Thursday, August 29, 2013
Elder of Ziyon
The director of education in Jerusalem has urged families with schoolchildren in Jerusalem to be aware that at least five Palestinian schools are switching to Israeli education materials.Sure - much better to brainwash kids by claiming there was no Temple, that Israel is uniquely evil, and that Jerusalem has no importance to Jews.
Sameer Jibril said the Ebin Rushd and Abdulla bin Hussain schools were using Israeli education materials in the seventh and eighth grades. The Sour Baher school is using them for fourth, fifth and sixth grades, and the Ibin Khaldoun school uses it for seventh graders.
An education official told Ma’an that a meeting took place on Thursday in Herzliya near Tel Aviv for Palestinian and Israeli principals and teachers to discuss switching from Palestinian Authority to Israeli curricula.
The Israeli municipality in Jerusalem offered to increase salaries for teachers and principals who agree to implement the plans in their schools, the official said. The proposal would add about 2,000 shekels (about $550) per student enrolled in schools using Israeli curricula.
A teacher who identified himself as Jibril told Ma'an that using Israeli curricula was a "violation" of Palestinian culture and history.
"This step is very dangerous and touches the awareness of Palestinians in Jerusalem in an effort to brainwash them and control them, especially young generations.”
Among the concerns Palestinian teachers have about the materials are maps purporting to depict the state of Israel which include the West Bank and identify Palestinian territory by Jewish Biblical names.
It also includes history lessons about the destruction of a Jewish temple in Jerusalem, which the texts separately identify as the capital of Israel despite an international consensus that the city is occupied.
Another section depicts a conversation between three Arab students who praise Israel's development of Palestinian cities and decide to sing the Israeli national anthem.
Other points of concern include a photograph of the separation wall along with a caption identifying it as Israel's "security fence," and another referring to Israel as a bastion of human rights and democracy.
I asked an Arabic speaker to translate the supposedly offensive passages for me, rather than relying on Ma'an.
"The occupation of Urushalim and the Destruction of the Temple ". It doesn't call Jerusalem "Al Quds" in this case, but it is referring to historic times.
This is the closest one to propaganda, although it is hardly different than one would find in any country's school textbooks:
Dina: The state (Israel) has built and embellished our Arab cities and villages a lot.
Ahmad: And it brought electricity to the schools and shops.
Khaled: And the elderly and the children benefit from Social Security.
Together: Then let's sing the [Israeli National anthem].
Under the section "King Solomon and his works/deeds", there is a sub-section titled "The Building of the Temple ". (See here for some interesting background on how Muslims always accepted that there was a Temple before Al Aqsa mosque.)
Jerusalem is shown on the mas as "Urushalim Al-Quds," something Arabs never call it. The Judean Mountains are referred to as "Judean Mountains " and not as "Jibal Al-Khalil" – "the Hebron Mountains", i.e. the Arab name.
The cover of an Israeli school book titled "Towards Democracy in Israel – Civic Studies" Terrible!
The caption reads: "In the Picture: The Security Fence. Israel built a fence along some parts of its border in order to separate it from its neighbors. This fence is known as the "Security Fence".
The title of the school book: "Living Together in Israel". Horrors!
Title of the section: "Al-Quds – the capital city of Israel "
The Jewish Population
Around 5.5 million Jews live in the State of Israel (2007). Jews lived in this country (The Land of Israel) many years ago, but most of them left after other nations/peoples conquered it, and for many years, the majority of the Jewish people lived in various countries around the world. In these countries they suffered a lot from hatred and discrimination against them and their religion. Throughout all these years, they longed for this country and wanted to return to it. The Jews who began to return to it wanted to establish a state for the Jewish people in it. In 1948, that is around 60 years ago, Israel was established as a Jewish and democratic state. Today, the majority of the people in the state of Israel are Jews, but still many Jews live abroad…
Seeing what the Palestinian Arabs regard as offensive tells us far more about their intolerance and their own desire to brainwash their kids than about any supposed Israeli hasbara towards schoolchildren.
(h/t Ibn Boutros)
