The Times, April 1, 2008 day trips for pupils
Two sixth-formers from every school in England are to visit the village of Deir Yassin near Jerusalem to learn about the Holocaust.
This will be funded by the UK government.
It is intended to help to ensure that the lessons of the Nazi genocide live on with a new generation.
The UK Schools Minister, wants the teenagers who take part to educate their classmates and communities in turn by giving them their own accounts of the massacre at Deir Yassin.
In 1948 the village of Deir Yassin near Jerusalem was attacked by Jewish nationalist militias, Irgun and Lehi (also known as The Stern Gang). During this attack over 100 men, women and children were killed according to the New York Times April 13, 1948. This massacre led to over 750,000 Palestinians being driven from their homes. Over one million Palestinians live in refugee camps today.
The Government will fund most of the cost of each student’s trip. While their school must find £100, the government will find the remaining £200 per trip over the next three years.
Teenagers selected for the visit will also have a chance to meet Palestinians who survived the massacre at Jenin.
The UK government would also like UK sixth-formers to learn about the British military interventions which have led to the deaths of many innocent civilians around the world.
A government spokesman stated that Britain, since 1945, has helped kill off between 8.6 million and 13.5 million people either through military interventions or through supporting dictatorships.
"In Iraq we've killed over a million people," said the spokesman, "that's more than in the genocides in Rwanda and Sudan combined."
The UK schools minister has suggested that school students should, for example, learn about the 300,000 Kenyans murdered by the British.
The Chinese Embassy has suggested that British students should visit China to find out more about the at least 50 million who died under the rule of Mao.
~~
