Bengkulu Governor Is Disappointed That Students Who Despise Palestine Are Expelled From School

BENGKULU - Bengkulu Governor Rohidin Mersyah asked the school not to lose the right to education for a high school student in Central Bengkulu who made hate speech insulting Palestine.

Rohidin regretted the actions of the school which took the decision to expel or drop out students. This student was expelled from school because the 8-second video she uploaded to TikTok social media was deemed to have exceeded school regulations for voicing blasphemy against Palestine.

"We cannot simply give an ultimatum, give punishment. I ask him not to lose the opportunity concerned for going to school. How can the child stay in school," said Rohidin in Bengkulu, quoted by Antara, Wednesday, May 19.

The governor emphasized that MS (19), a senior high school student in Bengkulu Tengah, must still have the same opportunity to go to school as other students.

Because, according to him, school is the right place to provide guidance to young people so that they become intelligent and have a conscience.

"The opportunity for the child to go to school must continue. The school is indeed a place to provide guidance for the young generation so that they become intelligent and have a human conscience," said Rohidin.

He regretted that the student's acts of hate speech insulted Palestine which he considered did not reflect the spirit of tolerance between religious believers, nation and state. Moreover, it is done by educated people.

Rohidin asked teachers in Bengkulu to provide more frequent counseling and provide a complete understanding of the ethics of social media so that the incident did not happen again.

"On the other hand, things like this should not happen again. This is very unfortunate. Moreover, students, students, educated people give intolerant comments," he continued.

Previously, MS made a recording of hate speech against Palestinians who are currently in conflict with Israel. In the 8-second upload that was deleted by TikTok, MS recorded himself voicing blasphemy against Palestine.

As a result, MS was expelled from school. This decision was taken after the school evaluated the school's rules and regulations and violations of MS, the results concerned were deemed to have exceeded the provisions.

MS has apologized and said his actions were spontaneous as a form of prank with the aim of following the trend of social media and he did not expect it to have long tails.