Textbooks Still
Don’t
Meet International Standards
(July 2005)
This is the fifth in
a series of surveys by the Center for Monitoring
the Impact of Peace (CMIP) on the new school
textbooks published by the Palestinian
Authority (PA) as part of the general
project that began in 2000 to replace all
the textbooks that were then in use in the
PA schools. The present report covers the
latest issue of 30 textbooks that were published
by the PA Ministry of Education in 2004 for
grades 5 and 10. CMIP has again adopted the
same method followed in its earlier reports
and applied the same criteria.
The findings are as follows:
Though Christianity and Judaism are
presented as Heavenly religions like Islam,
very little is taught about them in the textbooks
(except, of course, about Christianity in
Christian Education textbooks that are intended
for Christian students in the Palestinian
school system). Also, Islam and the Muslims
are portrayed as superior to all other religions
and their respective followers. For example,
the Qur'an alone
is safeguarded by God against
loss and distortion, unlike sacred books
of other religions, and Jews and Christians
- unlike Muslims - are not part of “Abraham's
nation.”
The Jews are hardly mentioned in historical
contexts either in antiquity or in modern
times (except in a special section on Zionism).
Their strong historical ties to Palestine
are virtually ignored - even in Christian
Education textbooks that speak of Old and New
Testament events. At the same time, the Canaanites, and all other ancient nations
in the region, are presented as Arab
nations,
the forebears of the Arabs, including the
Palestinians, of today.
Although a seemingly objective quotation
from the late Zionist and Israeli leader David
Ben-Gurion is given and an attempt is made to present
Zionism's history objectively, Zionism is depicted as
a racist movement with a strong connection to Western
Imperialism. Moreover, the infamous “Protocols
of the Elders of Zion” are treated as a historical
document, said to constitute an integral part of Zionism,
and described as the confidential resolutions of the
first Zionist congress.
For example, in the tenth grade level
textbook History of the Modern and Contemporary
World, Zionism is depicted as "a racist ideology
and political movement that...coincided with the appearance
of modern European Imperialism, because Zionism itself
is a racist-imperialisitc movement and because it, in
its reality, constitutes an integral part of world capitalism."
It is in this section of the textbook where the authors
claim that the Jews at the first
Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland adopted the
"Protocols of the Elders of Zion" in order
to achieve world domination.
As in earlier school books published by
the PA, there is no recognition of any Jewish
holy place as such.
Similarly, Israel is
not recognized as a sovereign state. Its
name does not appear on any of the maps where,
in some cases, the name “Palestine” appears
instead. There is one sentence in which the
phrase “the State of Israel” appears
within quotation marks. Israel's pre-1967
territory is never mentioned as such
and phrases like “the
1948 areas” are used instead. There
are cases in which Palestine replaces Israel
as the sovereign state in the region. Regions,
sites and cities within pre-1967 Israel are
described as Palestinian and once or twice
the West
Bank and the Gaza
Strip are implicitly
described as part of a larger Palestine.
On the other hand, there is a sole reference
to Israel as a sovereign state in an official
document issued by Christian religious leaders,
which is quoted in a Christian Education
textbook.
Israel's image is wholly negative:
It has been an occupying entity since 1948,
exclusively responsible for the Palestinian Catastrophe
of that year and the source of violence. Israel shells
schools, arrests and tortures people, demolishes Palestinian
houses, blocks roads, oppresses the Palestinians - including
by means of the “racist annexation and separation
wall,” steals Palestinian land and water,
strives to destroy Muslim and Christian holy places,
tries to impoverish the Palestinians and destroy their
agriculture and economy, maltreats its own Palestinian
citizens, etc. On the other hand there is one piece
of literature that presents a dead enemy soldier as
a human being.
The image of Jews as an immigrant people
who stole the land from the Palestinians is reinforced
in the tenth grade textbook Reading and Texts, Grade
10, Part 2 with the story "The Race between
the Eagles and the Vultures." This is a symbolic
story, and it should be noted that the eagle is the
symbol of the Palestinian
Authority, with an obvious reference to Israel and
the Jews as the "vultures." One day the eagles
went out in search of food, only to come back to find
the vultures living in the eagles' nests. The eagles
challenge the vultures to a race to see which species
is truly fit to stay in the eagles "homeland."
