 A "Peace Day" in a German School
From time to time several schools in Germany organize "Peace Days". The purpose of these days is to inform the pupils of the problems confronting those countries experiencing conflict. The school invites speakers connected in some way with these states. The day includes sponsored activities and the money collected is donated to an organization carrying out humanitarian activities in the area under discussion.
Recently I was invited to an Israel-Palestine Day in the school where I once worked as a teacher. I am still in regular touch with my former peers. They appreciate my being well informed and my ability to present the facts. I was happy to accept their invitation to be a guest speaker.
On seeing the agenda, however, I became irritated. The titles of the speeches were one-sided and the number of speakers representing the two sides was unbalanced. The description of the Israeli-Palestinian arena seemed more concerned with the suffering of the Palestinian people and less with the tragedy of the Israelis exposed to frequent suicide attacks. The Israeli/Jewish position was presented by older people talking about anti-Semitism during the Nazi-regime, which has little to do with the current Israeli/Arab conflict.
Whilst the organizers are not anti-Semitic they are, at best, leftists from the '68 student generation traditionally on the side of the "underdog" and the alleged victims.
I protested against the unbalanced agenda which evoked a thoughtful response and an explanation endeavoring to eliminate any possible impression of being one-sided.
I spoke about "Terrorism and the new anti-Semitism". My audience consisted of some 20 pupils aged around seventeen. Following my talk I showed two films: "Ask for Death" depicting the recruitment of suicide bombers from amongst Palestinian youth and "How to Survive Terrorism" showing young Israelis talking about their life after a suicide attack. A number of pupils criticized what they saw as my "one sided position". I explained that mine was the perception of an involved individual and that the other side had room enough to present its position. I pointed out that the only way to make peace was to talk and not to bomb. Whilst Israel was a democracy, the Palestinian Authority was a de facto totalitarian state.
Following my visit to the school, I learnt that my speech had created much thought and discussion. As always, the longest journey starts with a small step
Margitta Neuwald-Golling
Cologn, Germany
WIZO Germany's newly appointed representative to the ECWF
Interesting Internet sites!
http://www.maarivenglish.com
http://www.conceptwizard.com/info.html
http://www.isracast.com
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