By Liu Yung-chien 劉永健
The Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, leading to Israel’s declaration of war on and retaliation against Hamas. Both Israelis and Palestinians have suffered heavy losses, with countless losses of life and property.
Many comments have been made from the perspectives of national defense, international relations and so on, with arguments supporting either side.
In primary and secondary education, it could be a discussion topic for teachers to guide students to think deeply about the matter.
First, from a historical perspective, the five major wars in the Middle East since 1948 were Arab-Israeli conflicts involving political tensions, military conflict and other disputes between various Arab countries and Israel. During class, when time and the situation permit, teachers could bring this up and discuss the whole story and its impact on the world, such as the oil crisis leading to soaring prices.
Second, regarding this particular conflict, teachers could approach the topic from the perspectives of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and discuss the damage and impact of the war on the human rights of civilians.
Taiwan has signed these two conventions and made them part of its domestic law. However, the conventions remain in a regurgitated rote lesson stage in schools rather than being a part of civic awareness in real life.
Although human rights issues are integrated into the 12-year compulsory curriculum, they are not discussed in depth.
Since most students have learned about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through various media formats, timely integration of the issues into discussions should facilitate their further understanding.
BETTER DISCERNMENT
Lastly, it is also a chance to teach media literacy. Teachers could make students read relevant reports and then discern their stances — pro-Israel or pro-Palestine. Students could also examine the comments or videos on social media platforms to see if they are being manipulated through editing.
As many students have X (formerly known as Twitter) accounts, and there have been many reports about the rampant fake news on the platform, it would be helpful for students to acquire the ability to learn independently, as well as to understand the whole story of the event and its impact on the world.
Looking back to Taiwan’s history, conflicts, from those between the indigenous peoples and Han settlers to the armed conflicts between the settlers from China’s Guangdong and Fujian provinces in the mid-18th to late-19th centuries, were also mostly about competition for resources.
Teachers could guide students to reflect on their own history and think about the impact of these early armed conflicts on today’s Taiwanese culture, such as the custom of prohibiting marriages between people with the surname Cheng (鄭) and Shih (施), and then finally reflect on the relocation and settlement of the refugees after the war. I believe it would provide insight into our own history, as well as help students to better learn about international affairs.
Liu Yung-chien is an educator.
Translated by Lin Lee-kai
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