Between criticizing and welcoming the decision of the Minister of Education, Abbas Al-Halabi, to hold a minute of silence this Monday morning to mourn the souls of the martyred female students, all schools opened their doors. The interaction with the event varied between those who contented themselves with a minute of silence for the lives of the three female students, and those who devoted time to explaining and condemning the Israeli bombing and the brutal Israeli raid in the Ainatha area, southern Lebanon, which claimed the lives of the three female students from Al Shor, Remas (14 years old) and Talin (12 years old). One year) and Layan (10 years old), and their grandmother, Samira Ayoub, while their mother, Hoda Hegazy, survived, who was seriously injured.
The Minister of Education condemned the barbaric raid in a statement in which he said: “Once again, the Israeli enemy violates all the values and rules that govern war and peace, by targeting innocent civilians, killing four women, including three childhood schoolgirls, and wounding others.” He stressed, “It is a crime whose heinousness cannot be described in words. It is one in a series of crimes committed by the occupation on a daily basis against innocent people.” He called on “all those responsible for managing public and private schools, secondary schools, and vocational professions to observe a minute of silence tomorrow morning, Monday, in mourning for the souls of the martyrs.”
Demanding Al-Halabi to close schools
Before and after issuing the statement, Al-Halabi was subjected to various types of pressure from students, families, and activists on social media to announce the closure of schools and national mourning. Opinions varied in the parents’ committees in private schools, which constitute more than seventy percent of Lebanon’s students, between those who want to mourn and close, and those who want to open schools and not be satisfied with a minute of silence, but rather devote two hours to explaining the brutality of the massacres committed by Israel and its violation of children’s and human rights.
Al-Halabi received much, severe, and harsh criticism, to the point of describing him as indifferent to the horror of the crime. But Al-Halabi did not yield to the pressure, and turned off his phone in the evening, and insisted on his decision to open schools and hold a minute of silence for the souls of the martyrs.
The importance of standing a minute of silence
Schools committed to opening their doors and allocating a minute of silence, and positions were issued by various components of the educational family. The Basic Education Association called for declaring mourning, holding a minute of silence, and stopping teaching during the last period, to expose the enemy’s criminality. In turn, the Secondary Education Association called for a declaration of mourning and to allocate an hour of time to expose the arrogance of the Zionist enemy. As for the private school teachers’ union, it called for a declaration of mourning and the holding of symbolic activities in which students express their condemnation of the crime committed by Israel.
The head of the parent and guardian committees in private schools, Lama Al-Taweel, pointed out in an interview with Al-Modon that the majority of the parent committees in the schools printed pictures of the three martyrs, and vigils were organized in school courtyards to explain the reasons for their death, and the barbarity of the bombing carried out by Israel against Civilians. Many parents’ committee officials accompanied the students to classes to explain the Israeli brutality in killing children and civilians.
Al-Taweel considered that the decision to hold a minute of silence was a more eloquent expression than closing schools, regardless of the many criticisms that Al-Halabi received from both the right and the left. The role of the school is to raise awareness to children about the tragedy we are experiencing, and to explain the reason that led to the killing of the girls, Remas, Talin, and Leanne. Its role is to educate students about what is happening in Gaza, which is witnessing a genocide of the Palestinian people.
Closing schools is not enough
According to Al-Taweel, Israel may resort to killing more children and civilians in Lebanon, as it did previously. Closing schools in this case does not help expose the crimes of the Israeli enemy. If the children remained at home, they might not have the opportunity to find out why their school was even closed.
From this standpoint, the Union of Parents Committees turned to the Ministry of Education to allocate the necessary time in schools for students to explain the ugliness of the crime committed by Israel and the crimes committed in Palestine, their violation of international agreements and international humanitarian law and the protection of children during wars, and to provide psychological support to students and explain the disadvantages and tragedies of wars.
2023-11-06 13:01:56
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