Friday, February 02, 2007

The Jewish school where half the pupils are Muslim

Just found this article in today's Independent newspaper. King David is a parochial school, and all the students learn Hebrew and say the Shema every day. The food is kosher and the educational standards are high, and Muslim parents are moving into the catchment area to give their children a chance of attending. The article ends with a quote from a local rabbi:

""King David School is amazing," says Rabbi Tann. "The reason I think it works well is that racism is engendered entirely by adults. Children don't have it within themselves. Their natural mode is to play happily with everyone. It's only when adults say, 'Don't play with him, he's black, or don't have anything to do with him, he's Muslim, that troubles begin.'

"We never have any racial or inter-faith problems at all. Not ever. In 20 years here, it's simply never happened in any significant way. We teach that if you don't like someone, you avoid them. Don't play with them. Go to the other side of the playground. I believe that if more people followed the lead of King David School, we'd have a much more peaceful world.""

Is it so simplistic to think that this kind of thing may be part of the answer?

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