Textbooks in German schools display a strong political bias against Israel, according to a new report.It reveals a disturbing trend of blaming Israel for the conflict with the Palestinians.And it says teachers in German schools tend to shy away from discussing Israel in class because of fears of sparking unmanageable debates.The report, conducted by the Amadeu Antonio Foundation and the Mideast Freedom Forum, focused on 16 history and politics textbooks used in secondary schools in Berlin and Brandenburg.The Amadeu Antonio Foundation described textbooks as “inadequate, often one-sided and tendentious” in their depiction of Israel.
It said there is a “different weighting of the victims on the Palestinian and Israeli sides.“A mostly paraphrased David versus Goliath narrative is dominant. Terrorist attacks and other acts of violence are sometimes played down or ignored.“Most of the textbooks portray Israel as a war-mongering crisis state and the sole aggressor in the conflict.“Uprisings and violent attacks on Jewish civilians are given a kind of legitimacy because of the dominant image of Israel.“The focus of knowledge transfer at school is on the Six Day War, which is also often presented in a distorted way.”The report says the Second Intifada is “largely ignored in educational material” and there is an “uncritical representation of Hamas” while the failure of the peace process is often blamed on Israel.Israeli settlement building, construction of the security wall and Israeli rejection of the Palestinian right of return are presented as obstacles to peace.But Palestinian terror against the Israeli civilian population is not, says the report.
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