Hard Truth

Burning books.  

It’s never been a good thing in my opinion.  Usually it is a political or social statement about the text.  That was certainly part of the book burning that happened last week at the Jerusalem Hand in Hand school.

Many of you are aware that this has been a difficult week for the Hand in Hand family.   Last Saturday night, a fire was set using Arabic/Hebrew text books in the center of a first grade classroom, destroying that room and badly damaging a second.  Racist, violent graffiti was written, not for the first time on the walls, but this time, the rhetoric was amped up, as if calling for death to anyone wasn't disturbing enough.

The immediate response, was, NO! not here, and the week that followed has been a testament to the commitment of not only the Hand In Hand community in Jerusalem and Israel, but the extended family in the local neighborhoods and indeed the world. 

There was no hesitation.  On the night of the arson, parents and staff rallied to prepare classrooms for the 1^st graders and assure the rest of the students would find, as much as possible, business as usual when they came to school the next day.  This is a choice people make every day. A cross that they pick up if you will.  But at the end of the day, differences and all, this is family, and family sticks together.

While the web site home page is currently scrolling photos of the destruction, the media page is filled with articles of outrage and support, for the children and their families, for the path of co-existence between Jews and Arabs, for the dream of Hand In Hand, 

from a world who sees this school, as the model for the future. 

 

On Thursday while I was at the school working with the English class, hundreds of local students walked by on the path below the campus cheering and chanting for the students here.  On Friday, we walked in Solidarity on that same path.  Students came from all over Israel to stand with the students at the school.  Parents, students, staff, family, alumni, community members all walked side by side, all carrying the motto, in Arabic, Hebrew and English, “We’re All Hand In Hand”!

I walked among these pioneers, proud and humbled to be a small part of the work that will continue here, because, it is the right thing to do.  Hate is wrong, violence is wrong, racism is wrong.  We’re sick and tired of it all.

For those of you who have not liked the Hand in Hand Facebook page, may I ask that if  you are on Facebook that you not only like us, but share the page by inviting all of our friends to like us as well.  

For access to the international media response visit our website, HandinHandk12.org