Students protest canceling of bereaved parents meeting
Student at a Nesher high school write to Education Ministry requesting rescheduling of meeting for bereaved Jewish, Palestinian parents: 'Allow us to question, to doubt, to hear others, even if we disagree.'
The student union at a Nesher high school sent a letter last week to the head of the Ministry of Education's Haifa district to protest the cancelation of a meeting for bereaved parents—both Jewish and Palestinian—that was supposed to take place at the school last Tuesday.
"Allow us to question, allow us to doubt and allow us to hear others, even if we disagree," wrote the students in the letter requesting of the Education Ministry to reschedule the meeting.
Nesher high school
The meeting has become a decade-long tradition at the school, but after certain members of the board got wind of it they decided to protest it.
A few protesters yelled slurs at the bereaved parents. The Ministry of Education then instructed the school administrators to cancel the event.
In the letter to district head Dr. Saar Harel, the students wrote that at the meetings, they are exposed to both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "We listen to the painful and emotional stories of both sides, share in the grief of families from both sides, engage in dialogue and take another step—albeit small perhaps, but a step—towards getting to know the other side and cultivating (the art of) paying attention."
The students stressed that "the dialogue at the forum is apolitical… The participants devote their life to dialogue about respect, mutual assistance, tolerance and coexistence. There can be no coexistence if we do not listen to the other, if we do not know what they think and feel… And open the door for coexistence."
"We are opinionated and concerned youth who want to dream of peace. Please don’t take away our dream. Do not underestimate the value of knowing the other, do not harm democracy," they added.
The Haifa education district responded that the activity was not part of the curriculum or cultural program.
