[etni] Korczak - 100 years ago
- From: "avi tsur" <tsuravi@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 18:10:45 +0300
To all my colleagues - teachers, students, citiizens, friends.
The pictures are heartbreaking, it is hard to imagine that this is the
reality of ISRAEL 2005. Soon the school year will begin and I feel it is
very important to relate to the present situation, to enable the students to
talk, to reflect, to share their feelings. It is important to relate to the
full picture - the hardships facing the inhabitants of Gush Katif and at the
same time the equally difficult position of the soldiers. This is the time
to collect and save snippets from the press, headlines and articles that
reflect the picture from all sides without bias. Let the kids choose which
article they wish to relate to, discuss, share. Let them choose a headline
and share their inner feelings. This is not a political lesson but a lesson
from which we can and must draw nearer to our students, a lesson in
DEMOCRACY. I ask myself - How would Korczak have dealt with the situation?
Janusz Korczak I am sure would tell us to let the children speak.
"As the hospital train steamed back and forth in that turbulent year 1905,
the illnesses that had "lain dormant" in the huge empire of the Czar were
exacerbated by news of Japanese victories. Workers´ strikes and student
demonstrations continued to erupt in industrial centers. The very word
"revolution" was a stimulant to the staff and patients on the train, who
voted to join the railway workers´ strike. When a military delegation
arrived to punish the rebellious soldiers, they asked Lieutenant Goldszmit
to represent them. He was reluctant to become involved-it was neither his
country nor his war but the men pleaded so persuasively that he agreed.
However, as he stood on the speaker´s crate, he did not talk of the strike
or of the revolution but rather of the suffering of children. "Before you go
to war for any purpose," he told the amazed delegation, "you should stop to
think of the innocent children who will be injured, killed, or orphaned." He
was beginning to articulate what would become his philosophy for life: no
cause, no war, was worth depriving children of their natural right to
happiness. Children should come before politics of any kind."
Muzzle on the Soul ~ THE KING OF CHILDREN; by Betty Jean Lifton
Wishing you all the best for the remainder of the vacation. Shalom, Salaam,
Peace.
Avi Tsur
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