The Minister of Education, Yoav Kisch, reversed a 20 year precedent last week, and decided not to allow Parents Circle–Bereaved Families Forum (PCFF) to operate in Israeli high schools. The New Israel Fund, in response, provided the organization with an emergency grant of NIS 100,000 (about $26,700). This decision is part of the current government’s larger plan to erode the right of free speech, and weaken civil society. 

The bereaved families who participate in the forum’s activities are modeling an alternative to the cycle of violence and hatred in Israel. Through sheer recognition of the other’s existence, members of this group both offer each other respect and a path towards finding a common future.

In response to the ban, the PCFF circulated a petition calling for the reversal of the decision. They also took action, holding one of their programs on educational dialogue in  high schools outside of the Minister of Education’s house.