An MCAST student has raised the alarm over the casual acceptance of Holocaust denial jokes, pro-Nazi gags and even xenophobic coronavirus-related jokes among Maltese students after being faced with them in a class group chat.

“I was kicked out of the class Facebook messenger group, where we are notified of any changes and deadlines, because I fought with one of the ‘cool kids’ who was posting pictures with a swastika and saying the Holocaust never happened, and saying it’s okay because a lecturer said so,” Jake Lamkadan said.

“I was given a ‘go back to your country’ and a homophobic comment and some bullying. Of course, I reported it to the school by email. Nothing happened, and I am still waiting for some kind of justice to be done.”

Pictured above: Jake: MCAST student, refugee and Maltese representative

Jake, who is a refugee from Morocco fleeing persecution for his sexual and religious beliefs, was left feeling “shocked and sickened” by some Maltese students’ ignorance.

And the fact that he was kicked out of the group for calling out the speech has left him feeling “horrible”.

He shared what his fellow students had said and joked about in front of everyone in their MCAST group chat through screenshots shown to Lovin Malta.

“Damn, can’t believe killing half the Jewish population results in more Jews after the war. Epic,” said one Maltese student in the chat which had at least another 16 students.

Jake tried to explain that he’s actually been inside the carriages that were used to carry people to be exterminated during WW2, and asks for “understanding”.

“It didn’t happen, so no understanding here,” came the reply.

Jake said the ignorant comments made by Maltese students trying to be edgy left him feeling “sick”.

“I was forced to leave my country over hate speech, and I had helped the Jewish community in Morocco. I feel like hate speech against Jews is particularly painful, they’ve suffered so much, and I related slightly,” he said.

The chat between students is full of immature jokes, as can be expected – however, besides the Holocaust denial comments, some comments do have some very questionable undertones, especially when made in front of a class of students.

“It’s a shame you still look like a Jew,” said one boy to another.

“At least my name isn’t Tyrone, n*****,” the boy replied back. When Jake called it out, one student said: “that’s how we joke with each other”.

A comic of Adolf Hitler’s son avenging his father was also shared among the group, Jake says.

“We had an Interpersonal Skills class where the lecturer gave out an activity to list the mission, strengths and obstacles of a plan,” Jake recounted. “Several students took the opportunity to make anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi statements and drawings.”

“I asked them politely to stop because I was feeling uncomfortable, but they resumed and I was told to accept it because ‘this is Malta’. The lecturer did not interject either. The pictures showed Hitler’s son avenging his father by pushing Jews in a gas chamber and in ovens. This lecture happened on February 12th this year,” he said.

Jake, who has represented Malta at the international European Borders and Migration Summit, claimed that MCAST’s non-action of pro-Nazi jokes had led to a culture of impunity.

“They insulted me and called me a retard for believing the Holocaust happened,” Jake said.

The Holocaust is the widely-documented and deliberate murder of over six million Jews in World War 2, led by Hitler’s fascist forces. They were killed in gas chambers – if they survived the journey to the concentration camps – after being removed from their homes all over Europe and taken to be killed against their will between 1941 and 1945.

“Ah yes, the Holocaust, where 100,000 people died of hunger. Lol, nice joke,” said the aforementioned ‘cool kid’ MCAST student.

Though there are countless survivor accounts, numerous administration records and the remnants of several concentration camps, such as Auschwitz, dotted around Central Europe, denying the Holocaust has become a method for promoting racist propaganda among certain radicals.

It is considered a “serious societal problem” around the world, and many European countries have made the act of denying it illegal due to how toxic it is. Some governments, such as those of Iran and Syria, openly deny the Holocaust.

In the face of all of this, Jake said he wanted to raise the alarm just so people could understand how worrying it was that this kind of offensive, ill-informed and historically-inaccurate speech was becoming accepted. Several NGOs, such as MGRM and Aditus have offered their support to him, and the Education Minister was reportedly informed of the incident.

“I am now excluded from the group for calling out hate speech,” Jake said.

“It affected me and my studies. I would never find an excuse for people to be killed, but they did,” Jake ended. “I criticise ideologies but never ask for people to be killed. I was bullied and powerless, and no one sided with me… no one.”

“Hate speech is not freedom of speech, but they clearly have no clue.”

Have you found yourself in a group of people where hate speech was being accepted? Contact us at [email protected] to speak in confidence.