Young people in schools: what to do?

Yesterday, Sunday, October 5th, an online meeting was organized to discuss the hardship our children are experiencing in public schools in this climate of protests for Gaza and Palestine, hostile to Israel. It’s common to call Hamas and the October 7th massacre “resistance,” and “from the river to the sea” is a commonly accepted and used slogan, even by teachers. It’s difficult to understand how one can act in a context dominated by partial and one-sided visions of the conflict, inaccurate about history and incapable of grasping its complexity.
The situation at universities is particularly dire, so much so that some Israeli students have even stopped attending classes because they feel unsafe, as one student’s dramatic testimony revealed. In high schools, more than concern for their physical safety, the psychological distress of many Jewish students dominates, as they are unable to engage in peaceful conversations with either their classmates or their teachers.
Last night was more of a listening moment, where students had the opportunity to share their experiences. Unfortunately, many of the speakers made it clear that the room for action is extremely limited, as any initiative we take risks being counterproductive and backfiring on our own students, who are, as has been said, on the front lines. Having to live with classmates and teachers every day for years, they prefer to remain silent, not express themselves on the issue, and talk about other things. Attempting to provide counterinformation would be an unequal battle: lectures or study days on the history of the Middle East conflict that came from us would still be viewed with suspicion and very likely canceled; better propose activities that don’t originate with us, such as “Building Peace: Understanding Conflict, Promoting Dialogue” proposed by the FNISM (National Federation of Teachers), but without excessive illusions. Even possible legal action (which would be difficult to undertake because it would call into question the principle of academic freedom) would only fuel the climate of hostility. It is even more impossible to provide information in occupied schools, when student groups decide which activities to carry out and who to invite to speak.
There is no possibility of dialogue with those who have already decided what to think, as has been rightly said; there is no interest in listening to a different point of view. If teachers, students, and school administrators are overwhelmingly united in their unilateral and often poorly informed view of the conflict, any action would mean, from our children’s perspective, going against the system—a system so certain of being on the right side of history that it deems it unnecessary to leave room for doubt and analysis of complexity.
Despite the disappointment and sense of helplessness, the evening was nonetheless positive, a moment of dialogue and discussion to let our children know they are not alone, that the Community is on their side.
This, organized in a very short time due to the urgency of the situation, was intended to be only an initial opportunity for discussion, with more structured meetings expected to follow.

Anna Segre

Foto di Taylor Flowe su Unsplash