<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Arabic Media Internet Network</TITLE><BASE
href=http://www.amin.org/eng/uncat/2002/mar/mar28.html>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"><LINK
href="../../../../css.css" type=text/css rel=stylesheet>
<META content="Imad Abu Jebara" name=Webmaster>
<META
content="AMIN - Arabic Media Internet Network - A Project that aims at empowering Arabic speaking journalists and Media Personnel. Provides coverage of news and current events, training and support through the use of Internet as an Alternative media source."
name=Description>
<META
content="News, Arab News, Middle East News, Palestine Israel News, Peace Process,Arab Israeli Conflict, Jordan News, Palestine Info, Empowerment, censorship, pluralist, Arabic Chat,Internews"
name=KeyWords>
<META content="MSHTML 5.50.4134.600" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY text=#000000 bgColor=#ffffff leftMargin=2 topMargin=2 marginheight="2"
marginwidth="2">
<DIV> </DIV><A name=top></A>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width="100%" border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD class=logo align=middle><A href="http://www.amin.org/"><IMG height=50
alt="Arabic Media Internet Network" src="../../../../images/logo.jpg"
width=600 border=0></A></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=center align=middle><IMG height=60
src="../../../../images/amazon.gif" width=468> </TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=center align=middle>
<TABLE class=tb cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%" align=center
border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=center align=middle><A class=toolbar
href="../../../aboutus/index.html"></A><A class=toolbar
href="../../../../aboutus/index.html"></A><A class=toolbar
href="../../../../aboutus/index.html"></A><A class=toolbar
href="../../../../index.html">Main Page</A> | <A class=toolbar
href="../../../../aboutus/index.html">Amin in brief </A>|<A
class=toolbar href="../../../../news/index.html"> News and
Reports</A> | <A class=toolbar
href="../../../../views/index.html">Opinions & Editorials</A> |
<A class=toolbar href="../../../../cartoon/index.html">Cartoons</A>
| <A class=toolbar href="../../../../jourmag/index.html">News
Stand</A> | <A class=toolbar
href="../../../../pages/index.html">Journalists & Pages</A> | <A
class=toolbar href="../../../../isrl/index.html">Israeli Press</A> |
<A class=toolbar href="http://chat.amin.org/">Arabic Chat </A>| <A
class=toolbar href="../../../../guest_entry.html">Guest
Book</A></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width="100%" align=center border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR vAlign=center align=middle>
<TD>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" align=center border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD class=amin vAlign=center align=left>AMIN: <A class=aminlink
href="../../../../index.html">Main Page</A> > <A class=aminlink
href="../../../index.html">English News</A> > Misc
News</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class=texten20 vAlign=top align=left>
<P><B>March 28, 2002</B></P>
<P class=pagestitles align=center>Comparing Palestinian and Israeli
Textbooks</P>
<P><B>By: Ruth Firer and Sami Adwan*</B></P>
<P>In our research on Palestinian and Israeli textbooks during the past
several years, we have found that the books used in each society reflect
the conflict in which they are both engaged, and are also part of a wider
societal mechanism to ensure that the conflict becomes part of the
development of children's identities. While there has been a great deal of
controversy regarding Palestinian textbooks in particular, we believe it
is important to compare the Israeli and Palestinian textbooks to each
other, rather than to look at only one set by itself, in order to get a
complete picture of the role they play in peace education or the opposite.
</P>
<P>We analyzed Palestinian history and civics textbooks for middle
schools, as well as the primary-level textbooks used in all types of
Palestinian schools: public, private, and UNRWA. The Israeli sample
included only the most commonly used texts among the numerous Israeli
textbooks in history and civics, as well as Israeli readers for the first
six grades of primary school (for the secular, religious, and
ultra-Orthodox schools). </P>
<P><B>Palestinian Texts</B></P>
<P>In September 2000, for the first time in Palestinian history, 29
Palestinian texts for grades one and six were introduced into schools. In
addition, 16 textbooks for grades two and seven were introduced in
September 2001. The Ministry of Education plans to introduce texts for two
grades at the beginning of each school year to ensure that the transition
is smooth and incremental. In the meantime, Jordanian and Egyptian
textbooks will be used in the remaining grades.</P>
<P>At present, the Palestinian curriculum system is centralized, which
means that the Ministry of Education through the Palestinian Curriculum
Center commissions textbook authors, produces the textbooks, and then
distributes them to all schools regardless of the supervising authority of
the school. In accordance with the Palestinian curriculum plan, however,
the system will gradually be decentralized.</P>
<P>The new Palestinian textbooks were found to reflect Palestinian life
and reality, as well as the diversity within Palestinian society. They
talk about Palestinian culture and tradition, and focus on building
Palestinian identity as part of the Arab world. </P>
<P>The texts teach Palestinian students to respect human rights, justice,
peace, equality, freedom, and tolerance, in terms of both self and others.
