Rajeef and I went up to the classroom, feeling sad and disappointed. We sat frowning in our seats. I asked the teacher if I could speak to the class. She said I could. I said to the class, `I want to ask you to think about what happened in the playground. Look at Rajeef. He is part of this class, working with us and taking part in all classroom activities. We cannot exclude him from our activities outside the classroom.â I stopped talking and returned to my place. Bassem suddenly broke the silence, saying, `I feel that I have been unfair towards Rajeefâ. Amer added, `I feel that too. We are all the same in some ways and different in other ways. And we have to respect that.â
`After class, Letâs go back and ďŹnish the game, letting everyone participate.â I said enthusiastically, we went back to the playground. Rajeef went quickly and took his place in midďŹeld. All through the game, he played brilliantly - skillfully stopping the attacks of the opposing team and passing the ball brilliantly to his forwards. He played fairly, and with a skill and ingenuity that impressed everyone. Rajeefâs team won the match. As soon as the match was over, we all ran to Rajeef. We carried him on our shoulders and ran with him across the playground. We shouted, âGo Rajeef, Go!, Go Rajeef, Go!, Go Rajeef, Go!.â