In Austria, the conflict in the Middle East is making its way into schools
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Transcript
00:00 In this class of 25 students, most are aged between 14 and 16.
00:04 Many come from a migrant background, a few from the Middle East.
00:08 In today's lesson, the teacher is addressing the Israel-Gaza conflict.
00:11 Bastian de Monte is Jewish, but he insists on discussing the conflict with his students.
00:26 When I mentioned the conflict, a student immediately shouted "free Palestine".
00:30 I then explained that it was legitimate to commit oneself to the Palestinian civilian population,
00:36 that he could do so as a student, but in a peaceful manner,
00:39 and above all, without applauding a terrorist organization, in this case Hamas.
00:44 Bastian has been trained to talk about such topics with disadvantaged pupils,
00:51 but other teachers are more hesitant to do so.
00:55 Some colleagues are worried that their class is turning against them.
00:59 There are cases of escalation, which sometimes are not resolved by talking,
01:04 but lead to psychological or physical violence.
01:06 The Ministry of Education has stepped up its support for teachers who organize
01:12 workshops and training, like this one led by Gabriel Dreher.
01:15 For the past five years, he's accompanied teachers to Israel
01:18 to train them in teaching seminars on the Holocaust and antisemitism.
01:23 When faced with such complicated topics,
01:25 students often yearn for a clear distinction between right and wrong.
01:28 When you've been on site and seen how difficult and complex the situation is in Israel,
01:33 you can explain it to them more easily and show them that it's not that simple.
01:37 This approach has helped students get more clarity.
01:41 I used to think that Muslim calls to prayer were forbidden in Israel.
01:46 You shouldn't believe everything you see on the internet, because there's a lot of fake news.
01:52 I thought there was a permanent conflict between the two sides,
01:55 but now I've seen that there are also people who live together peacefully.
01:59 The priority for many teachers in Austria is not to leave
02:03 children alone with their questions regarding the Israel-Gaza conflict.