They caution students to avoid extremism and stereotypes, and encourage
them to treat all people equally. The books also encourage tolerance among
religions and ask students to respect the freedom of religion. The
students are taught to protect all religious places as well.</P>
<P>Palestinian students are warned in the texts about the terrible results
of wars and conflict, and are encouraged instead to resort to negotiation
and peaceful forms of conflict resolution. They are told that wars only
leave people with death and destruction. The texts discuss the Oslo
Accords as a step toward peace and as a sign of breaking the enmity and
the long period of conflict. Students learn about Gandhi and his form of
civil disobedience, and are asked to relate to other stories of peaceful
forms of conflict resolution. We found no incitement for the use of
violence at all. </P>
<P>The new Palestinian textbooks define the future independent Palestinian
state within the 1967 borders as described in UN Resolutions. The few maps
that are included mainly show the PNA areas, although some mention Israeli
towns and cities. At the same time, students are taught to cooperate and
develop good relationships with neighboring states. Arab East Jerusalem
(Al-Quds Al-Sharif) is presented in the textbooks as part of the Occupied
Territories and the future capital of Palestine. </P>
<P>The books portray Jews throughout history in a positive manner and
avoid negative stereotypes. However, according to the everyday experience
of Palestinians, modern-day Israelis are presented as occupiers. The texts
include examples of Israelis killing and imprisoning Palestinians,
demolishing their homes, uprooting fruit trees, and confiscating their
lands and building settlements on them. The texts also talk about the
right of return for the 1948 Palestinian refugees when describing how
those refugees live in camps. </P>
<P><B>Israeli Texts</B></P>
<P>The Israeli Ministry of Education publishes and recommends a list of
texts from which teachers can choose, although others are available from
the textbook market in Israel. The primary-level textbooks that were
analyzed are used by three different audiences: secular, religious, and
ultra-Orthodox. Those used in secular schools (which includes more than
60% of the students in Hebrew-language primary schools) are based on
education towards patriotism on the one hand and individual and social
human rights on the other, according to internationally accepted values.
They include children's rights, freedom of expression, and the uniqueness
of the individual. The books also include exercises in self-criticism,
analytical thinking, acknowledgment of emotions and skills for controlling
them, as well as dialogue with others. While Western values are the source
of the human rights described in the secular textbooks, the values in the
religious textbooks are derived from the "Halacha" (the Jewish religious
laws and way of life). </P>
<P>The protagonists of the secular textbooks are children who learn to be
themselves, to cope with family, friends, school, and their national
identity. In the religious textbooks, the children are part of the
collective that is built on hierarchy and the roles defined by Judaism.
Zionist ideology is the main pillar of the secular books. Accordingly, the
sovereign state of Israel is presented as the only answer for the
historical Jewish problem and as the only alternative for the Jewish
nation. The secular textbooks also include stories about Arab children
(Jordanian and Palestinian) who play or would like to play with their
Israeli peers. Messages of peace with the neighbors are integrated
explicitly and implicitly into the texts. </P>
<P>The textbooks used in the state religious primary schools are as
Zionist as the books designated for secular schools, but in a different
way. These texts enhance religious-national education, strongly
emphasizing the collective values connected to the history of the Jewish
nation in "their land" and God's promises to the Jews that give them an
absolute right on the land. The land of Eretz Israel described in the
books includes the territories of the PNA from 1967. In addition, stories
and poems about religious and national holidays are based on the
existential threat posed to Jews and Israelis by the "others." These
stories include wars, loss, and pain caused by the "others" through the
generations. Many of the chapters describe "the good land," sometimes
called "our birthplace" or "homeland" ("moledet" in Hebrew), and include
photos of places that are in the PNA or are in dispute between the two
nations (i.e., East Jerusalem). They are presented without the
national-political debate, and as naturally belonging to the Israeli
state. Such textbooks are used in almost 20% of the Jewish state schools.
</P>
<P>The primary-level textbooks for the ultra-Orthodox community are used
by less than 20% of the autonomous schools (which are not supervised by
the Israeli Ministry of Education) and ignore the state of Israel,
Independence Day (the war of 1948), and Holocaust Commemoration Day. They
heavily emphasize God's promise of the whole of Eretz Israel to the Jews,
and include photos from all the places considered to be part of Jewish
land. In both kinds of religious textbooks, the "others" are the "Goyyim"
(Gentiles), which includes Arabs of all nationalities. </P>
<P>The Palestinians, as such, are not found in any of the three types of
primary-level textbooks. In these readers, the Palestinian minority in
Israel and the PNA Palestinians are referred to as Arabs. Tolerance and
peace-oriented texts with the "others" were found only in the secular
primary-level textbooks. All of the textbooks strongly recommend values of
tolerance and camaraderie within the defined kin collective, meaning their
own group in Israel. </P>
<P><B>Conclusion</B></P>
<P>While we, argue, of course, that school textbooks are an important
element in peace education, the main "textbook" is life outside schools
and the oral presentations by teachers that reflect the public's general
feelings. Currently, such oral and real-life instruction is far from
conveying genuine peace education messages. Since the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict has not been resolved, modifying textbooks is problematic. As
part of a true peace process, both Palestinians and Israelis have to
revise their textbooks to clearly reflect the values of peace
education.</P>
<P>*This article is based on the findings of a recently completed
bilateral research project on Israeli and Palestinian textbooks to be
published as a book by The George Eckert International Institute of
Textbooks Research in Germany. Primary support for this research was
provided by the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of
Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The research was also
supported by the United States Institute of Peace and UNESCO. </P>
<P>**Ruth Firer is director of peace education projects at the Harry S.
Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem. Sami Adwan is a professor of education at Bethlehem University
in Bethlehem. The article was distributed by the Common Ground News
Service (CGNews).</P></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class=texten20 align=right><IMG height=10
src="../../../../images/up.gif" width=11> <A class=link
href="#top">Top</A></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD align=middle>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" align=center border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD class=footer vAlign=center align=middle>© 2001 Arabic Media
Internet Network - Internews Middle East - Site Designed by Imad Abu
Jebara </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></BODY></HTML>