Racist Teenage Bus Attacker Gets Schooled in Sydney

Australia isn’t exactly hurting for racist outbursts on public transport, but in August, in one particularly upsetting incident, a group of truly next-level assholes jumped on to a Sydney bus and began hurling racist abuse and physical threats at children from Jewish schools.
The attackers shouted “kill the Jews” and “heil Hitler” at the assembled schoolchildren, and threatened to slit their throats and kill them if they told police about what had happened. That’s some classy shit right there. 
Today, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that one of those involved in the attack, a teenage boy who has not been named, faced one of the victims and her family, and has agreed to a unique settlement.
During a youth justice conference this week, at which NSW police and representatives of the state’s Jewish community were present, the teenager agreed to visit the Sydney Jewish Museum to learn about the culture.
He will also enrol in a school harmony project, and has been asked to attend a family Shabbat dinner, as well as reading books by Holocaust survivors, including Primo Levi‘s ‘If This Is A Man’ and Elie Wiesel‘s ‘Night’.
“The conference provided a measure of closure to the young girl who was present,” said Vic Alhadeff, a representative of the NSW Jewish Boardof Deputies, who was present on the day. 
“It gave her an opportunity to question the offender, to hear from him and to hear him express remorse for his actions. At the same time, he could hear directly from some of those affected as to the impact of his actions.”
While not the arse-kicking that is richly deserved for an attack on a bus full of school children, hopefully something more lasting will sink in from this “positive way forward”.
 

Photo: Mario Tama via Getty Images

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