The Washington herald., 1917-12-13
Hebrews Rebel on Boche;
First Clash In Conflict
Holy Land Colonies Refused to Take Teach.
1 ing of German Language and Ideals
at Schools Before War &

The news of the reason for the
! secession of the three members
spread like wildfire in Palestine.
Everywhere, in large centers like
Haifa, Jaffa and Jerusalem, as well
as In the small Jewish colonies, meet
ings were held to protest against the
proceedings OF the committee. From
Haifa q resolution was sent to the
committee in Berlin stating:
81. We, the inhabitants of Palestine,
! are of opinion that both from a ma
| tional and from a practical point OF
view, only a school in which Hebrew
Is the chief language can claim to
, have any raison d'etre in Palestine to-
day; for the Hebrew tongue alone can
unite the various elements of Judaism
in Palestine" ....
In Jerusalem the pupils of the Hilfs-
| vereins Secondary and Technical
Schools. boys near enough to man.
hood to understand what was happen
ing. sent a statement. OF their ideas
and demands, written in Hebrew. TO
the directors of the schools. -
The following demands were made:
II. The German language shall be
freed from, its connection with general
subjects-a connection which did harm
| to both:y German to be taught as a
EuropcaN language.
| ''2. The Jewish school system in Pal
testine must have a Hebrew character.
For this reason all subjects which
have up to the present been taught in
German must now be taught in He
brew"
The directors either ignored these
demands or refused to comply with
them and the boys in Jaffa and Jeru-
salem left the schools.
The teachers of the Hilfsverein
schools handed in a memorial making
demands similar to those made by the
| boys.
The teachers Jared no better than the
pupils.
DIR. Nathan refused to see their
deputies. but in speaking to a few,
he declared he was not in sympa-
thy with the demands. AS they had
no hopes of receiving a satisfactory
reply. a letter signed by Is teach
ers was sent to DR.. Nathan. They
desired to know within four days
whether their demands had been
conceded, and handed in their res
ignations in the event of this not
being the case. They offered. how
ever. to stay on for two months in
order to give the directors time to
replace them.
Teachers Discharged.
Not only were the designations
accepted. but those teachers who
had signed the petition were order
ed to give up heir work immediate
ly. some receiving these instruc-
tions in the middle of a lesson
Those who did not hasten to aban-
don their classrooms were forcibly
evicted by a representative of the
Hilfsverein, accompanied by the
| German consul general.
! The school children, from the
kindergartens up to the highest
grades, promptly boycotted all
schools of the Hilfsverein.
The International Zionist organi-
zation provided for an adequate
school system. truly Hebrew in spir-
it and character. In these schools
there is but one aim, to give to boys
and girls a sound education, to
bring them up in the knowledge OF
all that is best in Hebrew tradition,
| SO that they may use the splendors
of the past to create still greater
splendors for the future.
Most valiant aid in the struggle
against German in Palestine was
given by the German Zionists. and
the struggle itself is a landmark in
the development OF the Jewish ma
1 tional idea.