Pages

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Egyptian professor in trouble for putting Israel on a map

A geography professor at Helwan University in Egypt recently lectured about agriculture and crops in the Middle East, and referred to Israel as a country. Her map mentioned Israel and not "Palestine."

Naturally, the students were aghast. They complained to her about it - after all, as a geography professor, she should be committed to propaganda rather than facts. She answered them that when she said Israel, she meant Israel, which is a nation that is recognized by the whole world, and to rename it Palestine is a delusion.

So, the students went up the chain of command, to the university president. They also started a Facebook campaign against the professor, and have held meetings stressing that such maps should never say "Israel" as this is a form of normalization with a state that they have officially been at peace with for over thirty years.

(corrected "him" to "her", h/t Suzanne, and more information here.)