Education as a Matter of Policy
By Ghassan Abdullah and Adina Shapiro
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From the political point of view, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was jump-started with the signing of the Oslo Accords. A famous handshake between two enemies raised hopes for a peaceful future, close at hand. Since then, it has become clear that such diplomatic efforts alone are insufficient to bring peace to the Israeli and Palestinian communities who have been adversaries for so many years.
Political leaders may attempt, and occasionally succeed, to conclude agreements about borders, water and security, but their efforts, vital as they are, are conducted in the rarefied atmosphere of high-level international diplomacy. They do not directly advance reconciliation between peoples. In order to create a just and stable peace between Israelis and Palestinians, individuals, communities and civil institutions must join hands with diplomats to facilitate deep changes in attitudes, by way of participating, designing and implementing creative educational curricula that challenge existing stereotypes and perishing aspects of hatred.
Even the most honest, good faith implementation of political agreements cannot repair the chiasmatic psychological, emotional and educational fault lines opened after years of conflict. If left unattended, these "black holes" can swallow up years of hard diplomatic efforts. Our painful experience has taught us that we have no choice but to recognize the educational system as playing a strategic role in the political process.
This is important for two main reasons:
The educational systems can only be used as a means for dissemination of peace if their legitimacy as shapers of attitudes is restored and recognized by political leaders. Addressing these issues on the strategic level shows to the peoples on both sides that, ultimately, it is their commitment to peace and reconciliation that will assure the outcome of the political process. In our area, if the political leaders fail to recognize the role of educational institutions in the process and in future stability, how can we expect the next generation to put their faith in that same system? Already we witness the daily violations of human rights on both sides, the domination of violence, and the strong negative effects of the mass media, as the issue of incitement is raised as a tool for each side to delegitimize the other. If we do not recognize educational institutions as vehicles to create and affect society, we leave a vacuum for others—proponents of hate and conflict—to fill.
In trying to create stability in a region so wounded and affected by violence and war, the educational institutions must be seen as central partners in the rehabilitative process.
One of the fundamental building blocks of a stable reality is an educational system that: enhances the capacities, values and responsibilities of citizens; guarantees the involvement and participation of the communities; acknowledges multi-cultural approaches; and is open to explore new initiatives. This is not a question of how a child learns to perceive his or her former enemy; it is a larger question of how a child becomes capable and confident to provide for his or her future. Peace and security cannot be guaranteed by security measures alone, which as necessary as they are can often antagonize and divide. Such security measures will serve their purpose if they are enforced in the context of a civil society, which can exist and flourish only if supported by an effective and exciting educational system. Thus, politicians and diplomats will find their efforts frustrated if they do not work strategically to assure an accommodating educational environment.
What do we mean when we speak of education on the strategic level? Clearly this does not imply that the political negotiators should begin to design textbooks or argue over relevant curricula. It also does not mean that lip service should be paid to the need for including values of understanding and peace within the educational curricula. We agree that these are issues that need to be developed on the professional level, much as any other strategic area of negotiations. Creating a strategic place for the educational systems would mean that just as the negotiators on all levels consult military, economic and diplomatic experts, and sometimes health and media experts as well, there should be an educational track to be consulted. Once this role is recognized, then there is a legitimate role to be taken in the implementation as well. A negotiating and follow-up educational committee should be created alongside all other such committees.
The content of the educational component of a peace agreement would need to address the following issues:
How to ensure that schools will be accessible and safe environments for all children aged 3 to 18;
How to provide adequate support, including compensation, for teachers to contend with the dynamic changes in the reality and the suffering and trauma of themselves and their students;
How to address issues of a core unified curriculum and to what extent is such a curriculum advisable in creating a stable, confident and open-minded society;
How to address the role of communications (mainly television, radio and the Internet) as existing competitors (with a negative impact) to the formal educational system;
What should be the role of the educational system in reaching out to the communities—mainly parents and by informal education—and working to change the difficult reality?
What shall be the criteria for renewing textbooks; who is in charge of monitoring them and at what frequency?
Any peace process, even if just at the stage of a ceasefire, must recognize the role of those who stand at the forefront of society day in and day out: the educators. The questions outlined above require strategic discussion as well as policy decisions. These cannot be taken at the grass-roots level only. If we demand that the educational system work for the implementation of a peace agreement, including a detoxification of society from hate and animosity and enhancing skills for non-violent conflict resolution, it is necessary to provide the leaders of that system with the mandate to do so.
The Middle East Children's Association (MECA), a joint Palestinian-Israeli educational organization, has decided not to wait for the political leaders to start implementing this educational track. MECA has been working for the past six years, including during the last two years of violence, with over 400 teachers throughout Israel and the Palestinian Authority in subject matters such as math, history, pre-school education, etc. In each of these areas, the teachers work together to infuse concepts of responsibility, understanding and tolerance while adapting these ideas to the specific needs of their communities. We have worked in full recognition of the critical role of teachers and schools. Serious educational initiatives such as these should be motivated, in order to enable and help both communities to overcome daily challenges and difficulties. The many teachers who in times like these must overcome physical and educational barriers are living proof of the willingness and capacity that exists within the educational community. This potential, however, can only be fully realized if enhanced and encouraged, as a matter of policy, by all members of the international community and local governments who are interested in changing the current miserable reality and lead our region towards stability and prosperity.
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Ghassan Abdullah and Adina Shapiro are co-Directors of the Middle East Children's Association (MECA).
Dr. Abdullah, a lecturer at Al Quds University, has been involved in Palestinian-Israeli dialogue since the mid-1980s and spent many years as Director of the Center for Applied Research in Education, a Palestinian organization that develops curricula for Palestinian schools.
Ms. Shapiro has served as Acting Director of the Institute for State Attorneys and Legal Advisors at the Israeli Ministry of Justice. She began working on the Israeli-Palestinian education eight years ago when she started teaching Hebrew at the first school in the Palestinian Authority that offered it as a mandatory class. Her experience there eventually led to the founding of MECA. She is currently finishing her law degree. |
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