Aussie schoolkids as young as five chanting anti-Israel slogans horrified the world. Now the woman egging them on has been revealed as a Muslim scholar with a history of controversy [Video]

11:10 EDT 29 Apr 2024, updated 13:55 EDT 29 Apr 2024

A controversial Muslim scholar who receives an $802,000 taxpayer-funded grant spearheaded a protest which saw children chanting anti-Israel slogans.

Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah, a researcher at Macquarie University, held a ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ ‘all ages’ event at Sydney University on Friday to ‘inspire’ children to ‘stand up for justice and solidarity’.

Footage shows Dr Abdel-Fattah clapping and encouraging children as they chanted slogans including ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’, ‘Israel is a terrorist state’ and ‘intifada’ – a Palestinian term calling for civil uprising.

Photos of the event posted online by the University of Sydney Welfare Action Group show children, who appear to be as young as five, being urged to speak into the detachable microphone of a megaphone.

Dr Abdel-Fattah later insisted the children were free to chant whatever they wanted. 

According to the student organisation, the protest featured a ‘teach-in’ by Dr …