History and Context Israel and Palestine
"Those who don't study history are condemned to repeat it". What are the roots of this problem? Is history repeating itself? What must be understood to understand the situation, draw valid conclusions, and make workable solutions?
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Oddly, just as the Palestinians moved to construct an entire curriculum free from anti-Semitism, international criticism ... gained increasing steam
Back to Nathan J. Brown homepage| | Another version was circulated by the Search for Common Ground News Service.
The following is a short summary of research on Palestinian textbooks that originally appeared in “Teaching about Terrorism” a publication of CAJE, the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education. Information about the publication can be obtained by calling (212) 268-4210 or by e-mailing publications@caje.org
Then where had the persistent reports of incitement come from? A little digging turned up the ultimate source: an organization calling itself the “Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace” (CMIP). The organization’s publications constituted virtually the only source in English—and certainly the most widely quoted one—on the Palestinian textbooks.
As I dug a little more, I found a series of problems with the organization’s reports. Their method was to follow harsh criticisms with quotation after quotation purporting to prove a point. However, a close reading revealed that many quotations did not support the strong charges. And those that did came not from the 1994 books that I had read but from the Jordanian and Egyptian books that the PA was working to replace. Criticizing the PA for interim use of the books was certainly fair. But the CMIP neglected to mention that the Israeli government distributed the same books in East Jerusalem schools while it refused to distribute the innocuous 1994 “National Education” supplements (because they were clearly written by the PA meaning that their use might have undermined Israeli claims to sovereignty in all of the city). Nor did the report mention the dramatic changes in the supplementary 1994 books. Similarly ignored was a richly documented Palestinian project to devise its new curriculum. A 600-page official report mercilessly criticizing existing educational practices had been published in 1996.In 1997, the Palestinian legislature and cabinet approved the Ministry of Education’s plan—based partly on the 1996 report—to write the new curriculum. Neither document contained anything anti-Israeli or anti-Semitic, so the CMIP showed no interest. ...
...
Yet when the 2000 books came out, the CMIP rushed out a report recirculating the old charges. The report was fairly cavalier in its prose and use of evidence, especially in that anything undermining its claims was overlooked. In 2001, the second and seventh grade texts were published, and the CMIP pressed its claims yet again. In some ways, this latest report is the most responsible, avoiding some of the misleading techniques of earlier documents (such as obscuring the difference between the old and the new books). Yet its strongest charges are simply unsupported by a fair reading of the books. For instance, the CMIP cites an “implicit aspiration to replace the State of Israel with the State of Palestine.” No such aspiration is implicit in the books. Each textbook begins with a foreword describing the West Bank and Gaza as “the two parts of the homeland”—directly contradicting the CMIP’s claim. Nor does the CMIP mention that the Palestinian curriculum plan approved in 1997 envisions introduction of Hebrew as an elective language for secondary-school students—hardly an expected step for a curriculum premised on destruction of the Jewish state.
The CMIP has finally admitted that overt anti-Semitism has been removed, but it has buried its admission in such grudging and qualified prose that most readers missed the point. Oddly, just as the Palestinians moved to construct an entire curriculum free from anti-Semitism, international criticism (generally based on cursory readings of the CMIP report) gained increasing steam. Indeed, past criticisms of the Palestinian textbooks have been so widely and uncritically accepted that I generally receive either confused or highly skeptical stares when I present a less charged version of the books. ...
Back to Nathan J. Brown homepage| | Another version was circulated by the Search for Common Ground News Service.
The following is a short summary of research on Palestinian textbooks that originally appeared in “Teaching about Terrorism” a publication of CAJE, the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education. Information about the publication can be obtained by calling (212) 268-4210 or by e-mailing publications@caje.org
In 1999, I began my research on Palestinian education by reading the only textbooks authored by the Palestinian Authority (PA) up to that point: a 1994 series on “National Education” that was to supplement the Egyptian and Jordanian books then temporarily in use. My reading shocked me---pleasantly. I had heard so much about incitement and anti-Semitism in Palestinian textbooks that I was confused: there was no mention of any location as Palestinian except for those Israel occupied in 1967; no anti-Semitism; only brief and neutral references to Israel; and often awkward attempts to deal with sensitive political issues.
Then where had the persistent reports of incitement come from? A little digging turned up the ultimate source: an organization calling itself the “Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace” (CMIP). The organization’s publications constituted virtually the only source in English—and certainly the most widely quoted one—on the Palestinian textbooks.
As I dug a little more, I found a series of problems with the organization’s reports. Their method was to follow harsh criticisms with quotation after quotation purporting to prove a point. However, a close reading revealed that many quotations did not support the strong charges. And those that did came not from the 1994 books that I had read but from the Jordanian and Egyptian books that the PA was working to replace. Criticizing the PA for interim use of the books was certainly fair. But the CMIP neglected to mention that the Israeli government distributed the same books in East Jerusalem schools while it refused to distribute the innocuous 1994 “National Education” supplements (because they were clearly written by the PA meaning that their use might have undermined Israeli claims to sovereignty in all of the city). Nor did the report mention the dramatic changes in the supplementary 1994 books. Similarly ignored was a richly documented Palestinian project to devise its new curriculum. A 600-page official report mercilessly criticizing existing educational practices had been published in 1996.In 1997, the Palestinian legislature and cabinet approved the Ministry of Education’s plan—based partly on the 1996 report—to write the new curriculum. Neither document contained anything anti-Israeli or anti-Semitic, so the CMIP showed no interest. ...
...
