A TEACHER at one of Scotland’s top performing state schools has been sacked for showing a controversial 18-rated film to young pupils.

Jonathan Guetta, a former Hebrew teacher at Mearns Castle High, allowed S1 pupils to watch parts of an Israeli war film that features pornographic scenes and extreme violence, including children being killed.

Waltz With Bashir, about the 1982 Israel-Lebanon War, is also considered controversial by some due to the way it deals with the Sabra and Shatila Massacre in which hundreds, possibly thousands, of Palestinians were killed.

Mr Guetta faced disciplinary action after showing it to a group of children as young as 12 at an after-school class, before going on to claim that East Renfrewshire Council had been anti-Semitic in the way it dealt with him.

Mr Guetta was referred to the GTCS fitness to teach panel but no action was taken against him.

He took his case to an employment tribunal, but the local authority has now been found to have acted fairly.

A judgment on the case reveals that the school, based in the upmarket suburb of Newton Mearns, received several complaints after parents discovered what their children had watched.

One father complained “the film was wholly inappropriate for children” as it “contains explicit porno­graphy, children being killed and psychological issues”.

Several pupils were removed from the class until the school took action.

Employment judge Michelle Sutherland described the animated film as being “akin to a graphic novel”.

She said: “It contains war violence, including real life video footage of the aftermath of the massacre showing lifeless bodies of adults and children.

“It also has a brief explicit pornographic scene showing an animated man penetrating an animated woman.”

The class watched the first 20 minutes of the film and

the teacher, from Gourock, stood in front of the screen during inappropriate scenes.

Mr Guetta was dismissed in May 2018.

Waltz With Bashir is written and directed by Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman.

A spokesman for East Renfrewshire Council said: “As soon as this matter was brought to our attention we ensured all appropriate measures were put in place.

“The judgment made in this case supports the actions

and decisions taken by the council.”

The Evening Times was unable to contact Mr Guetta.