Letters to the Editor

Tenderness as a political tool

We met on the Master's in NGO Management at ESADE in 2007. That's 18 years ago! From the start, I sensed that Enric Morist was in a different league than the rest of my classmates. Whether he was talking about data, NGO social intervention, project management, or emergencies, he shone. He made himself heard. He had a warm magnetism. He wasn't a vain or arrogant seducer, but a caring classmate who made you feel the warmth of his manner. You sensed a luminous person who approached the task we all shared in the classroom with true passion.

Years later, I was able to see how he exerted the same influence—motivating and hopeful—on the Red Cross of Catalonia team. And just as in a sad moment at the Roundtable, he delivered a serene and sensible intervention, full of authority, to which everyone yielded and we agreed to rethink our own (un)reasons. He was a tender political activist. Thank you, Enrique, for your mastery!

Eulalia Mas

Director of the Catalan Federation of Social Volunteering (FCVS)

Teachers and authority

I would like to congratulate the headmistress of the Mercè Rodoreda School in Barcelona, ​​Mrs. Àngels Cadena, for her unabashed defense of the need to respect teachers' authority on the program Historias de la escuela (School Stories), recently broadcast on TV3.

If on the first day of school a teacher tells a student in class to please sit properly and take off their hat, they must obey; otherwise, there is no education possible. However, the esteem you earn through your work from your students over time is another matter entirely. Years later, there will be teachers their former students will remember with great esteem, and others they won't even remember, or those they will have terrible memories of. We care for and respect our teachers greatly, because otherwise, we won't have the true education our students deserve.

Josep Vilà Batlle

Olesa de Montserrat

Israel and Palestine

I just read A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy by Nathan Thrall. It's a non-fiction work.

The author is a journalist and analyst of the conflict between Israel and Palestine, living in Jerusalem. The work's starting point is the chronicle of a school bus accident and all the people affected. I think reading it helps us better understand the lives of all those born in the midst of this conflict, which, in every way, conditions them for life. Nathan Thrall tells us the story of a land that is a source of conflict, and he does so from the outside, without judging, but exposing all its cruelty.

Eulalia Rodríguez Pitarque

Torroella de Montgrí

Racing in abundance

This Sunday there will be another urban race in Barcelona. It seems strange on a Sunday that doesn't feature one sporting event or another.

Years ago, a high-quality photo exhibition was held in the central pedestrian area of Rambla de Catalunya (only on a section of this city artery). The City Council was quick to say that it would never be held again due to the inconvenience (?) it caused to the free movement of citizens.

During sporting events (races), many streets are closed for hours, but I understand that this fact is not inconvenient at all. Culture is superfluous; sport is not. That's how we are.

Joan Soldevila Adán

Barcelona