The Jerusalem Post reports that the “mention of the Arab term nakba or ‘catastrophe’ in an official third-grade Education Ministry textbook for Arab schoolchildren caused an uproar among Israeli politicians on Sunday.” The decision was announced by Education Minister Yuli Tamir, one of the founders of Peace Now. Haaretz reports as follows:
In an unprecedented move, the ministry has approved a geography text for third-grade children that says some Arab citizens were expelled from their homes and became refugees because their villages were destroyed during and after the war. The textbook — "Lihyot Yahad Beyisrael" ("Living Together in
Israel"), an Arabic translation of a Hebrew text published about a year ago, is slated to be integrated into the curriculum in the coming school year.
Coincidentally, the Palestinian Authority recently introduced new textbooks itself. In a major report issued earlier this year, Palestinian Media Watch reported that:
At the end of 2006, the Palestinian Authority (PA) Ministry of Higher Education introduced new 12th grade schoolbooks, written by the Center for Developing the Palestinian Curricula. The center is comprised of Palestinian educators appointed by the Fatah governments of Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas . . . . responding to widespread international criticism of the old textbooks . . . .
Here is how the new Palestinian 12th grade textbooks describe what happened in 1948, after the Arabs refused a two-state solution and sent armies from five nations to destroy the U.N. approved state of Israel:
"Palestine’s war ended with a catastrophe that is unprecedented in history, when the Zionist gangs stole Palestine and expelled its people from their cities, their villages, their lands and their houses, and established the State of Israel." [Arabic Language, Analysis, Literature and Criticism, grade 12, p. 104 ]
The report has example after example that makes the above excerpt look tame. The report summarizes the references to “
The following terms all replace
Israel, its founders, and status: “The Zionist enemy;" “The Zionist entity;” “The enemy of this people;” “The Zionist gangs;” “Zionist Imperialist plan.” Israel’s creation is “the occupation;” “stole Palestine;” “stole its land;” “in 1948, when the Jews occupied Palestine.” . . . . With these as the educational messages, the next generation of Palestinian youth is actively being prevented from having any reasonable possibility of accepting Israel as a neighbor in reconciliation and peace.
The Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas: “Educating Our Children to Live Side by Side, in Peace and Security.” ®
Palestinian children commemorating the "Nabka" earlier this year, with maps not showing Israel. (AP Photo).