Teach Your Children Well

The infiltration of anti-Israel/anti- American rhetoric has moved beyond the web, beyond the media, beyond the universities. Its now in our public school system. On Saturday, February 26, a half-Day workshop on "Teaching Palestine" was held, organized by MECA, the Middle East Childrens Alliance
Their announcement follows:


Join the Middle East Children's Alliance, Rethinking Schools and the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network for a half-day workshop for youth educators who want to teach about Palestine through pedagogy that is student-centered, rigorous, empowering, skill-strengthening, highly informed, and makes connections to local struggles for justice.

THIS WORKSHOP IS FOR:

* Elementary, middle and high school teachers AND youth workers and organizers
* Educators who support justice for Palestine but are new to the issue AND educators who are involved in the Palestine solidarity movement
* Educators who have never taught about Palestine before AND educators who teach about Palestine and are interested in strengthening their approach, tools and knowledge base
* Educators interested in building their individual practice AND educators interested in developing resources and support for teaching Palestine locally and nationally
* AND everyone in between!

FACILITATORS:

* Ziad Abbas is the associate director and education coordinator of the Middle East Children’s Alliance. He is a Palestinian refugee from the West Bank, where he was the co-founder and co-director of the Ibdaa Cultural Center at Dheisheh Refugee Camp. He is a journalist as well as a teacher and youth worker.
* Perry Bellow-Handelman is an organizer with the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network and a member of the Bay Area Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. She currently works as a history teacher and internship coordinator at an East Oakland public high school. Prior to becoming a teacher she worked with youth in a broad range of anti-racist movement work through her roles as a youth organizer and popular educator.
* Jody Sokolower is the policy and production editor of Rethinking Schools. Until last year she taught social studies and English in Bay Area middle and high schools, most recently at Berkeley High. She has a long history as an anti-imperialist activist.

Perry Bellow- Handelman was arrested several years ago for interrupting a presentation at the San Francisco Jewish Community Center. She currently teaches at the East Oakland School of the Arts. Her classroom blog (yes, she's a history teacher) links to Indybay, Al Jazeera, Radio Zapatista, and other questionable sites.

Whats a parent to do? Listen to your children. Teach them the truth. Get involved in their schools. Check out their textbooks for bias (The Saudis have invested 130 million dollars in the American educational system, including K-12)And don't be afraid to complain to the principal and to the district if you see your child's classroom used to incite hate and spread propaganda.