Yet when the 2000 books came out, the CMIP rushed out a report recirculating the old charges. The report was fairly cavalier in its prose and use of evidence, especially in that anything undermining its claims was overlooked. In 2001, the second and seventh grade texts were published, and the CMIP pressed its claims yet again. In some ways, this latest report is the most responsible, avoiding some of the misleading techniques of earlier documents (such as obscuring the difference between the old and the new books). Yet its strongest charges are simply unsupported by a fair reading of the books. For instance, the CMIP cites an “implicit aspiration to replace the State of Israel with the State of Palestine.” No such aspiration is implicit in the books. Each textbook begins with a foreword describing the West Bank and Gaza as “the two parts of the homeland”—directly contradicting the CMIP’s claim. Nor does the CMIP mention that the Palestinian curriculum plan approved in 1997 envisions introduction of Hebrew as an elective language for secondary-school students—hardly an expected step for a curriculum premised on destruction of the Jewish state.
The CMIP has finally admitted that overt anti-Semitism has been removed, but it has buried its admission in such grudging and qualified prose that most readers missed the point. Oddly, just as the Palestinians moved to construct an entire curriculum free from anti-Semitism, international criticism (generally based on cursory readings of the CMIP report) gained increasing steam. Indeed, past criticisms of the Palestinian textbooks have been so widely and uncritically accepted that I generally receive either confused or highly skeptical stares when I present a less charged version of the books. ...
occupied territories are depicted as part of the state of Israel but their Palestinian inhabitants, cities and cultural sites are missing ...
Teaching hate: Israelis and their supporters should look in the mirror | Israel And Friends, Look In The Mirror | Published on 5/28/2007 in Home »Editorial »Letters to The Editor
The worldwide media campaign charging that Palestinians teach their children hate led Nathan Brown of George Washington University to investigate their textbooks.
His report established that the charges are false. (See http://www.geocities.com/nathanbrown1/CAJE.htm)
Another investigation by Le Monde Diplomatique concluded the textbooks' real error was to refute Israel's version of Palestinian history. (Log onto http://mondediplo.com /2001/07/11textbook.)
While many Israelis and supporters terrorize Palestinians, they demonize all Palestinians as terrorists. While they teach intolerance and hate, they claim Palestinians teach their kids hate. Human Rights Watch documented the discrimination against Palestinian-Arab children in Israel's schools. (Log onto www.hrw.org/reports/2001/israel2/)
A study by The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs concluded Israeli textbooks and children's literature promote racism and hatred toward Palestinians and Arabs. (See www.washington-report.org/backissues/0999/9909019.html.)
An article by Dr. Peled-Elhanan of the Hebrew University put it this way: “Palestinians — both the lawful citizens of the state and the ones living under occupation — are presented stereotypically, in racist vocabulary and racist visuals, as a demographic threat . . . their discrimination is represented as a national necessity. . . occupied territories are depicted as part of the state of Israel but their Palestinian inhabitants, cities and cultural sites are missing from maps, photographs and graphs. The books promote the ideal of an Arab-free land as a condition for the existence of the Jewish state.”
Is it any wonder 18-year-old soldiers manning checkpoints beat and humiliate Palestinians old enough to be their grandparents? Many American-Jewish students are likewise indoctrinated during all-expense-paid trips to Israel called “Birthright Israel.” This led some unprejudiced Israelis to offer the educational program “Birthright Unplugged.” Alas, they do not have the resources of the Birthright folks and, to learn the truth, the kids will have to pay their own costs. ...
Teaching hate: Israelis and their supporters should look in the mirror | Israel And Friends, Look In The Mirror | Published on 5/28/2007 in Home »Editorial »Letters to The Editor
The worldwide media campaign charging that Palestinians teach their children hate led Nathan Brown of George Washington University to investigate their textbooks.
His report established that the charges are false. (See http://www.geocities.com/nathanbrown1/CAJE.htm)
Another investigation by Le Monde Diplomatique concluded the textbooks' real error was to refute Israel's version of Palestinian history. (Log onto http://mondediplo.com /2001/07/11textbook.)
While many Israelis and supporters terrorize Palestinians, they demonize all Palestinians as terrorists. While they teach intolerance and hate, they claim Palestinians teach their kids hate. Human Rights Watch documented the discrimination against Palestinian-Arab children in Israel's schools. (Log onto www.hrw.org/reports/2001/israel2/)
A study by The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs concluded Israeli textbooks and children's literature promote racism and hatred toward Palestinians and Arabs. (See www.washington-report.org/backissues/0999/9909019.html.)
An article by Dr. Peled-Elhanan of the Hebrew University put it this way: “Palestinians — both the lawful citizens of the state and the ones living under occupation — are presented stereotypically, in racist vocabulary and racist visuals, as a demographic threat . . . their discrimination is represented as a national necessity. . . occupied territories are depicted as part of the state of Israel but their Palestinian inhabitants, cities and cultural sites are missing from maps, photographs and graphs. The books promote the ideal of an Arab-free land as a condition for the existence of the Jewish state.”
Is it any wonder 18-year-old soldiers manning checkpoints beat and humiliate Palestinians old enough to be their grandparents? Many American-Jewish students are likewise indoctrinated during all-expense-paid trips to Israel called “Birthright Israel.” This led some unprejudiced Israelis to offer the educational program “Birthright Unplugged.” Alas, they do not have the resources of the Birthright folks and, to learn the truth, the kids will have to pay their own costs. ...
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
ISRAEL BREAKS ALL WORLD RECORDS
ISRAEL BREAKS ALL WORLD RECORDS
CONGRATULATIONS, ISRAEL !
It only took you 60 odd years to break every world record !
And now you have finally achieved the unthinkable !
You have succeeded in creating a virtual LIVING HELL !
ISRAEL BREAKS ALL WORLD RECORDS
CONGRATULATIONS, ISRAEL !
It only took you 60 odd years to break every world record !
And now you have finally achieved the unthinkable !
You have succeeded in creating a virtual LIVING HELL !
