Blogs are wonderful things when they spread good news.
Two great posts that I read today have a common theme: peace and understanding between jews and muslims as neighbours and schoolmates.
Via The Sudanese Thinker blog, I learned about King David Primary School, (a state school in Birmingham, UK), which is a Jewish institution where half the pupils are Muslim.
It's infant prize day at King David School, a state primary in Moseley, Birmingham. The children sit cross-legged on the floor, their parents fiddling with their video cameras. The head, Steve Langford, is wearing a Sesame Street tie.Here's the whole article in The Independent Online.
A typical end-of-term school event, then. But at King David there's a twist that gives it a claim to be one of the most extraordinary schools in the country: King David is a strictly Jewish school. Judaism is the only religion taught. There's a synagogue on site. The children learn modern Hebrew - Ivrit - the language of Israel. And they celebrate Israeli independence day.
But half the 247 pupils at the 40-year-old local authority-supported school are Muslim, and apparently the Muslim parents go through all sorts of hoops, including moving into the school's catchment area, to get their children into King David to learn Hebrew, wave Israeli flags on independence day and hang out with the people some would have us believe that they hate more than anyone in the world.
Via Lirun's East Med Sea Peace blog, I learned of a dedicated band of people who belong to the OneVoice Movement - an organisation to empower Israeli and Palestinian citizens against violent extremism.
Please watch the whole video - it's goosebump material.
So heartwarming to read about positive steps. It's a long way to go, and through people who believe in taking steps like these, the destination has to be closer.
