2023-10-20 04:02:00
Contents
The escalation in the Middle East conflict is reflected on German streets and is pushing into German classrooms.
One of these days in Berlin feels icy cold running down one’s spine. Not because of the winter temperatures. But because hatred of Jews and hostility to Israel are suddenly pouring out of every crack. Stars of David smeared on front doors. Molotov cocktails flying at synagogues. The Holocaust memorial at the Brandenburg Gate, which commemorates the murder of millions of Jews by the National Socialists, is protected by a police cordon.
Caption: Two women demonstrate in Frankfurt and show solidarity with Palestine. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
Pro-Palestine marches are banned, but hatred and agitation are still spreading. Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a “clear stance” once morest anti-Semitism in the Bundestag. Laws and regulations will be enforced, said Scholz, with a view to riots and glorification of violence on German streets.
“Turn Neukölln into Gaza”
There have been repeated riots in the name of Palestine in the Berlin district of Neukölln since October 7th, initiated by pro-Palestinian associations that are calling on social media to turn “Neukölln into Gaza”. Barricades and cars are burning, and the fire brigade and police, who want to break up the banned gatherings, are being pelted with stones and bottles.
Legend: Dervis Hizarci fights anti-Semitism and wants to mediate between Israelis and Palestinians. SRF
Dervis Hizarci, a Muslim with Turkish roots who grew up in Neukölln, is stunned: “I have been fighting anti-Semitism for 20 years. But now, following this brutal terror by Hamas in Israel, we in Germany have a whole new dimension of hostility to Israel and hatred of Jews.” He is chairman of the Kreuzberg Initiative once morest Anti-Semitism, which tries to convey a more differentiated image of the Middle East to people with a Muslim-Arab background.
But political education for the migrant society must be more comprehensive and Israel-related. “It’s not enough when those up there, when politicians say: Israel is a reason of state. We also have to convey this educationally and socially,” emphasizes Hizarci. But just this summer, democratic education was slashed in a budget cut.
Middle East conflict in the classroom
In the fight once morest anti-Semitism and intolerance, education is the best recipe. But things are simmering, especially in local schools, where sometimes 80 percent of the students have a Muslim-Arab background. The teaching staff is often helpless in the face of the young people’s emotions and the vehemence with which they justify the Hamas attacks. Mehmet Can, history and politics teacher at the Rütli comprehensive school in Berlin-Neukölln, has been working on this topic for years.
Legend: Mehmet Can tries to convey the “Israel-Palestine” elective. SRF
With the elective subject “Israel-Palestine,” he tries to use knowledge to correct anti-Semitic worldviews that are not yet firmly established among young people. «We address all aspects that are necessary. This concerns Palestinian and Jewish life in Germany, the engagement with German history, with the history of the conflict, but also the engagement with both societies outside of the conflict.
Legend: With the comic “More than 2 Pages” young people are supposed to describe their aha experiences. SRF
An award-winning comic was created from one of the trips to Israel that Mehmet Can took with the class at the end of the two-year course. In it, the young people describe their experiences, how they get involved in the complicated history and present, and their aha experiences.
The comic “More than 2 Pages” is currently being reprinted. In black and white, but without black and white clichés.
1697779976
#Effects #Hamas #terror #Growing #antiSemitism #Germany #recipes #News
