A Palestinian careers adviser has filed a racial discrimination lawsuit in Australia's federal court against the state of New South Wales, alleging he was ordered to stop wearing a keffiyeh at a Sydney government school. Wasim El-Haj, who worked at Sydney Girls High School (a selective public secondary school in inner Sydney), claims the then acting principal told him in May 2024 that the traditional Palestinian scarf was a symbol that "may cause discord" — with the directive said to have come from senior officials, possibly the minister. El-Haj, who resigned in March 2025, argues the ban breaches the Racial Discrimination Act; the state has yet to file its defence, with a case management hearing scheduled for November.