Accounts of peaceful co-existence between Christians and Muslims. A report from the “Holy Land” school founded by the Franciscans in the West Bank. Most of the children enrolled here are Muslims. The headmaster, who is also the parish priest, and the local Imam say: “Passion for education is of prime importance here, we educate children about coexistence and mutual respect”.
A cross hangs on each classroom wall. There are around 580 pupils aged between 4 and 16: 38 of them are Christians, all the rest are Muslim. We are in the West Bank, in Jericho, at the “Holy land” school, which was founded in 1950 by Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land, who still manage it today with two friars. The school teaches the Palestinian curriculum and the enrolment fees are quite reasonable (a large portion of the costs are covered by donations from benefactors and pilgrims). Life at this and many other Catholic schools in the Middle East is a daily reminder of how beautiful the work of giving and sharing knowledge is. A knowledge that creates and develops intergenerational and interpersonal ties even between people of different faiths.
Muslim parents are happy to enrol their children at the school, says the 48-year-old headmaster, Fr. Mario Hadchity, a Lebanese Franciscan who is also parish priest at the nearby church of the Good Shepherd and in charge of the little chapel on the Jordan River, which was erected in memory of Jesus’ baptism. “There are many reasons why people choose our school over others: the quality of teaching, the dedicated support offered to each child, the range of sports activities offered, the discipline, the pleasant and clean surroundings. This is the first school to be built in Jericho and year on year it has built on its reputation as a serious and reliable educational institution.”
The 43 teaching staff members – 28 Muslims and 15 Christians – get along very well and hold each other in mutual esteem, says Fr. Mario seconded by one of the two Muslim teachers, Hadi Amin, who is married and father of one. Mr. Amin says: “I am very glad to be teaching in this school which has a reputation across the city for being professional, welcoming, full of initiatives, attentive to children’s education and discipline. I am proud to be a part of it and to have joyfully worked with the Franciscans for years now. They are exemplary in terms of their spirit of brotherhood and the support they give to the Palestinian people. I feel at ease here because there is respect; it is a healthy environment.”
Even relations between the families of Christian and Muslim pupils are good: parents spend time together, go on school trips and excursions and participate in other extracurricular activities together. They also attend important life events that affect each of them, such as marriages and funerals.
In Jericho, where there are around 32,000 Muslims and 500 Christians, relations between Fr. Mario and the local Imam, Sheikh Harob Afani, are friendly: they meet periodically to exchange greetings and words of encouragement. “At public gatherings we always sit beside one another. One day,” Fr. Mario recalled, “at the end of a ceremony, he wanted to get into my car and when I asked him which route he preferred , he suggested we take the main road so that everyone could see we were together, helping to strengthen the spirit of harmonious co-existence among the people.”
Fr. Mario and Mr. Amin share a passion for education and are both convinced of the strategic role schools play in fostering peaceful co-existence and bonds that are worthy of our being “humans. “Teaching has no limits,” Mr. Amin said, “we are at the service of our people and seek to keep them united, without distinguishing between Christians and Muslims. As teachers, we are paternal and friendly, we care about pupils feeling safe (because safety leads to peace), we educate them to live together peacefully, to love and to respect one another, protecting them from hatred, and we offer a pleasant environment, where there is discipline. We all work together to build a more just world.” Fr. Mario adds: “I want young people to reflect because raising your hand to lift a stone is one thing and using your head to think is another.” One of the ideas has been to propose a word at the start of the academic year that the students can use as a guiding point: for example, some time ago the word “justice” was put forward and over the months, all of us reflected on and looked into what means to be honest before God and with fellow pupils, parents and with others in general.”
When there are Christian and Muslim religious celebrations, pupils celebrate together, the school is decorated and at Christmas, every child receives a small gift. “Christians do not only look after their ‘own’,” Fr. Mario concludes. “Love leads you to care for everyone without distinction. To me and my fellow brother Antony Sejda, all pupils are equal, we serve and love each and every child. And parents are aware of this. A day or so ago, a Muslim boy’s mother told me her son says he has two fathers: one at home and one at school (me), whom he is very fond of. This made me happy. Only love and service breaks down barriers and dispels misunderstandings and doubts. Some time ago, the father of a Muslim pupil of mine asked me if he could call me “abuna”, meaning “father”: he wanted to but thought it wasn’t allowed: I explained to him that I am and feel like everyone’s father.”
