All of us have been asking what can we
do and how to help our students respond to the situation
in Israel. Here is a way. Enclosed is an activity
for your consideration. It consists of a 17 minute
video, a poster, and a lesson outline. The video "Creating
Peace: One Quilt At A Time,"
presents an in-depth look at the results of the
anti-Jewish, anti-Israel Palestinian educational
curriculum. The hands-on activity is a follow-up.
The entire project was developed by
M.A.T.C.K.H. (Mothers Against Teaching Children to
Kill and Hate), a grassroots organization founded in
1998 by Molly Resnick, a former producer with NBC TV
News. She was responding to reports that the
Palestinian-Arab educational system was distributing
textbooks advocating killing and glorifying suicide
bombers. To counteract this destructive curriculum,
M.A.T.C.K.H. has been mobilizing Jewish children in
schools and summer camps throughout the USA and more
than 5,000 of their letters have already been
converted into attractive and meaningful "Quilts
For Peace."
We have distributed this video to
schools throughout the area, because it is a hands-on
activity that can have a major impact. It speaks to
basic Jewish values. It can be part of an assembly or
individual classroom program. It should provide Jewish
students and teachers who have been searching for an
appropriate response to the escalating violence in
Israel with a way to express their feelings and focus
the attention of the world on this issue.
Students are encouraged to become
"messengers of peace" by writing letters to
their counterparts in Palestinian Arab schools urging
them to desist from violence and espouse the values of
tolerance and mutual respect and coexistence. The
video clearly demonstrates how your students can
convert these letters into their own school quilt.
Culminating the projects will be
a massive "Kids For Peace" rally slated for
Oct. 4th, Chol Hamoed Sukkot. Busloads
of students and their quilts will be arriving in
Washington, D.C. Therefore, please schedule a program
immediately so that your school’s quilt is ready by
Oct.1st to be included in the rally which
is being sponsored by M.A.T.C.K.H., under the auspices
of several congressmen and will be covered by the
media. Congressman Eliot Engel plans to display these
quilts in Congress for several days after the rally.
If you have any questions, contact
MATCKH directly through Molly Resnick at Mollymres@aol.com
or www.matckh.org
This is a great opportunity to
help.
Sincerely,
Chaim Lauer