The Danish-Palestinian Friendship Association has reacted strongly to disclosures that a Copenhagen headmistress has found it necessary to warn Jewish parents away from sending their children to schools in the Nørrebro district.

Outgoing headmistress of the Rådmandsgade School in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen says that she has warned Jewish parents from sending their children to schools in the district for fear of bullying from a large Palestinian pupil population in the area.

“We have had some unfortunate episodes that have meant that I have to tell some parents that it can be difficult to have Jewish children in this area because there are a lot of Palestinians,” Lise Egholm says.

The Danish-Palestinian Friendship Association says something must be done quickly.

“Irrespective of how few or many we are talking about, this is something that must be stopped,” Association Chairman Fatih El-Abed tells Politiken.dk.

“We know that there are some people, who up in their warped minds think that they are doing the Palestinian cause a favour. And one or two cases (Ed: of bullying) are enough to make us ring the alarm bells and do something about it,” El-Abed says.

He adds that the problem is being addressed, among other things in cooperation with Jewish and Israeli associations, but that the Danish-Palestinian Friendship Association will now actively target those who are causing the problem.

He says that one of the problems is that there are not many Palestinians who actually know what is going on in the Palestinian areas.

“They hardly even know where they come from historically, but many of them believe that they know something about a conflict which they believe is religious. But it is a political conflict, not a religious one, and much more complicated,” El-Abed says.

“They are shooting themselves in the foot and helping no-one with their behaviour. It is deplorable,” he says.

Some 75,000 people live in the Nørrebro quarter of Copenhagen, 30 per cent of whom are of immigrant extraction. The quarter has seven schools.

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