The Weizmann School

If you don’t speak my language, you can’t understand me.

The ability to communicate in a common tongue gives us a power that transcends cultures, languages, faiths and ethnicities; the fabric of humanity that binds us together and keeps us one people beyond the political and social wars that try to tear us apart.

In the small historical city of Jaffa, Israel the Weizmann School aimed to tackle the growing problem of racism and xenophobia in the country. 2007 was a year of celebration for a community who so long craved an opportunity to have their children educated, Jewish and Arab, side by side. The Weizmann School would become a beacon of hope in a socio-politically turbulent country and despite many campaigns to have the school closed, it remained open.

In an education system where Arabic education is compulsory, but in threat of removal due to the recent introduction of a new bill, the Weizmann School provided an invaluable opportunity to students to practice their Arabic with other children throughout their day. Unfortunately due to recent escalations in the region, the school was ultimately closed indefinitely and did not open its doors on Monday September 1^st for the start of the new school year.

A school does more than trap a student in a classroom for six hours a day. It helps form the character of an impressionable curious child. It is the hand that feeds the tabula rasa. It’s the place where we start to learn who we are. If an Arab or Jewish child grows up learning both languages, they are instantly freed from the societal chains that force to select one language as the language of the enemy. Instead, they remain what they are, two languages of exceptional depth, character and beauty, but most importantly, they are keys to understanding our past.