Gaza Children Return to School

by Blue Crush | January 24, 2009 at 04:34 pm

268 views | 46 Recommendations | 6 comments

Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip returned to school Saturday for the first time since the 22-day Israeli offensive that killed more than 1,300 people, at least 410 of which were children.

“Good morning! Still alive?” excited teenage girls asked each other as their class, all in white head scarves, lined up in the yard shortly after dawn at Beach Preparatory School. The pupils were seeing their teachers for the first time since Israeli bombs began falling on Gaza on Dec. 27. About 1,300 Palestinians were killed, most of them civilians.

Critics warn that the violence of Israel’s offensive can only reap a harvest of greater hatred from a new generation. According to one Gaza website, 3,500 Palestinians were born during the 22-day war.

“Israel hates Palestinians, hates Arabs, hates Muslims, hates Islam,” said one girl in Nuha Abdulati’s English class, as her schoolmates nodded in agreement.

Maher Wahba, a psychologist with Muslim Aid, said that one of the first tasks would be to address the psychological trauma being suffered by children who had lost family members and friends. "We are here to let the children act out their stress and relive what has passed during the Israeli invasion," he told Al Jazeera.

About 200,000 children returned on Saturday as the UN Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) reopened its 221 schools in the devastated territory. Public schools operated by the Hamas-run government in the Gaza Strip were also reopened.

The reopening of schools began a week after a tentative ceasefire marked a small step back to normalcy for Gaza's 1.4 million residents.

U.S. President Barack Obama's special envoy to the Middle East is to arrive in the region sometime next week to begin the new administration's efforts for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Former senator George Mitchell is expected to visit both Israel and the occupied West Bank, Western diplomats said on Saturday.

The Palestinian kids are taught to hate the Jews from birth to death--I find it disarming and disengenous to suggest that anything will change:

Hamas children's propaganda film reinforces illusion of war victory

On the first day of its ceasefire with Israel, Hamas has added a new element to its propaganda campaign claiming that it won the war in Gaza. An animated film for children on Hamas TV depicts Israeli soldiers as cowards who are afraid to enter Gaza. They cry, "Mommy, Mommy," as they head into battle, where they are all killed by Hamas gunfire.

The video ends with an Israeli soldier's blood splattered on the screen, accompanied by a caption that reads, "Whoever dares, let him come! Gaza is his certain death."

Observers have reported that hundreds of Hamas fighters were killed in the conflict, while Israel lost 10 soldiers in combat and three civilians in rocket attacks. However, in the attempt to present this war as a victory, Hamas TV reported today that Hamas lost only 48 fighters and killed 80 Israelis, including 49 soldiers.

This film aims to reinforce the victory myth that Hamas is trying to sell to its people.

And:

From Nationalist Battle to Religious Conflict: New 12th Grade Palestinian Schoolbooks present a world without Israel.

Wow--Now that's some education!

the story aove is cute. and it does miss the point concerning the 9% of school kids with amenia, and 50% malnourished. hard to go to scholl like that.

a related 'story' featured by NowPublic above, quibbles as to the legality of mass murdering children witht the argument that one division the UN due to a media blackout mistakenly reported that the children were maimed and murders inside the school house, when in fact the massacre by Israel took place outside the schoolhouse, the kids' improvides school playgound.

if only the NowPublic members of words like 'anti-Jewish', those who bandy about such horrible thoughts, here on NowPublic, would watch the movie The Man Who Cried, they would not abuse the seriousness and terror of such thoughts as anti-Jewish.

The users of that term sanctioned and promoted by NowPublic are exclusively those pumping the NP press full of hate-feeding 'stories', and denial of war crime that feed a moral bankruptcy that in turns feed a crisis in public confidence worldwide and in turn is the root cause of the current financial crisis.

NP valued members - the counter-arguers are blocked by NowPublic staf vetos, unilaterally - use the term 'anti-Jewish' as a knee-jerk accusation to rationalize the terror that present day Israel wreaks on Palestinian children, 50% malnourished, and laughed at in the White House according to Gideon Levy at Haaretz who quoted Olmert top aidie Dov Weissglas as joking in 2006, after the Hamas election, that 'Palestinians would be getting a lot thinner, but won't die.' That is a quote.

Those who balance the new in NowPublic, are banned. The reasons given can be found in the 'stories' of hate-feeding opinion that NowPublic dishonors citizen open journalism by promoting, and blocking counter-stories.

-----

NP members and readers still recommending stories and replies by blocked NP members:

MeWe
accidentaljournalist
con10t

will not be able to search their NP member profiles or stories on NowPublic.

Why?

NowPublic --> Gaza - as all will discover has been 'cyber-ethincally cleaned' and now acts not as News but Opinion, not as Citizen Journalism but as a mouthpiece for the excuses of Israeli war criminals and hate-mongers.

NowPublic is Now NotPublic.

NowPublic vetos open and fair practise news on peace and human rights.

NowPublic staff displays the same ol' journalism ethics, citizen journalists are attempting to leave behind.

Some screenshots of the NowPublic stories by NowBanned NowBlocked NowPublic member con10t and accidentaljournalist are HERE:

http://picasaweb.google.com/con10t

free content. free con10t!

speak up. write up. act up. citizen journalism is perhaps our last diplomat! disproportion on NowPublic disqualifies citizen journalism.

Perhaps, on a lighter note, NowPublic should be in the running for the "Miss Information" beauty pageant. Sure have a chance of winning. and citizen journalism ethics losing.

recommend This comment thread is now closed

Amy Judd

at 16:45 on January 24th, 2009

good for them for keeping their spirits up and getting on with things.

Blue Crush

at 00:33 on January 25th, 2009

My thoughs exactly, life goes on ...

harringtola

at 06:26 on January 25th, 2009

I think children are resilient. I am just sorry that certain lengthy comments are so off post that most relevant comments (in respect to the impact of war on children's everyday lives) will not be seen.

djsblack

at 19:45 on January 24th, 2009

Paschen

at 21:06 on January 24th, 2009

Sorry about the comments here and the new way strategy of posting incredibly long comments to stop every other comment from appearing rather then just post a link or an abstract.

JournalismEthicist (not verified)

at 09:32 on February 8th, 2009

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