Back to school - and mending wounds
The pioneering Hand in Hand schools in Israel, at which Arab and Jewish children learn together, face an even more challenging than usual start to the new school year. Here, the foundation shares their message of hope.
Dear Friends,
Yesterday a cease fire went into effect in Lebanon and hopefully this will end the past month of death and suffering for all the people in the region. The complicated fabric of relationships between people in Israel, in particular between Arabs and Jews, has once again been strained.
We now enter a period of mending our wounds and rebuilding the cities, homes and lives.
Hand in Hand Center for Jewish Arab Education is preparing for the beginning of a new school year. Our staff, parents and children have spent the summer apart, for the main part in isolation and confusion, worrying about their personal wellbeing and that of their families and friends.
What is clear to all of us at Hand in Hand is that school will begin on September 1 and the Jewish and Arab children, teachers, staff and parents will return to their commitment to develop a future of peace and coexistence.
The Hand in Hand community: staff, teachers, and board, are discussing what we must do to help everyone absorb the wounds and continue to live together in peace.
It is clear that we can not ignore the feelings of our community and Hand in Hand is committed to giving the community the opportunity to talk openly, express feelings and thoughts, and begin to try to understand the present situation.
We have begun to discuss with the principals of the schools how we will move forward and we know that we will have to invest special efforts in our schools, especially in the Galilee where everyone has spent the last month in shelters.
This trauma will accompany the children, parents and teachers throughout the coming years. We will work with them in talking about their experience and continuing together to build the future. We also hope to be able to hire a psychological consultant to help the children re-adjust to some level of normalcy.
As always, Hand in Hand's staff and board remains dedicated to our vision of learning together – living together, contributing to a lasting peace and building and developing strong relations between Arabs and Jews. We believe that our future and the future of our children depend on it and that it must not be ignored.
With the help and support of many in Israel and around the world, we will look for ways to strengthen our commitment, mend the wounds and continue to live, learn and build the future together.
At this difficult time we thank you for your continued support and concern.
Sincerely,
Amin Khalaf, Co-director
Josie Mendelson, Co-director
Bob Fenton, Development Director