Jewish Children Threatened On Sydney School Bus

Dozens of Jewish children have been traumatized by a gang of teenagers who stormed a Sydney school bus chanting “Palestine” and allegedly threatening their lives.

New South Wales state police said five juveniles were arrested early Thursday over the incident on Wednesday afternoon. They were questioned at a police station but were later released without charge into the custody of their parents pending further investigations, a police statement said.

The bus carrying about 30 children aged 5 to 12 years from three Jewish schools were subjected to “physical and racial threats” by a group of eight male teenagers, aged 15 to 17, who boarded at a bus stop in the wealthy eastern suburb of Randwick, police said. No one was injured.

Jackie Blackburn said her three daughters, aged 8, 10 and 12, would need counseling after their terrifying bus ride.

She told reporters on Thursday that her eldest daughter had phoned her from the bus pleading for help, saying: “There are eight very dangerous, drunk men on this bus.”

The daughter’s phone went dead, but Blackburn said she was soon phoned by her daughter’s friend from the same bus.

“They’re threatening to slit our throats; they’re chanting ‘Palestine’ and they’re going crazy about Palestine — ‘must kill the Jews’ and ‘heil Hitler,’” Blackburn said.

State Communities Minister Victor Dominello condemned the attack, saying: “Public abuse and intimidation on the grounds of race or religion is deplorable.”

“The people of NSW will never excuse it and those who are alleged to have subjected school children as young as 5 to this anti-Semitic attack should face the full force of the law,” Dominello said in a statement.

This article appeared in print on page 7 of the August 8th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.