Autumn is the season when school age children return to another year of classes. The children are usually not too eager to see this season come. Lazy days of summer are replaced by homework.
Vacation is replaced by studying.
But in Belfast, Ireland, some Catholic children dread the beginning of school for a very different, much more serious reason. So severe is the hatred between Catholics and Protestants in this city, that riot police escort the mothers who escort the children to class each day. Last month a grenade injured several of the police as they protected the children. But the police cannot shield the children from the jeers, whistles, and angry voices of the crowds. And in Palestine, the ancient rivalry between Arabs and Jews is taking another bloody turn.