VERGINA High School in Larnaca yesterday erupted in violence as dozens of Greek Cypriot pupils fought with Palestinian and other Arabic-speaking classmates in the school yard.
The massive brawl, which included the arrival of around 25 pupils from neighbouring schools, led to four pupils being slightly injured and parts of the school vandalised.
Preliminary police investigations showed that the fight started with an unprovoked attack by Greek Cypriot pupils on their foreign classmates. Greek Cypriot pupils hit back, saying they were being provoked on a daily basis and yesterday’s violence was just the situation coming to a head. Their complaints were endorsed by the head of the school’s parents’ association.
The violence came nearly a week after a policeman was injured in a demonstration outside Larnaca Welfare Office where Palestinian refugees were protesting against the late payment of their benefit cheques. Five of the eleven Palestinians arrested in that incident are due to be deported.
Police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said the exact details of yesterday’s conflict would become known once Larnaca Police Headquarters’ investigation into the matter is complete.
“But after a preliminary investigation, it seems that at around 9am, 20 to 25 Greek Cypriot pupils from a school so far unknown, arrived at Vergina Lyceum in Larnaca,” said Katsounotos. “There, they got together with around 100 pupils from Vergina Lyceum and came into conflict with 15 Arabic-speaking pupils from the specific school.”
He said the fracas started in the school yard and then expanded into the school building, where teachers had taken the small group of foreign pupils to protect them from the angry mob.
“Police immediately arrived at the scene and order was restored,” said Katsounotos.
One Greek Cypriot and two Palestinian children were injured slightly and treated on the school grounds, while another Greek Cypriot was taken to Larnaca General Hospital, where he was treated for cuts and bruises.
The 15 foreign pupils were taken out of the school and to police headquarters, for their own protection and to give statements.
Katsounotos called on “everyone without exception” to show self control.
“Violence doesn’t solve anything, but intensifies matters, leading to further violence,” he said.
Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said the government was determined to take measures to restore law and order. He added that the same determination was shown by the Interior Minister on Tuesday, when he decided to deport five adults that were involved in last week’s attack.
“Pupils from another school united with pupils from the school where the incidents took place and attacked a group of foreign students,” said Stefanou. “People can reach their own conclusions on whether or not this is related to the incidents that took place a few days ago at the welfare office,” he added.
Both incidents are condemnable regardless, said Stefanou, adding that they were not only a violation of the law, but also a threat to democracy.
Vergina High School’s deputy headmaster, George Georgiou, said the recent troubles in Larnaca – the policeman’s beating, but also violent clashes a few months ago between festival goers at the annual Rainbow festival and participators in a march against illegal immigrants – had resulted in yesterday’s incident.
“The children for us are our pupils, independent of their race and religion,” said Georgiou.
He added that the school also condemned the Greek Cypriot pupils’ behaviour, which he said had taken teachers by surprise.
According to Georgiou, the school will return to operation as normal today, though the Arabic speaking children will be absent for the next few days, until the spirits have calmed.
Greek Cypriot pupils from the school yesterday told reporters that trouble had been brewing for a while, with violent outbursts between Palestinian and Greek Cypriot pupils being a daily phenomenon.
A number of the pupils claimed they had often seen Palestinian children bring out knives during altercations.
They added that not only was all this going on in the full knowledge of “everyone”, they were pretending that nothing was going on.
“Palestinians come to our school, they bring knives, they throw glasses; our classmate was injured and taken to hospital,” said one teary schoolgirl. “We can’t face the situation anymore. Our parents bring us to school and we are in real danger. I am determined to leave this school.”
When it was pointed out that initial investigations suggested the Greek Cypriot schoolchildren had initiated the violence, she insisted: “No, the Palestinians provoke us daily at our school. What were we going to do, sit there and have them beat us?”
She added, “They often take out knives in front of pupils. Today, it wasn’t just us that were in danger but also our teachers.”
Another pupil said pure fanaticism was to blame. “Fanaticism… It didn’t take much; a fight started at school and we separated into two groups. This kind of thing has happened before at our school and at times it was worse, with knives and other such things.”
The head of the school’s parents association, Maria Angelidou, backed the pupils – to an extent. “The fact that there is provocation on behalf of the Palestinians is true. But both sides are to blame; it isn’t just the Arabic speakers and we need to find an immediate solution.”
The school’s headmaster and district school authority yesterday refused to make an official statement.
But Education Minister Andreas Demetriou said those responsible should be found and punished. He added that racist and xenophobic phenomena – especially in Larnaca – were being passed on from society to the schools.
“I unreservedly and categorically condemn the incidents,” said Demetriou. “I feel they stigmatise society, civilisation, democracy and our education and they can never be accepted.”
Migrants’ support group KISA said the fact that the police arrived to remove all Arabic-speaking pupils indefinitely – “with the excuse that it was for their protection” – was just a temporary solution to the problem.
“The continuation of the pupils’ presence and their safety within their school is of primary significance to deal with these phenomena,” it said in a statement.
“KISA condemns the new incidents of violence, this time against Palestinian pupils by evidently racist elements, which adds further to the extremely worrying surge of racism and racist violence in our country,” it announced.
KISA added that if felt this racism was spurred on by politicians and other public personalities, as well as part of the media, which it said further, reinforced the climate of xenophobia in Cyprus society.
“The result of this climate is catastrophic, not just for the Palestinians and other refugees, as well as migrants in general, but for Cypriot society as a whole, which is evident from today’s attack in a Larnaca school,” said KISA.
