The Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education

Curriculum Development Center

Sharon's Flimsy Excuses

November 25, 2004

According to the Israeli Haaretz newspaper, 19 November 2004, Sharon insisted that "Palestinian education and propaganda are more dangerous to Israel than Palestinian weapons." Haaretz also reported that the Israeli Prime Minister "called on the Palestinian leaders to put an 'immediate' end to incitement in media outlets and in the education system - including changing some of the textbooks now in use. Sharon said the changes must be made 'before the first phase of the road map is fully implemented.'"

On 20 November 2004 the same paper also reported that Sharon has demanded replacing [Palestinian] textbooks and forbidding classes, performances or summer camps that incite against Israel, and "ending the constant, poisonous incitement and propaganda on Palestinian television and media, and changing the direction of the Palestinian educational system."

Allegations unfounded

The First Palestinian Curriculum Plan of 1998, general principles of the Palestinian curriculum stated that:

1. Palestine is a democratic state, ruled by a democratic parliamentary system.

2. Palestine is a peace-loving state, working towards international understanding and cooperation based on equality, liberty, dignity, peace and human rights.

3. Palestinian national and cultural identity must be fostered and developed.

4. Social justice, equality and the provision of equal learning opportunities for all Palestinians, to the limits of their individual capacity must be ensured without discrimination on grounds of race, religion, color, or sex.

5. Opportunities must be provided to develop all Palestinians intellectually, socially, physically, spiritually and emotionally, to become responsible citizens, able to participate in solving problems of their community, their country and the world.

The European Union, in a statement issued in Brussels on 15 May 2002 asserted that "Quotations attributed by earlier Center for Monitoring the Impact on Peace (CMIP) reports are not found in the new Palestinian Authority schoolbooks.” It added that the "New Textbooks, although not perfect, are free of inciteful content and improve the previous textbooks, constituting a valuable contribution to the education of young Palestinians." It concluded, "Therefore, allegations against the new textbooks funded by EU members have proven unfounded."

Prof. Nathan Brown, from George Washington University, a former adviser to the U.S. Agency for International Development, in his study of the Palestinian curriculum (November 2001), noted that the PA's National Education books for grades 1 and 6 were "devoid of any anti-Semitic or anti-Israeli material." And in an interview in the Forward (Jewish American publication) by Marc Ferledman, 18 January 2002, Brown described think tank groups like CMIP accounts of incitement as highly misleading, always unreliable, generally ignored historical context and used a prosecutorial style." They have an agenda, Mr. Brown told the Forward, "They are out to attack the Palestinian Authority and they have great access to the media and politicians to spread their harsh criticism."

Palestinian opposition to Israel must be understood in the context of their opposition to Israeli occupation and oppression, their quest for freedom and self-determination, self preservation, and national liberation. Ruth Firer, of the Hebrew University, who carried out research on Palestinian textbooks was quoted in American for Peace Now interview as saying "we were surprised to find how moderate the anger directed toward Israelis in the Palestinian textbooks is, compared to the Palestinian predicament and suffering."

In his evaluation of Palestinian Civic Education, Dr. Wolfram Reiss, University of Rostock, Germany, at the Conference on "Teaching for Tolerance, Respect and Recognition in Relation with Religion or Belief," Oslo, 2-5 September 2004, Wrote:

"[I]t must be said first that, in general, the Palestinian textbooks cannot be considered a “war curriculum”. At least these textbooks of Civics Education convey visions of society, in which tolerance to other religions, human rights, peace, pluralism, democracy and other values are encouraged and fostered much… There is no hatred or incitement against Israel, the Israeli people or Judaism. The textbooks do not contain anti-Semitic language."

Dr. Reiss added that "civics education textbooks do not only avoid hatred and incitement against the West, but foster very much Western values: democracy, human rights, the individual rights, the education for peace and tolerance of all religions, the rights of women and children, the civil society and the protection of the nature… From a Western perspective the civics education textbooks therefore have to be highly praised indeed."

The Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI), in their June 2004 report, "Analysis and Evaluation of the New Palestinian Curriculum" (30 books for Grades 4 and 9), commissioned by the US Congress and submitted to the Public Affairs Office of the US Consulate General in Jerusalem, concluded that:

"There is, moreover, no indication of hatred of the Western Judeo-Christian tradition or the values associated with it," and that "the textbooks promote an environment of open-mindedness, rational thinking, modernization, critical reflection and dialogue."

The report also confirmed that the textbooks "promote civil activity, commitment, responsibility, solidarity, respecting others’ feelings, respecting and helping people with disabilities, and... reinforce students’ understanding of the values of civil society such as respecting human dignity; religious, social, cultural, racial, ethnic, and political pluralism; personal, social and moral responsibility; transparency and accountability."

Israeli Incitement

Israel repeatedly, and falsely, alleges that Palestinian textbooks teach children hatred, violence, and jihad. But how are Israeli children taught to hate Arabs, and trained to kill them?

Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronot, May 7th 2002, published a letter titled “Dear Soldiers, Please Kill a Lot of Arabs,” that came from Israeli children who sent such letters to Israeli soldiers serving in the Tulkarm area during the so-called “Operation Defensive Shield”. The letters sent by Israeli school students encouraged soldiers to disregard rules and regulations and to kill as many Arabs as possible. According to “Yedioth Ahronoth”, dozens of the letters were sent to soldiers, mostly from children in the 7th through 10th grades, who attend national religious schools.

Ruth Firer and Sami Adwan, an Israeli and a Palestinian scholar, who conducted research comparing Palestinian and Israeli textbooks, March 2002, wrote about Israeli books: "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."

A study by Daniel Bar-Tal of Tel-Aviv University, 124 Hebrew language books approved for use in 1994 by the Ministry of Education, were reviewed, The study concludes that "the majority of [Israeli school] books stereotype Arabs negatively." In one children’s book, Bar-Tal offers this sampling, "We were lonely… pioneers surrounded by a sea of enemies and murderers." In elementary school books, according to Bar-Tal, Arabs are often stereotyped negatively and portrayed as "uneducated people and enemies."

In a report titled "Israeli Textbooks and Children’s Literature Promote Racism and Hatred toward Palestinians and Arabs," free-lance journalist Maureen Meehan concluded that "Israeli school textbooks as well as children’s storybooks, according to recent academic studies and surveys, portray Palestinians and Arabs as 'murderers,' 'rioters,' 'suspicious', and generally backward and unproductive. Direct delegitimization and negative stereotyping of Palestinians and Arabs are the rule rather than the exception in Israeli schoolbooks." (Washington Report for Middle East Affairs September 1999)

A study presented at the hearing of the political committee of the European Parliament, 24 October 2003, titled "The attitude towards Palestinians in Israeli textbooks," by Dr. Nurit Elhanan, of the Hebrew University, revealed that "the Palestinians are absent from all textbooks, The Occupation is never mentioned, and the area where Palestinians live is presented in the maps either as an empty space referred to as 'an area without data' (Man and Space-maps) or it is incorporated into the state of Israel (The Geography of the land of Israel- maps). In both cases use of the term 'occupation' is out of the question, since you cannot occupy illegally what is yours anyway and you cannot occupy illegally an empty space."

Dr. Elhanan added: "When reference is made to date in the West Bank it is only to Jewish colonies or to main cities like Nablus, Hebron or Beth Lehem as Israeli tourist sites (maps)… In Israel today there is already a second generation of children who don’t know there are occupation, illegal domination and illegal settlements."

The Convention on the Rights of Child of November 1991, Article 2, obliges State Parties to “respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child within their jurisdiction.” Israel has repeatedly violated these rights and ignored it obligations. In its 20 November 2004 press release, Defense for Children International (DCI), appealed "to the international community and world leaders to abide by their declared commitment to protect the rights of all children, including the children of Palestine. We urge them to bring pressure on the Israeli government, to abide by international law and end the occupation which is incompatible with any declared commitment to promoting and protecting the basic human rights of all."

In the same press release DCI reported that: "Since the start of the second Intifada on 29 September 2000, Palestinian children have borne the brunt of the upsurge in Israeli violence. Over the course of the past four years, more than 660 Palestinian children have been killed and almost 9,000 injured – hundreds of whom have been left with permanent physical disabilities. Many thousands more are suffering psychological trauma from the daily horrors they witness. An estimated 3,000 children have been arrested during this Intifada, while currently there are still 335 children being held in Israeli prisons and detention centers."

Conclusion

Experience has shown that changes in school textbooks and syllabi are not at all the necessary ingredients for the fulfillment of a meaningful peace agreement between states in conflict, but rather the sincere will and commitment on both parties for achieving such an agreement. This has been clearly the case in the peace agreements concluded between Israel and Egypt and between Israel and Jordan, the two countries whose school textbooks were allegedly inciting.

For over fifty years Palestinians have tried reconciliation and compromise. They declared a state on 22 percent of their original country for the sake of peace and security, through the Palestine National Council Conference of 1988 in Algiers, and accepted all U.N. resolutions regarding the Palestinian issue. Then in 1993 the PLO signed the Oslo Agreement. The Israelis responded by expanding their colonial (settlement) activities (in violation of international law and the Oslo agreement) at a frantic rate with more violence, more land expropriation and house demolitions, incitement, demonization, and eventually the cantonization of the Palestinian population in apartheid-like ghettos. More recently, the (apartheid) Wall, which was condemned by the International Court at The Hague and by the international community, has added to inciting nature of action by the Israeli government towards the Palestinians.

If Prime Minister Sharon wants to be taken seriously on his challenge for change, then he should show (as was so aptly put by B. Mikhail in Yedioth Ahronot, 24 November 2004) that he carries the moral high ground and that

• When he calls on the Palestinians not to deny the right of Israel to establish a state of its own, he should show in words and deeds that Israel does not deny the same right to the Palestinians.

• When he asks for Palestinian geography books to show the state of Israel on the map, he orders Israeli department of Education to show in Israeli geography textbooks the borders for the state of Palestine so that all know what we are trying to achieve by negotiations.

• Before he calls on some Palestinian extremist groups to stop their talk about “throwing the Jews into the sea”, he will call on the groups (including members of his own cabinet) to stop the calls for “transfer” of the Palestinians from their land.