During the 2021-2022 school year following the Covid-19 pandemic Judge found themselves at a loss: there was nobody to teach freshman computer science. After a long and tiresome search, the vacuum was filled by a man by the name of Mr. Salah Jardali who taught computer science over Zoom from his home in South Lebanon. It may seem unorthodox to teach a high school class while in another country, but this progressive teaching style and commitment to learning is exactly what Judge was looking for in their new computer science teacher.

But what a difference a year makes. Now Jardali finds himself living in a war zone.

After a search for a school that met his standards of high-quality education in Lebanon left him empty handed, Jardali decided to look for other options. “Unfortunately, there are a lot of schools in the middle east that are pure profit schools that don’t desire to teach their students well.” Eventually, out of what seems to be pure luck, he stumbled upon the Judge Memorial website. After further inspection Jardali found that the goal of Judge to maintain high performing students and their progressive teaching methods made him a perfect candidate to teach here. After meeting with admin and staff Mr. Jardali found that his intentions aligned with that of Judge even more than he thought initially, so he joined the team. Mr. Jardali taught for one full year and ended his time with Judge over the summer, but he is still very much a part of the Judge community.

Mr. Jardali never ended up moving to the United States and ended up staying in Lebanon where he no longer teaches, but rather works with his father in manufacturing to implement greater computational technologies into the world of kitchenware. Jardali said that while it was difficult to step away from his love for teaching, he is still very happy with his new line of work.

Considering that Jardali’s home is in Sidon, Lebanon, situated directly north of Israel, he has been living in a highly tense and, at times, violent area. Conflict often breaks out between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon on the southern border, which is very close to where Jardali lives now. Jardali said that the town in which he lives is “the center of the risk.” He attests that recent times have been scary for him and his family and that living in the south of Lebanon can be dangerous because of how frequently and spontaneously conflict breaks out on that border.

“The big problem is that civilians are paying the price,” Jardali said, “children, women, boys, girls, grandfathers, grandmothers. A lot of families are killed in this situation. We need to stop this happening.”

The conflict in the Middle East comes as a result of generations of dispute between Israel and Palestine over who owns, and who is entitled to, the land that is the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip has always played a pivotal part in the political dynamic of the surrounding region. Additionally, the place’s religious and military significance makes it a valuable piece of land to possess.

In January of 2006, the Palestinian people elected Hamas as a people’s government or people’s militia. Tensions built over time until war was officially declared on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

The Israeli government estimates 1,200 people were killed and about 250 were taken hostage on the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. According to Save the Children, over 10,600 children have been killed in the conflict waged in Gaza. As of January 2024, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Friday that the territory’s death toll has climbed to more than 26,000 people with more than 64,400 wounded in more than three months of war.

These are frightening statistics, especially as Jardali and his wife recently brought a new baby boy into the world.

Having a newborn baby certainly makes the conflict and tension in the Middle East, including the fighting that has taken place within the last six months just miles from Jardali’s home, all the more worrying.

Despite this, Jardali said him and his wife are trying to live a normal life and raise their son with the love and care he deserves.

“We want to stay, we want to work in a good and healthy environment. Not a toxic one,” Jardali said. “We have to live our life.”

Jardali opened up about his view of the situation and noted that this continual conflict in the Middle East comes from a lack of tolerance and a deep hatred festered between Israel and Palestine.

Spoken truly like a teacher, Jardali said that we need to learn to accept and love, rather than kill and hate.

“We have to give all the people lessons on how to accept one another, instead of ‘I have to kill this guy. He has to kill the other one.’ Don’t. We are not like this. We have to be people who learn from our experiences in previous wars like World War I, World War II.”

Jardali harkened back to his core idea of acceptance over hatred when he said: “No one can win. In the end, no one can win because the Israeli and Palestinian people will strive to stay in their homeland. We need to try to accept each other.”

Jardali has witnessed this conflict firsthand, and nobody can speak more accurately to the severity of the conflict than him. This story is nothing but an accurate portrayal of the grim reality of this conflict; being able to talk with somebody firsthand about the events in the Middle East has been eye-opening, and the Bulldog Press sends nothing but their best wishes to Mr. Jardali and his family.