Ender Cetin and Elias Dry have been visiting schools in Berlin for almost seven years. Cetin is a Muslim imam, Dry is a Jewish rabbi. They visit schools "in tandem". Their joint visits are part of the "meet2respect" program.
But after the terrorist Hamas attack on Israeli civilians a month ago and the Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip, everything changed.
"Now they call us all the time, almost like firefighters because of fires," Cetin tells za Deutsche says.
"Every ten minutes someone calls to inquire about the possibility of the two of them visiting a school," confirms Dry.
This week they have been to one school in Berlin every day.
Tandems at school
The "meet2respect" program was launched in 2013 by the non-profit association "Leadership Berlin - Network Responsibility". It was about a year after a rabbi was insulted, beaten and injured in the middle of the day in the street in Berlin in the presence of his seven-year-old daughter.
In the meantime, numerous "tandems" have been formed that visit schools together, and from time to time other actions are organized that advocate for unity.
Draj and Četin, as they say, became friends.
Unusual for Berlin
Joint visits to schools are unusual. This is especially true for Berlin. There, unlike most other German provinces, there is traditionally no religious education in schools, and the topic of religion is largely left out.
But times have become so serious now that riding a bike together is no longer enough.
Stefan Diehl, president of the Association of German Teachers, in an interview with Deutsche Welle emphasizes that the terrible terror and war in the Middle East represent a great challenge for teachers, not only in Berlin, but also in the whole of Germany.
The war in the Middle East, the existence of the state of Israel, the Palestinian issue, and more broadly - issues of anti-Judaism or anti-Semitism... All of these, says Dil, are topics among younger students as well. "A fifth grader still hasn't heard much about the Holocaust. That's why young people lack the basic knowledge to be able to talk to the elderly on an equal footing. And that's a problem for teachers too."
Call after the incident
Četin states that it often happens that the request that he and the rabbi visit a school leads to a conflict in the schoolyard, arguments over photos or certain prohibitions.
And is it enough to attend school classes? "That makes sense," believes Cetin. "It makes sense for an imam and a rabbi to come who get along well." "Sometimes we meet young people with whom we were in class three or more years ago and then we always get good feedback," he says. "Maybe," answers Dry to our question. Because, as he concludes, there are conversations that contribute to the situation not exploding, regardless of the prevailing mood.
BG/Deutsch vele
Read daily news, analysis, commentary and interviews at www.vreme.com
