“Phones are ringing off the hook”: Berlin schools struggle with Hamas fans and anti-Semitism

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The conflict in the Middle East is reaching a climax. The West supports Israel in the fight against terrorism, neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Syria and Iran condemn the Israeli shelling of the Gaza Strip. The situation also causes emotions in German schools. Telephone exchanges are flooded with emails and concerned phone calls. The reason: many students cheer for Hamas and make anti-Semitic comments.

A physical altercation has already taken place at a high school in Berlin’s Neukölln district. A student came to class carrying a Palestinian flag. After a teacher asked him to put the flag away, his colleague (15) intervened and headbutted the teacher. The teacher then punched the student in the face – the police had to intervene. The incident is being processed and the school in Neukölln is monitored by security staff, writes ‘Focus’.

But conflicts are also increasing at other schools in Berlin. “The phones are ringing off the hook, we are receiving emails from all sides, requests for personal conversations,” Desirée Galert, project manager at the Kreuzberg Initiative against Anti-Semitism (KIgA) told “rbb”. Since Saturday, the complaints and questions have multiplied. “I’m actually constantly trying to answer them and calm them down. There is sometimes a lot of emotion and chaos,” says Galert.

The teaching staff is overwhelmed

The fact that many students are siding with the terrorists drives teachers to despair. “We have to look: where are the emotions at the moment and how do we get the situation under control? “Does it really help to reprimand people at that moment or to lighten the mood and create opportunities for the students to talk,” advises the project manager. After all, the students are children who may not know exactly who Hamas is and what terror means.

The situation in the Middle East has long worried children in German schools, says Martin Hikel, mayor of the Neukölln district. The situation in Israel is especially worrying for students from families who frequently watch Arabic television and Internet channels. But anti-Semitic attitudes threaten children from Jewish families.

Jewish children leave state schools

“We keep hearing that parents of Jewish children are deregistering them from public schools and enrolling them in Jewish schools,” said Berlin anti-Semitism commissioner Samuel Salzborn. Anti-Semitism was a problem in the classroom even before Saturday’s attacks.

One thing is clear: the risk of conflict will not decrease in the coming days and weeks, but will actually increase. “Once Israel starts the offensive, we will see a new wave of emotions coming our way,” warns KIGA President Dervis Hizarci. Salzborn therefore calls for more information about anti-Semitism in the timetable: “The rule must be: no tolerance for the intolerant.” (jwg)

Source: Blick