Monday, May 29, 2017
Elder of Ziyon
From Haaretz:
The cabinet on Sunday approved a plan to financially induce Arab East Jerusalem schools to switch from the Palestinian curriculum to the Israeli one, as proposed by Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Minister Zeev Elkin.
“The purpose of this five-year plan is to improve the quality of education in East Jerusalem, with an emphasis on encouraging the study of the Israeli curriculum in the schools,” the Education Ministry statement said. “This is part of an effort to improve the quality of life and the environment in the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem, and to enhance the ability of East Jerusalem residents to integrate into the Israeli economy and society, and thus strengthen the economic and social resilience of the entire capital.”
A source involved in the plan in the Education Ministry said, “The Israeli curriculum and the Israeli bagrut is a choice, it’s not required. Anyone who isn’t interested won’t join up. Whoever does join the Israeli curriculum, whether it’s an elementary school or a high school, will get economic incentives like extra teaching hours and curricular hours, an educational envelope, without undermining what was already there. Whoever was teaching the Palestinian curriculum and received X amount of funding will continue to receive it, with the additional budget that will be allocated to the Israeli curriculum.”
Meaning that if Arab schools choose not to adhere to the new curriculum, they don't have to.
But that's not how the PA is reporting this.
Here is their hysterical, lying, over-the-top reaction :
The [Palestinian] Ministry of Education and Higher Education voiced extreme disapproval and rejection of "Israel"s attempt to impose a project aimed at the Judaization of educational curricula in Jerusalem, especially after the announcement of the funding of a five-year "Israeli" government plan under the pretext of improving the quality of education in Jerusalem, which reveals Israelization plans and attempts to attack the elements of the Palestinian national identity.It also called this voluntary plan to give more money and resources to Arab schools a "heinous crime." The media called it "a declaration of war."
The Ministry warned, in a statement on Sunday, of the repercussions and risks of these plans, which demonstrates once again the occupation mentality and policies of the oppressive and racist violation of all international laws and humanitarian norms, notably those related to education, stressing that it will employ all the possibilities to thwart these plans in order to preserve the national identity of education in Jerusalem.
The Ministry called on all human rights, humanitarian and media organizations to expose these schemes affecting education in Jerusalem, stressing the need to devote all efforts to protect education in Jerusalem and address the Israeli attempts to fight national identity in the holy city.
This is instructive. It shows that when the PA goes equally crazy at other stuff, it is just as likely to be exaggerating, lying and using its ability to implicitly threaten violence if it doesn't get its way as leverage towards Western NGOs and governments.
Truth isn't the issue in an honor/shame society. Appearances are. And if they appear to be so upset, well, in the Western view, there must be a logical reason, right?
