The Hazan of the Sarajevo Synagogue, Igor Kozemjakin, shared with the public an unpleasant scene yesterday when a group of students came to visit this religious building, but some of them stayed in front because their parents forbade them to enter.
A fifth grade student of the Tenth Elementary School Ilidza visited religious and cultural sites in Sarajevo, specifically Stari Grad, which comprises mosques, churches, and synagogues as well as museums and theaters. However, not all the students wanted or were allowed to visit all the planned locations.
Despite the school's desire to teach the students to the multiculturalism of Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina BiH, a part of them remained in front of the synagogue, considering that they did not have their parent's permission to visit this religious building.
Today, students from the Tenth Elementary School Ilidza visited our synagogue. There were a few children who did not enter the synagogue because they did not have their parents' permission. That's sad, Kozemjakin said yesterday.
Refik Dacic, the head of the school, said an excursion was being held yesterday for the students of that school, with the goal of introducing them to cultural, historical and religious objects in the city.
We have 600 students who visit all cultural, historical, and religious buildings, and we never have any problems there. We cannot influence whether an individual will forbid their child from going to the church, mosque, theater, cinema, but the school s policy is to glorify the multiculturalism of our city and country, Dacic said.
For every visit, they must obtain written consent from their parents, he said, but that this was missing in several cases. However, he feels that the emphasis should not be on that, but on what was done well.
We welcome children in the spirit of multiculturalism, but we cannot influence individuals. I would be the last person to support such a thing, but we cannot influence parents, Klix.ba reported.