{"id":7390,"date":"2024-06-27T15:02:09","date_gmt":"2024-06-27T19:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=7390"},"modified":"2024-06-27T15:02:11","modified_gmt":"2024-06-27T19:02:11","slug":"school-community-reacts-to-middle-east-conflict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=7390","title":{"rendered":"School community reacts to Middle East conflict"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

1st Place, News Analysis
<\/strong>2023-24, Division 4, News Writing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Jaeha Jang
<\/strong>The Crane-Clarion
Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey were running to the bomb shelter,\u201d Kaplan said. \u201cIt was just really hard in those first few days, especially when we didn’t know what was going on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cfor as long as I can remember.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring Ramadan, you hear, the Palestinians, they’re being bombed again, right?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming together<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an Oct. 11 email to the Upper School community, Director of Schools Jeff Suzik addressed \u201cthe recent horrific events in Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank,\u201d condemning \u201cacts of terrorism, the targeting of civilians, and the loss of innocent lives\u201d and recommending resources to help young people process trauma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe school did that little email, but Ayelet and I didn\u2019t think it said enough,\u201d said junior Kendyl Kaufman, a JCC co-president whose Israeli cousin is serving in the IDF. \u201cWe wanted more of a clear explanation, one that made more sense\u2013\u2013against Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the Muslim community especially, some people feel like, if they say the wrong thing, their lives will be ruined,\u201d he said. \u201cThey feel like, if they say the wrong thing, then they won\u2019t get into college.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Khan has been one of the few outspoken supporters of the Palestinian cause on the Upper School campus, especially on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you see people posting things that are basically the opposite of what you believe in or what you post,\u201d he said, \u201cthere could be a little tension if you just see them in the hallway, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe noticed a really big divide,\u201d she said. \u201cSo we wanted to help close that a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Listening Circle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After school on Nov. 8, members of the JCC and MSA attended a listening circle, \u201can indigenous practice that is rooted in storytelling and listening to the experiences of others with the intention to understand and build connections,\u201d according to Carla Young, Director of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The circle \u201cbasically prompted everybody to listen,\u201d Ali said. \u201cIn the end, everybody got to understand one another \u2026 because we were feeling a lot of the same things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaplan called the meeting \u201ca step in the right direction\u201d but regretted a lack of openness among participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey were being very careful because they didn’t want it to turn into a political fight, which makes sense to some extent,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it also meant that people felt uncomfortable saying everything they felt like they wanted to say, so it’s a hard balance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The clubs plan on more collaborations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn order for us to support our community, we need to first listen to what the needs and the experiences of the community are,\u201d MSA advisor Zaineb Hussain said. \u201cThis structure allowed us to do that so that we could move forward in thoughtful and intentional ways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaufman believes the meeting helped relieve the tension she feels on campus, though some tension will always exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cObviously, there\u2019s a war going on, and people have their beliefs,\u201d she said, \u201cbut I don’t think it’s as severe now that we’ve been in a room together.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NW-05. News Analysis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Stories should be interpretive in nature, not straight news stories. The elements \u201cwhy\u201d and \u201chow\u201d should be examined through research, but the writer\u2019s opinions should not be expressed. An analysis covers issues and problems that relate to specific events of a news nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judging Criteria<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Sharp, attention-getting lead that underscore the why\/how elements of the news<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Clarifies the news elements, i.e. timeliness, nearness, impact and prominence<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Clarifies through research the background necessary to understand current news<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Develops an understanding of the issues\/problems through interviews with varied and balanced sources<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Avoids personal opinion unless properly attributed<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Sentences, paragraphs of varied length, written clearly, concisely and vividly<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Effective use of facts\/quotes from both primary and secondary sources<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Proper diction\/grammar; use of third person<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    1st Place, News Analysis2023-24, Division 4, News Writing By Jaeha JangThe Crane-ClarionCranbrook 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[53,4],"tags":[207,23],"class_list":{"0":"post-7390","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-newsanalysis","7":"category-nw","8":"tag-2023-24","9":"tag-division4","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"PJ Pfeiffer","author_link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?author=15"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6K0n6-1Vc","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7390\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}