In the end, after winning one race and losing another,
the eagles prevail against the "immigrant"
vultures, who are forced to leave in humiliation.
The presentation of the conflict is biased.
Israel is made exclusively responsible for
the 1948 war and the ensuing refugee
problem,
and there is no mention of any Arab responsibility,
even though it was the Arab side who started
that war in defiance of the UN
Partition Resolution of 1947 which it rejected. A new
line of argument appears in this latest issue
of textbooks: the religious importance of
Palestine to Muslims and Christians is given
a political meaning within the conflict.
The viewpoint of the opponent is not presented
in any way.
As regards the 1948 refugee problem - besides
Israel's exclusive responsibility for its
creation, the textbooks emphasize the refugees'
miserable living conditions in camps and
their determination to return to their former
homes within today's Israel.
The struggle for liberation, though referred
to less in these latest textbooks, still
exists. But, unlike the earlier textbooks,
areas and sites within pre-1967 Israel are
not mentioned in this context (though it
should be remembered that, according to the
textbooks, Israeli occupation began in 1948
not in 1967, and Israeli sites and cities
are regarded as Palestinian).
The city of Jerusalem is portrayed as exclusively
Arab. Nothing is said about the strong connection
of the Jews to the city historically and
at present, both religiously and nationally.
The facts that the Jews constitute the absolute
majority in the city today, and have done
so for some 120 years, and that it serves
as Israel's capital are ignored. Jewish holy
places there are not mentioned as such. Rather,
it is said that Jerusalem is facing Israeli
attempts at Judaization.
Tolerance is an ideal taught in the PA schools,
mainly from an Islamic perspective. The present
conflict and the Jews, however, are not mentioned
within that context, save for a brief sentence
in a Christian Education textbook that implies
tolerance toward Israelis. Furthermore, in
what is presented as one of the outstanding
examples of Islamic tolerance, namely, that
shown to the Christians of Jerusalem after
its capture by Umar bin al-Khattab, it is
just the Jews who do not benefit from it.
Peace with Israel is never
mentioned, let alone encouraged. Indeed there
is at least one text that holds out the hope
of final victory and the disappearance of
the Israelis as such from the region. The Oslo
Accord of 1993 is now presented as part
of the violent struggle against Israel and
inserted between the two Intifadas of 1987 and 2000.
Instead, there are several favorable references
to war and power, enhanced by the glorification
of Jihad and martyrdom.
As before, terror against Israel is
not mentioned. But there are positive references to
“martyrs” and “prisoners-of-war”
within the context of the struggle against Israel. For
example, in the fifth grade textbook Our Beautiful
Language, martydom is exalted and glorified: "The
martyrs kiss it (Palestine's flag) with their blood.
In Linguistic Sciences, the book mentions that
"the martyr's rank is above all ranks," and
that "the martyrs vie with each other" to
die in order to travel to their wedding (in Muslim belief, the martyr is wed to 72 virgins in Heaven).
This latest issue of textbooks includes
much more objective information about Western
history and civilization than before, but,
at times, also features a biased attitude,
especially in the context of Imperialism.
There are other cases that betray a non-sympathetic
attitude to the West, such as the presentation
of European Renaissance as a direct offshoot
of Islamic Medieval civilization and the
portrayal of Western knowledge as potentially
harmful to Islam.
In summary, the above findings
in the light of the criteria followed by
CMIP indicate only too clearly that this
latest issue of PA textbooks too does not
meet international standards as far as the
attitude to the “other” and
to peace is concerned. Though short-lived
and minute nuances of improvement have been
noticed at times during the last five years,
including in this latest issue, the bottom
line is unequivocally clear: The PA project
of school textbook publishing has not contributed,
and still does not contribute, to peace and
reconciliation with Israel. Rather, the opposite
is true. There are still two grades - eleven
and twelve - that are supposed to receive
their new books next year.
Sources: Center for Monitoring
the Impact of Peace (CMIP) |