Tuesday we celebrated the end of our Israel travel unit with a traditional Middle Eastern meal of falafel, pita bread, Israeli salad, hummus and tehina sauce. Joan and Jane supervised a portion of the class in cooking and setting the tables while I had the rest of the kids reviewing the Hebrew menus and preparing their travelogues to share with their families. It was probably the most fun we've had all year (and we do have a lot of fun in Hebrew school.) I'd thank Jane and Joan again, but I'm bordering on sycophantic.
Yesterday we watched an epsiode of the great public television series Globe Trekker , which follows the journey of an independent budget traveler through a particular region or country. We joined Justine Shapiro on her travels through Israel. You can read a summary of the episode at the link I provided.
I did want to alert you to a conversation that came up during the show, in case you want to follow up on it at home. During the show, Justine visits Hebron, and briefly interviews several Palestinians, one of whom complains about Israeli soldiers coming into houses to conduct searches at any hour, curfews, and the lack of civil rights for occupants of the West Bank. Several students were very interested and distressed by this description. I paused the dvd to explain to students that this was an extremely complex issue that we would be exploring in more depth later. I also explained that the laws for Palestinians in the West Bank are different than those for citizens of Israel, Arab or Jew. Lastly, I pointed out that there were many different perspectives on the issue of restrictions on Arabs in the West Bank - that many people in Israel (Jewish and Arab) are opposed to conditions there, while others feel that the military state is necessary to prevent terrorist attacks.
We have not yet discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We will begin our modern history unit in a couple of weeks, beginning with the birth of modern Zionism in the late 1800's. I will keep in touch with you about what and how I am presenting these sensitive topics.
3 comments:
Hi Amy,
I think that you are handling the various issues of Israel and Palestine incredibly well. Thank you for keeping us informed about what you are teaching and how you are teaching such a complex issue.
warmly,
joan
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