The project that was launched last year and is now being strengthened aims to foster relations between communities, especially among young people. 30 schools are expected to join, using Arab university students from the eastern sector to teach the lessons. In Tel Aviv, a school map showing the “Green Line” has become the subject of controversy between the municipality and the Ministry of Education.
Jerusalem () – With the aim of building ties and facilitating relations between Israelis and Arabs, at least in schools, the Jerusalem municipality is launching a new course in the field of school programs called “Ahlan”. [Hola, ndr]. Its objective is to encourage the teaching of the Arabic language – the one that is commonly spoken, not literary – in the Jewish schools of the holy city starting next week, when the new school year 2022/23 officially begins.
The program, developed by the local education department, was created to shine a “positive light” and encourage a connection with the Arabic language, in order to facilitate links between the eastern and western sectors of Jerusalem. And, above all, to provide children with new resources for communication, because the emphasis is on spoken Arabic rather than written and literary Arabic, which is already included in many Arabic language curricula in Jewish schools.
It is an important step by the municipal government of a seemingly unified city but in which there are deep divisions between communities, in relation to religion or ethnicity. Not infrequently these translate into aggression or violent attacks against the opposing side, as happened recently when young Jews beat Arab tram drivers or the attack against Israelis perpetrated by some Palestinians near the tomb of Samuel, north of Jerusalem.
The custom of studying Arabic in Jewish schools had been lost over time and in the last five years there were a third fewer Hebrew students taking the Arabic language exam. On the other hand, it was addressed more on a literary level than a spoken one. Further evidence of the decline of Arabic in Israel can be seen at the legislative level, with the 2018 National Law downgrading it from an official language to a language with a “special status”, keeping only the Hebrew language as a full-fledged official language.
The new Jerusalem Municipality curriculum was launched last year, as a pilot project in 21 schools in the West, and enlisted the help of 12 Arab university students from the eastern part of the city to teach the language. . In exchange for a scholarship, they offered 120 hours of language teaching per year in different classrooms in the city. For the new year, 30 schools will be added, from fifth to eighth grade, which will have the contribution of 50 Arab students.
The Madrasa organization and the “Common Study” program were in charge of developing the curriculum and, to facilitate the project, each school will be able to adapt it as it sees fit to its needs, making extensive use of songs, games and other learning tools. playful. In order to ‘understand’ and ‘tear down’ the walls, the role of language is increasingly seen as of ‘fundamental importance’ and must be learned in a context of ‘shared reality’. The project also received congratulations from Mayor Moshe León, who in a statement released by his spokesman points out that by learning Arabic, students “can learn about a history and a culture of great wealth, but above all speak and engage in a fruitful dialogue”.
Always in the field of education, if Jerusalem seeks inclusion, in Tel Aviv the new map of Israel drawn up for school use has provoked a strong controversy. The map, which uses the term “sovereignty line”, was objected to by the Ministry of Education because it was unauthorized and “harmful”. It shows the so-called “Green Line”, the pre-1967 border line established by the 1949 Arab-Israeli agreements, which does not constitute a border in the strict sense but recognizes the situation that existed in fact until 1967. In the past, the same The Ministry had approved a rule that prohibited showing the “Green Line” on maps for school use.
Add Comment