On October 7, 2023, Hamas, which has been classified by many western nations as a “terrorist” group, launched an attack on Israel, bringing the decades long Israel-Palestine conflict into global eyes.
Despite this launch into global view, there has been a lack of conversation about the conflict at Campolindo. According to InBusiness Magazine, talking about current events “ensures that we can engage in informed conversations with others and have a more profound understanding of the events shaping our society,” especially given the complexity of relations between Israel and Palestine. Furthermore, the purpose of education is to equip students with the knowledge and skills to become successful members of society in the future, which involves interacting with the global community and not just peers in our Lamorinda bubble.
Social studies teacher Matthew Bostick argues that “this is one of those events that does penetrate our [Lamorinda] bubble,” giving us reason to talk about it. Bostick adds that “school is a place where we can facilitate conversations and create a space where students can ask questions,” which is more important than ever because of the complexity and given that “none of us are experts on it.”
However, English teacher and advisor of Jewish Student Union (JSU) Jake Donohoe acknowledges that “it is often challenging to have intellectual discourse around highly emotional topics, particularly in knowing that we want to be inclusive and we want to make sure that no one feels left out or marginalized.” While this is true, racism is a sensitive subject, yet we still talk about it during academies and in class. This is because “part of being a student in an academic setting is that we are learning who we are and challenging our own beliefs. Our ability to have a productive conversation about controversial things has real value. This is where it should be happening,” said Donohoe.
Additionally, “by being silent, we are inherently complicit in these acts of violence,” said senior president of Muslim Student Association (MSA) Fayrouz Mishak.
While government and world history classes have talked about Israel-Palestine just a few days after October 7, this means only the freshman and seniors have discussed this in an academic setting, leaving approximately half the Campolindo population without a space to ask questions and learn.
However, some would argue that there isn’t enough time during class periods to cover all the course content and additional information. But conversations at school don’t have to just be during class periods. They can take place during academies or lunch periods. This instance is comparable to the instance in which the district took action during the pandemic and implemented equity lessons to prevent and bring awareness to racism. And, the non-profit organization “Song for Charlie” gave a fentanyl awareness presentation for seniors during academy recently. Both had similar goals: to educate Campo students in an attempt to change their behavior. Shouldn’t we do the same with recent global events?
If you think events in the Middle East aren’t going to affect you because you don’t have connections, you should reconsider. Our tax dollars are going towards Israel and Starbucks is suing their workers union for posting a pro-Palestinian post on X, formerly Twitter.
But this doesn’t just go for Israel-Palestine. In this increasingly globalized world, our actions will affect people on different continents. To avoid undesirable outcomes, we need to be educated on current events, and that starts at school.
