So, I saw some right-wing blogger post this image with the title “Israel has it right! But America and other SOCIALIST countries won’t let teachers do the right thing and protect themselves!”
I was about to reblog it, because none of that seemed right to me, but I didn’t know for sure, so I decided to ask a friend who grew up in Israel. After laughing for a solid minute, he said:
1) Israel is a socialist country. America is not.
2) Teachers in Israel do not, in fact, carry automatic assault rifles around with them.
And then I couldn’t find the post, and I was sad, because I wanted to share it with all of you so we could laugh together, but it turns out that rumor is so pervasive that Israel Today had to address it. As they said:
There is a picture going around the Internet that I have seen about a dozen times today that claims that Israeli teachers are packing heat. Well, are they? The answer is “NO.” There may be some exceptions in dangerous areas like the West Bank (where five percent of Israelis live), but in general, Israeli teachers are not walking around like it’s the Wild Wild West, strapped with a six shooter. No, our teachers are not focused on shooting, but educating.
They go on to say the person is probably not a teacher at all, but a security guard. So. For your edification.