Our Dialogue Meeting program is being targeted by the Israeli government. The Ministry of Education has announced a new condition for external programs in schools that requires them not to degrade or shame the IDF. The restrictions are specifically to target the Parents Circle.
These announcements have already had a negative impact, deterring local decision-makers, schools and the public and putting our efforts in peacebuilding at risk as well as pluralism in Israeli education.
Other restrictions are aimed at undermining PCFF’s efforts:
1. Threats to schools that invite the PCFF, including threats to local authorities
2. Attempts to prevent or limit the Joint Memorial Day Ceremony from taking place
3. Preventing Palestinians from entering Israel using the powers of the Civil Administration
4. Imposing restrictions and threats against Palestinian members
Despite these challenges, the PCFF remains committed to promoting peace and reconciliation and is now struggling to continue its work.
Support through this fundraising campaign will help the PCFF maintain its voice in conflict resolution efforts.
Help us protect the Parents Circle’s Dialogue Meeting program in Israeli schools.
American Friends of the Parents Circle
4 E 95th St 5C
New York, NY 10128
American Friends of the Parents Circle
4 E 95th St 5C
New York, NY 10128
Israeli-Palestinian Bereaved Families Meeting Nixed for Third Time Following Right-wing Backlash
Bereaved Israeli daughter responds to Education Ministry’s attack on Parents Circle
Fearing Backlash, Israeli City Nixes Reconciliation Meeting for Bereaved Palestinian and Israeli Parents
Learn More About Our Dialogue Meetings
Haaretz Editorial
Dialogue meetings offer an opportunity for Palestinians and Israelis to meet each other—often for the first time in their lives—and listen to the perspective of the “other.” Both sides tell deeply personal stories of loss and grief, hatred and fear; they also tell of a journey with the personal decision to engage in reconciliation instead of revenge and violence. In 2021 alone, over 7,500 Israelis, Palestinians, and internationals were exposed to PCFF members’ stories of loss, grief, and hope for a reconciled future.
Bereaved Israeli daughter responds to Education Ministry’s attack on Parents Circle
Efrat Geri, Bereaved Israeli daughter
“I am a teacher and educator in one of the schools in Israel. I am also a bereaved daughter. My father was killed in the Yom Kippur War. He was also a teacher and educator here in my country. I am a member of the Israeli-Palestinian Parents Circle – Families Forum. I am extremely proud to be a member of this humane organization (despite, or because of, the high price I paid to be a member).”
Do the People Silencing Bereaved Parents Know Our Pain?
Robi Damelin, bereaved Israeli mother
“Members and supporters of the new government, fueled by hatred and fear, seem to have lost all respect for bereaved parents of victims killed in the conflict. Before they judge us, they must listen to our harrowing stories. I wonder if the people who incite against the members of the Parents Circle – Families Forum on social media, and threaten principals and teachers who have invited us to speak, have ever experienced a loss like no other.”
Fearing Backlash, Israeli City Nixes Reconciliation Meeting for Bereaved Palestinian and Israeli Parents
Shira Kadari-Ovadia | Haaretz
“The central Israeli city of Kfar Sava has canceled a meeting with a prominent forum that brings together bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families, originally planned for Tuesday at a local high school in the city. The move follows pressure by a right-wing activist which led to the cancellation.”
Statement from the Association of School Principals for Civil Rights
February 2023
“We, School Principals for Civil Rights in Israel, have witnessed massive pressure on schools and principals to cancel meetings with the Parents Circle. Despite threats from various extremist parties, we stand firm in our belief that democratic education must include exposure to diverse opinions and viewpoints. In these times when division and threats to democracy are high, it is more important than ever to emphasize this.
In His Government’s Image
Haaretz Editorial
“The Education Ministry added a new condition for organizers of external programming in Israel’s public schools, demanding that they commit that their programs do not include anything that ‘shames or humiliates the Israel Defense Forces, its soldiers, its casualties or the casualties of terror attacks.’ Who is the new provision aimed at? The Parents Circle – Families Forum whose visits to schools have sparked attacks by the right.”
Breaking News: Government Proposes to Cut Parents Circle in Schools
AF-PCFF
Israel’s Channel 13 News reported that programs at risk of cancellation in schools include Parents Circle’s long-standing Dialogue Meeting program and the Joint Memorial Day Ceremony.
These are some of the first unofficial signs that the new, right-wing government in Israel is trying to silence and prevent us from our peace education work.
Joint Israeli-Palestinian Bereavement NGO Is the Education Ministry’s New Target
Shira Kadari-Ovadia | Haaretz
“The demand that external programs operators avow not to deal in the ‘degradation and humiliation of the IDF’ will almost certainly affect The Parents Circle – Families Forum, the group of bereaved Israelis and Palestinians that deals with the subject directly in Israeli schools”
