library Board confirmed a pupil had been suspended and that the school was acting on its own anti-bullying policy. | The North Eastern Education and Library Board confirmed a pupil had been suspended and that the school was acting on its own anti-bullying policy. |
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