A conflict involves at least two parties - the oppressor and the oppressed - the right and the wrong. However, when analyzing the consequences of conflict in different facets of life, we tend to ignore how the actions of the 'oppressed' and 'right' contribute to the detriments resulting from the conflict. Let us take the case of Palestine and Israel. Israeli airstrikes often targeted educational facilities in Palestine, including schools and universities. As a result, numerous instructors and students have been killed or detained, educational facilities have been destroyed, and classes have been halted many times in most Palestinian territories.
On the flip side, the militant organization Hamas which has been governing the Gaza strip since 2007, has been involved in various attacks on students, schools, and educational infrastructure in Israel. A student was killed in the Shaar HaNegev school bus attack on April 7, 2011, when terrorists from Hamas in the Gaza Strip fired a Kornet laser-guided over the border at an Israeli school bus. Similarly, Hamas has been responsible for several abductions of Israeli students. These incidents indeed would have disrupted the educational system in Israel.
I am not passing judgment on which side is right or wrong, but education has suffered at the hands of both parties involved in this conflict.
We've always heard that it's the common man who suffers the brunt of men in power being petty, and wars in general. This course has given me an opportunity to look at it from an educational point of view. This reminds me of two things - the current situation and the 1971 war.
A couple of weeks back, our political leaders deicded to 'fight againt injustice' and wreak havoc. Motorway was jammed and other activities including education was halted. News channels kept stressing on the economic turmoil and the stock market going down. There was mention of education institutes closing in the passing but no one really mentioned how the hault of education wasn't ideal and detrimental in some ways.…
I believe in most cases it’s the innocent people who suffer. In this case it’s the children who suffer. They do not get proper education simply because they were unfortunately born in a region that is facing conflict. They also attack schools because they do not want another generation growing up, of the people that they are attacking. They do not want to war to be prolonged. Attacking educational institutions also means that people are afraid to send their children to school and a large part of their people remain uneducated. Education suffers in conflict because it takes a back seat. This leads to children not receiving proper education until and unless something is done about the conflict.
Your blog made me think of the Syrian conflict in this light as well where armed conflict between opposition forces and the Syrian government has wreacked havoc for over a deacde. In this case, the main actors are the Syrian government—backed by Russia and Iran—and anti-government rebel groups—backed by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and others in the region. Neither of these two sides fit cleanly into the two categories of oppressed and oppressor as both sides have regularly attacked schools and prevented students from gaining access to education. In many areas controlled by the Syrian government, students do not attend school/university out of fear of being harassed, tortured or taken into custody for speaking up against the government's…