1st Place, News Analysis
2023-24, Division 4, News Writing
By Jaeha Jang
The Crane-Clarion
Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School
The Upper School has not been immune from the impacts of the war between Israel and Hamas more than 6,000 miles away. The war has transformed dialogue among students across the religious and political spectrums on campus.
The attacks of Oct. 7, during which Hamas killed more than 1,200 Israelis and took roughly 240 hostages, stunned senior Ayelet Kaplan, a co-president of the Jewish Culture Club (JCC). Her great aunt and uncle live in Ashdod, Israel, about 40 miles from the Gaza
border.
“They were running to the bomb shelter,” Kaplan said. “It was just really hard in those first few days, especially when we didn’t know what was going on.”
The scale of the attacks shocked senior Zayd Khan, but they did not surprise him. He had heard about violence from friends with family in Palestine “for as long as I can remember.”
“During Ramadan, you hear, the Palestinians, they’re being bombed again, right?” he said.
Coming together
In an Oct. 11 email to the Upper School community, Director of Schools Jeff Suzik addressed “the recent horrific events in Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank,” condemning “acts of terrorism, the targeting of civilians, and the loss of innocent lives” and recommending resources to help young people process trauma.
“The school did that little email, but Ayelet and I didn’t think it said enough,” said junior Kendyl Kaufman, a JCC co-president whose Israeli cousin is serving in the IDF. “We wanted more of a clear explanation, one that made more sense––against Hamas.”
While the JCC did not receive the statement they wanted, club members expressed their support for Israel with an information session and a donut sale to raise funds for an Israeli EMS organization.
According to Khan, the local Muslim community has also come together, holding protests, informative meetings, and prayer meetings. At school, however, he thinks some people are afraid to speak out.
“In the Muslim community especially, some people feel like, if they say the wrong thing, their lives will be ruined,” he said. “They feel like, if they say the wrong thing, then they won’t get into college.”
Khan has been one of the few outspoken supporters of the Palestinian cause on the Upper School campus, especially on social media.
“When you see people posting things that are basically the opposite of what you believe in or what you post,” he said, “there could be a little tension if you just see them in the hallway, you know?”
Shanzay Ali, a junior and Muslim Student Association (MSA) co-president, also noticed students pulling away from those on the other side, losing friends and getting into arguments.
“We noticed a really big divide,” she said. “So we wanted to help close that a little bit.”
A Listening Circle
After school on Nov. 8, members of the JCC and MSA attended a listening circle, “an indigenous practice that is rooted in storytelling and listening to the experiences of others with the intention to understand and build connections,” according to Carla Young, Director of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access.
Students took turns answering a list of guiding questions while other participants listened. No crosstalk was allowed. The questions asked what the hardest part of the war was, what steps the school could take to create a greater sense of unity, and more.
The circle “basically prompted everybody to listen,” Ali said. “In the end, everybody got to understand one another … because we were feeling a lot of the same things.”
Kaplan called the meeting “a step in the right direction” but regretted a lack of openness among participants.
“They were being very careful because they didn’t want it to turn into a political fight, which makes sense to some extent,” she said. “But it also meant that people felt uncomfortable saying everything they felt like they wanted to say, so it’s a hard balance.”
The clubs plan on more collaborations.
“In order for us to support our community, we need to first listen to what the needs and the experiences of the community are,” MSA advisor Zaineb Hussain said. “This structure allowed us to do that so that we could move forward in thoughtful and intentional ways.”
Kaufman believes the meeting helped relieve the tension she feels on campus, though some tension will always exist.
“Obviously, there’s a war going on, and people have their beliefs,” she said, “but I don’t think it’s as severe now that we’ve been in a room together.”
NW-05. News Analysis
Stories should be interpretive in nature, not straight news stories. The elements “why” and “how” should be examined through research, but the writer’s opinions should not be expressed. An analysis covers issues and problems that relate to specific events of a news nature.
Judging Criteria
- Sharp, attention-getting lead that underscore the why/how elements of the news
- Clarifies the news elements, i.e. timeliness, nearness, impact and prominence
- Clarifies through research the background necessary to understand current news
- Develops an understanding of the issues/problems through interviews with varied and balanced sources
- Avoids personal opinion unless properly attributed
- Sentences, paragraphs of varied length, written clearly, concisely and vividly
- Effective use of facts/quotes from both primary and secondary sources
- Proper diction/grammar; use of third person