World

ERKLEY

School District is the Oakland County school district where
personal excellence is achieved through a powerful community,
a true culture of caring, and extraordinary resources.

Insider's Viewpoint

The Berkley School District values individuality in our students and we strive to
provide an educational experience tailored to each child. Our students achieve
personal excellence in all areas of study — both in and outside of the classroom.

Israeli Arab journalist shares facts
and truth about Mideast situation.

Our relationship with our local community helps us foster
unique and creative programs for our students. Our
Holocaust to Righteousness class at Berkley High
Our relationship
School partners with the Holocaust Memorial Center
with our local
to educate the students on the importance of
community helps us
tolerance. Natalie Taylor, who teaches this unique
foster unique and
course, wants the students to learn that, "They are
creative
programs
very much connected to events that happened
for our students.
decades ago, centuries ago, on the other side of the
world." The class is broken up into four main units:
culture, hate, resistance, and altruism. In the last six
weeks of the class, students volunteer in their local community,
where they are putting someone else's needs before their own," says Mrs. Natalie
Taylor. Berkley High School pioneered this course with the Holocaust Memorial
Center.

Don Cohen
Special to the Jewish News

T

his is not Jewish propaganda':
Khalid Abu Toameh told his
audience at a fundraising din-
ner Nov. 17 for the international pro-
Israel education and advocacy group
StandWithUs."I'm
not pro-Israel, pro-
Palestinian or pro-
anything. I'm pro the
facts and the truth."
And the truth —
as the self-described
Israeli, Arab, Muslim,
Palestinian sees it
Khalid Abu
as a Jerusalem resi-
Toameh
dent, Israeli citizen
and Arab affairs correspondent for the
Jerusalem Post and an international
media consultant — turns much of the
conventional Middle East reportage on
its head.
For example, he isn't concerned
about a lack of Israeli readiness to relin-
quish land to establish a Palestinian
state; he says it's the Palestinians who
aren't ready to govern and live in peace
with Israel.
And rather than blaming Israeli
occupation, settlement and defense
policies for pushing Palestinians toward
radicalism and Hamas, he believes
it is the corrupt and dysfunctional
Palestinian Authority — first under
Yasser Arafat and now under Arafat's
longtime deputy Mahmoud Abbas —
that has stoked incitement and made
Hamas look good by comparison.
He says most Palestinians want to
build a society based on the Israeli
model rather than what they see in the
Arab world.
"In the good old days, before the
peace process started, there was no
Fatah or Hamas [control], no barriers,
no checkpoints, no walls," Abu Toameh
said. "We learned about freedom of
the media and democracy and debate
[from Israel]:'
As a journalist who got his start
working on PLO newspapers while
attending Hebrew University in
Jerusalem, he would like to see separa-
tion between Israel and a Palestinian
state and greater integration of Israeli
Arabs in Israeli society.
Abu Toameh says he had no prob-
lem with the Oslo Accords, favoring

Palestinian separation from Israel and
the end of the occupation, except that
they weren't realistic because they were
"predicated on Arafat being a reliable
peace partner"
"The way Oslo was implemented
brought disaster on both Israel and the
Arabs': he said.
"[Arafat] didn't build Palestinians a
hospital; he built a casino. He gave his
wife $100,000 a month to shop in Paris.
It didn't surprise many of us; we knew
Arafat was corrupt': he said. What was
surprising was that "those who gave
him money and weapons did not hold
him accountable. The international
media didn't want to do stories about
fiscal corruption. This allowed Arafat
to steal the money and radicalized the
Palestinians. Arafat deprived his people
of the fruits of peace:'
At the same time, Arafat personally,
and through his control of the media,
incited violence.
"His message was jihad, jihad, jihad
kill the Israelis, kill the infidels, kill
everyone except for me," Abu Toameh
said. The corruption and reinforce-
ment of the Islamist message "drove
Palestinians into the open arms of
Hamas."
"Do we have a peace partner on
the Palestinian side — the answer is
sadly, no," he said. "The last time we
gave Mahmoud Abbas land was in 2005
and he ran away and gave the land
to Hamas — the same scenario will
repeat itself in the West Bank:'
Abu Toameh says the Obama admin-
istration "is making a big mistake by
chasing Benjamin Netanyahu — the
Palestinians are not ready for state-
hood; they are at war with each other."
He says the P.A. won't be a peace
partner until they establish a real gov-
ernment, build institutions and speak
with one voice. He doesn't see that hap-
pening anytime soon. Pinning hopes on
Hamas moderating is even less likely.
"If anyone thinks Hamas is willing to
recognize Israel's right to exist, they are
living in an illusion," he said.
Israeli unilateral concessions
— whether it be territorial withdrawal
or even a settlement freeze — is only
seen as weakness. "I didn't see peace
develop in Gaza [after the Israeli
withdrawal]and sadly I heard the exact

—

We focus on nurturing the creative spirit of each child. Students have had the
opportunity to cook with some of the best chefs in Michigan through the Spoons
Across America program which came to Anderson Middle School last year thanks
to parent Michelle Kobernick. Students spent weeks learning everything from
nutrition to napkin folding on their way to planning an elaborate dinner party for
their families, friends. and community members. "I think
this is something these kids are going to take with them
For more
through all their years," said Kate Lawson of the
information or to
Detroit News.
inquire about
enrollment for your child.
Creativity thrives throughout the Berkley School
please visit us on our nev,
District as was recently shown by 10-year-old
website:
Sydney Knisley from Angell Elementary. Her
artwork was published on the cover of the new
or call:
Curtis Granderson book "All You Can Be: Dream It,
Draw It, Become It!" which came out in August 2009.
to speak with
Sydney's art teacher was happy to surprise her with
someone.
the news that her drawing would
appear on the cover. The A
Cappella choir also recently
learned that PBS would like to tape them for a
musical special titled "Celebrate America".
Finally, several students from Anderson Middle
School showed off their artistic talents when
they participated in the "On Location: Spotlight
on Your Community" program. The students
produced a video highlighting the Detroit Dance
Collective called, "The Power of Dance'.

BERKLEY

Visit www.livestream.com/wbsd to view video of
various Berkley School District events.

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Insider's Viewpoint on page 23

November 26

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