Palestinian Conflict Leads to School Discrimination in Denmark
Categories: In the news, Education, Religion & spirituality
In case anyone still thinks that what goes on in the Middle East doesn't affect the rest of the world, I submit the curious case of schools in Denmark where headmasters are recommending that Jewish parents not try to enroll their children in the headmasters' schools. One headmaster, Olav Nielsen of Humlehave School in Odense, has publicly stated that he would not allow Jewish children to enroll in his school.This is not, however, a simple case of "we don't want your kind here" but, according to the headmasters, whose student bodies include large percentages of children of Arab descent, concern for the students' safety, both Jewish and Palestinian. Last week, two Israeli citizens were shot at a shopping mall in an incident police believe to have been triggered by the Gaza conflict.
Meanwhile, the issue exists on the other side as well; One Rabbi said the situation was strictly "theoretical," adding that "in reality, Jewish parents would never try to enroll their child in those schools." Meanwhile, many Jewish schools, such as Caroline Skole in Copenhagen, have eight-foot-tall barbed wire fences, surveillance cameras, and security guards.
Sometimes, I wish international politics were as simple as parenting -- I'd love to be able to have the United Nations go in and say "if you can't share it, nobody gets it" and then rope the whole area off so no one could live there. Unfortunately, it isn't that simple and, evidently, not limited to that region.
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