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Headmistress Reports on
Ramallah School's Status
Editor’s Note: The following letter was posted May 8 on the
Web site of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. It is written by the
headmistress of the Arab Evangelical School in Ramallah, an institution of
the Jerusalem diocese, and a special focus this year of the Jerusalem 2000
campaign, a collaborative effort of the Episcopal Church in the United
States and the rest of the Anglican Community. The school
was
founded in 1954 with 20 pupils. It now has 568 students from kindergarten
through high school. Seventy percent of the students are Christian, 30
percent are Moslem. A total of 45 teachers are on staff.
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“You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free”
Dear Friends and supporters,
As our children and school emerge from one of the hardest
acts of Israeli military aggression against our civil society, I write to
you to thank you for your support and prayers during our month long ordeal.
You may have heard that Israel launched a “War against
terror”. This phrase sounded reasonable to many who follow the popular
media.
In reality, however, we faced a war of terror launched by a
massive military machine against a budding new civil society that you and I
worked together to build for our children and future generations.
Some of the targets for the Israel army in Ramallah were the
civil institutions, children’s parks, schools, departments of education and
the list goes on.
The school had to go through a lot of pain when parents were
imprisoned for no apparent reason. Some students and graduates were also
imprisoned without any due process and with no clear charges.
Yet, we will continue together to Build Peace. The school is
determined not to be side tracked by all the talk about vindication and
violent revenge. We see our role even more important now to focus our
children on constructive ways to deal with this humiliating trauma, not by
vengeance, but by reemphasizing our rights to have a viable civil society no
matter how many times we have to rebuild it. We will teach our children not
only to rebuild what they had but also to solidify their belief in creating
a civil society.
The school did not sustain any damages from the re-occupation
of Ramallah, but the new building has come to a complete stop due to the
need to obtain the last amounts needed to finish construction. As I near
retirement in the next year, I continually pray that I will be able,
together with you, to leave the school ready to face the challenges of
building future generations who are advocates of peace and reconciliation in
the Holy Land.
While I am aware that their may be some funds coming through
Jerusalem 2000, I ask you please to do all you can to help us finish the new
building by the end of this summer. We will need to use the new classrooms
and laboratories at the beginning of the new scholastic year in September
2002. Any amount that can be forwarded to us will go a long way to rebuild
the confidence of students, parents and staff that we will go on Building
Presence and Building Peace regardless of the political setbacks in our
area.
Please feel free to contact me directly and I will be more
than happy to oblige any of your needs or requests.
Peace and best regards to all…
Samira Nasser
Headmistress |
