Luxembourgish authorities have dismissed an elementary school teacher, who is also a survivor of the Bosnian genocide, after she publicly criticized the killing of children in the Gaza Strip on social media, and voiced her concerns about ongoing Israeli atrocities in the war-ravaged coastal region.
Luxembourg’s Ministry of National Education asserted that the decision against Fatima Kurtic was made due to posts it deemed anti-Semitic.
Kurtic contests that description, arguing that her posts were critical of the Israeli regime and Zionism — not of Jewish people — and that her advocacy has always opposed war crimes and the killing of innocent civilians.
After her dismissal, students, parents, and supporters came together to organize peaceful demonstrations, demanding justice and seeking her reinstatement.
Kurtic, a Bosnian refugee, arrived in Luxembourg in 2002 when he was approximately 8 years old and lived in a refugee camp for 4 years.
She maintained that her removal from her teaching position by the Ministry of National Education contravenes her right to freedom of expression.
She also said that her posts simply conveyed support for Palestinians and opposition to the onslaught in Gaza, emphasizing that they did not contain any anti-Semitic content and that she had never shared anything directed at Jewish individuals or Judaism, but rather criticized the actions of the Tel Aviv regime.
According to Kurtic, nothing would prevent her from advocating for Palestine and exposing the genocide taking place in the Israeli-occupied territories, even after losing her job.
She stated that she does not accept her dismissal and has initiated a legal challenge, noting that she and her attorney have officially appealed her termination.
Kurtic is active on Instagram, where she has more than 111,000 followers.
She has additionally called for a boycott of the Luxembourg-based firm Grosbusch, which sells dates produced in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
It is worth noting that Kurtic’s dismissal purportedly took place without any prior warning. She has subsequently contested the ruling in court, with her attorney asserting that the evidence provided by the ministry fails to warrant her removal.
She stated that she became the target of a coordinated campaign after her account regarding her persuasion of one of Luxembourg’s major retailers to cease the sale of Israeli products went viral.
She also said that she did not incorporate her political activism into her teaching.
Kurtic said that Luxembourg’s Ministry of National Education accessed her private social media account, utilized screenshots of her posts, and built a case that ultimately resulted in her dismissal, thereby hindering her ability to teach in other institutions.
