Humane ed. for Mideast peace
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1994:
TEL AVIV, Israel––As the West
Bank erupted in another round of bombings and
massacres, more than a thousand Israelis and
Palestinians asked to attend a March 22-23 con-
ference on preventing violence through humane
education, held in the Tel Aviv suburb of
Ramat Gan by Concern for Helping Animals in
Israel––but the hall could hold only 450.
Attracting heavy media attention, the
conference “succeeded in placing the link
between animal abuse and child abuse and the
necessity of fostering humane values on the
public agenda,” said CHAI founder Nina
Natelson. “A number of projects came out of
the conference. As a first step, we will create
information packets for the schools and estab-
lish ongoing seminars for teachers and coun-
selors on the need for humane education to
develop empathy in children. The Ministry of
Education agreed to cooperate with us, and 65
teachers have already expressed willingness to
work with us to develop suitable materials for
every grade level. We have requested that a
Year of the Animals be declared for the
1996/97 school year, just as the ministry has
sponsored other focal topics.”
The conference was scheduled for
March, Natelson said, because she was
advised that teachers would be on vacation then
and able to attend. She discovered when she
got there, however, that only Jewish schools
were on vacation; Arab schools remained in
session. “The few Arab teachers, counselors,
and principals who were able to attend request-
ed that we repeat the conference in June of
1995,” Natelson told ANIMAL PEOPLE,
“so that the Arab community could also bene-
fit. They anticipate that the number of people
seeking to attend that conference would also
exceed 1,000. Our speakers have agreed to
return, but we will need funding.”
Proceedings and a videotape of the
conference will soon be available from CHAI
at POB 3341, Alexandria, VA 22302.
