Israeli School Trips to Auschwitz Should be Banned

Responding to your main contentions-- 1 'History is often just an excuse'Even if it is an excuse, if history is given to these young people, should it not be permitted? I don't think anyone goes to Auschwitz as if it were a theme park and will certainly not come out unscathed. When I went to Auschwitz a fellow student described it as 'a factory of death'; it has a certain sombre atmosphere, a certain gloom, which isn't easily ignored. If they learn and feel this atmosphere, could this weigh up against some of the negative effects of their trip?2 'Nationalistic ideals' Around 75% of the Israeli population is Jewish (1) so I can see perfectly why a political leader might use Holocaust rhetoric for their own political ends. I actually find this point you raise the most concerning. Before Hitler's rise to power, Germany's anti-Semite beliefs and policy of Germanification (of the purity of being German) were deep-rooted. He did not make up these ideas. To hear the same 'us and them' dichotomy used by a politican inciting nationalistic beliefs is concerning. For people to then act upon these beliefs at concentration camps, startling. But, this is a domestic problem and will not be solved by stopping people going to the camps (which have clearly become a symbol of their national identities and suffering). Their actions are the effect and not the cause, though in themselves are inexcusable if physically innocuous. Wouldn't it only stir up and make all the more fervent these nationalistic feelings if they were prevented from going to express their Jewish identities at European concentration camps? I imagine their feeling arise from some of the same problems Germany faced after WW1: a class divide, oppression by international powers and their conflict (with Palestine) which has caused lots of anger and desperation. It is only natural that the youth want to both express this anger (the Youth Bulge theory suggesting they the most likely to partake in social activism) and scapegoat people for nationalistic problems. Their leader is feeding into this by saying, 'they will not put us back into (the) gas chambers'. Non-colonial (interventionist) support and connections need to be offered to Israel to ease their pain; not a restriction on their freedom of movement. To do so would be to anger the nationalistic Israelis and to deprive an opportunity to those who aren't and go to Auschwitz for non-political reasons. Fortunately, unlike Germany's under the Weimar government, the Israeli economy is quite strong given its natural resources-- but this surely only fuels a proliferation of weaponry and conflict. (1) http://www.cbs.gov.il...(2) An explanation of the Israeli-Palestine conflict:http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk...3 Disrespectful of the HolocaustAnimated by their strong emotions, youth behaviour at the concentration camps is surely offensive to many other visitors even if mostly harmless. Zeev Dagani (the principle of the school you cited) said that students felt 'emotional trauma' at Auschwitz-- and so they should. People should still be outraged and angry, not only because of political and cultural resonance with the Jewish people being part of the same social group. No one goes to a concentration camp and just takes selfies and protest. Perhaps disrespectful students could be rebuked by Polish staff and guards for poor behaviour, just as if a child were being disrespectful in any other place where a civilised composure was required. I again essentially see this is a problem of point (2). Their behaviour right now does not seem so damaging as to permit their ban from travelling, but only indicates their intrinsic state and attitudes given what is occuring in their country right now. If they were to physically escalate their actions, then on legal grounds the Polish government could pre-emptively stop an input of Israelis entering concentration camps. 4 Commercial abuses I don't think this is the crux of your argument. If rival and fair companies were established in Israel for sending students to Poland, I think you would still protest on the grounds of points 1-3. I have to agree that economic exploitation is not fair and deprives many poorer students of the opportunity of going. Travel costs however are high; taking the coach/train fairs, flights my research tells me that are around $400 as well as hotel prices. A 20% overprice is nothing but commercially exploiting students (a common international practice) but again (in that article you gave) occurred only with 9 travel bosses. Surely there are other travel industries that schools can communicate with to organise trips.