A petition has been launched to “uncensor” a British-Palestinian schoolgirl who was banned from a public speaking competition.
Leanne Muhamad of Wansted High School won a regional “Speak Out” challenge after giving a passionate speech about Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians. However one day later, following complaints from extremist anti-Palestinian blogger Edgar Davidson to the Speakers Trust (the charity that trains the students to take part in the Speak Out Challenge), as well as the Jack Petchey Foundation and Wanstead High School, the judging panel have decided “unanimously” against sending Leanne through to the final rounds of the competition.
The Jack Petchey Foundation was established by businessman and philanthropist Jack Petchey. He has donated more than £65million to schools, clubs and projects and is a JLGB (a national Jewish youth organisation) patron. The Speak Out Challenge is the world’s biggest youth speaking event.
Julie Holness, CEO of the Speakers Trust, alleged that Ms Mohamad had breached “two fundamental rules that are made explicit during the training.”
She said: “There are two fundamental rules that are made explicit during the training: the speech must have a positive and uplifting message – in fact this is one of the core terms of the agreement with the Jack Petchey Foundation [and] a speaker should never inflame or offend the audience or insult others and this, by definition, means that propaganda is ruled out absolutely from the outset.”
And a statement from the Speaker’s Trust added: “Our primary duty of care is to the young people we work with and we cannot tolerate any form of insult or abuse. We are concerned and saddened that Leanne’s experience has been less than positive.
“Leanne Mohamad is the Redbridge Regional Final winner and there has never been any suggestion that she should be disqualified. Almost 190,000 young people have spoken out over the years on any topic which they feel passionately about and none has ever been banned from the process or silenced.
Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on the latest news and updates from around the Muslim world!
“We are, however, a small charity without the capacity to moderate comments 24 hours a day and it was considered essential to protect Leanne by temporarily suspending the regional video over the bank holiday, until we were able to consult with her school and family.
“Of 37 talented regional Champions only fifteen can be voted through to the Grand Final. This selection process took place on Saturday 21st May based on standard judging criteria and without any external influence or input.
“The general “rules” of effective public speaking are guidelines to help speakers to create a speech that will connect with a large and diverse audience and every speech was judged on its own merits. At the heart of what we do lies the determination that all of our young speakers, irrespective of background, race or creed, should be able to speak out in a safe and supportive environment.”
But the petition, which has garnered around 1,500 signatures at the time of writing, says: “How Leanne was supposed to raise the death of her baby cousin who was trapped in Gaza and lacked basic medical aid due to the Apartheid blockade, {in a positive and uplifting way} is macabre. She did manage to make it a part of her plea for peace and his passing has since been used against her in a cruel and malign fashion. This young person is still a minor and her cousin’s death has been very upsetting and yet there are those who believe it is acceptable to slaughter thousands of children, imprison thousands more and in Britain at least censor a young person from speaking out about it in an event designed specifically for young people to speak out!…
“The fact that both the speech and also the video were deleted from record coincides with the deleting of a young girl’s story and passion, and also the history and recognition of an entire population and their identity and plight. It contradicts both the basic rights of freedom of speech, the spirit and ethos of the competition, and the democracy of this country. We ask that this speech is reinstated to the competition and given the time and respect it and all those who wrote, supported or coached it deserves.
“Leanne has suffered upset and abuse, threats and personal attacks without any protection from this body that describes itself as one that empowers young people and gives them a voice.”
