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Resources for Current Events
We live in a global community. Our friends, neighbors, colleagues and allies beautifully represent different parts of the world. As we come together as school communities it is critical that we take time to recognize the impact global crises may have on our school communities. Here, please find resources to support members of your school communities who may be impacted by crises occuring around the globe. Concerned about a crisis you don't see listed here? Please e-mail our team!
Palestine and Israel
We acknowledge the human rights violations and pain of the people of Palestine during this time, and offer resources to educators about how to talk to your students about what is going on in the region:
Boycotting Occupation: Educators and Palestine
By The Editors of Rethinking Schools
When the United States was about to invade Afghanistan and again in the lead-up to the war against Iraq, Rethinking Schools argued that these were situations of such magnitude that educators had a moral and an educational responsibility to speak out. We think that Palestine is just such a situation. We’ve had long discussions about what that means for us as educators.
Continue Reading About the Occupation and the Palestinian BDS Movement
As an Arab American Muslim Mother, Here Is the Education I Want for My Children
By Nina Shoman-DajaniOf the hundreds of assignments my children have brought home from school over the years, not one of them has referred to Palestine or to Muslims. As a Muslim, a Palestinian American, and a mother, I want this to change.
Continue Reading
Books About Contemporary Palestine for Children
By Katharine Davies SamwayU.S. media coverage of the Middle East is frequently Israel-centric and does not explore the enormous financial support that the United States provides each year to Israel and its occupation of Palestine. When this is coupled with a sometimes virulent anti-Muslim and anti-Arab, feeling educators must help unpeel these biases and encourage students to think critically about human rights in Palestine/Israel. Reading books about contemporary Palestine and the Israeli occupation may raise conflicting points of view, but that is part of supporting students to become critical readers, thinkers, and, we hope, activists in support of justice and peace.
View the list of books & resources
Independence or Catastrophe?
Teaching Palestine through multiple perspectives
By Samia ShomanA social studies teacher uses conflicting narratives to engage students in studying the history of Palestine/Israel, focusing on the events of 1948.
Continue Reading
Teaching Palestine
An interview with Palestinian educator Ziad Abbas
By Jody SokolowerIt is important that students learn factual history and are able to think critically about Palestine and Israel. Otherwise, they are left with the stereotypes so widely disseminated in the mainstream media.
Free eBook Teaching About the Wars
Edited by Jody SokolowerTeaching About the Wars breaks the curricular silence on the U.S. military engagement in the Middle East. The articles and lessons in this volume explore “the realities of how we got here.” This collection of articles and hands-on lessons shows how teachers prompt their students to think critically about big issues. Here is the best writing from Rethinking Schools magazine on war and peace in the 21st century.
Tigray and Ethiopia
Months after starting an offensive in northern Ethiopia that has killed thousands of people, displaced millions, and led to charges of atrocities like ethnic cleansing, the Ethiopian government and its allies have shown no sign of pulling military forces back from the Tigray region. -New York Times
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Department Contact
Coordinator:
Judy Chiasson, Ph.D
Email: judy.chiasson@lausd.nethumanrelations@lausd.net
Phone: (213) 505-4744
