What the Palestinians teach their kids

[pizza]

PA Text Books Cite ´Protocols´, Reject Peace
20:00 Jul 11, '05 / 4 Tammuz 5765
By Ezra HaLevi


A report on the textbooks published by the Palestinian Authority was released Monday, exposing the teaching of Islamic supremacy, the illegitimacy of Israel and citing an infamous forgery as fact.

The report was published by the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace (CMIP), a non-governmental organization whose stated purpose is to “encourage a climate of tolerance and mutual respect between peoples and nations, founded on the rejection of violence and the changing of negative stereotypes, as a means to resolving conflicts.”

CMIP’s director of research, Arnon Groiss, spoke with Israel National Radio's Yishai & Malkah Fleisher. Groiss, who compiled and translated the material from the PA school books, said the findings left little room for optimism.

“[The school books] follow the same line of non-recognition of Israel as a sovereign state, non-recognition of the Jewish people as having rights in the country and non-recognition of anything that belongs to Jews – including holy places – nothing. Holy places are all Muslim, whether they say they are ‘used by Jews’ or ‘Jews claim’ such places are holy,” Groiss said.

The assertion that the “occupation” began in 1948 is another central aspect of the school books that Groiss finds particularly alarming. “Haifa and the Sea of Galilee and the Negev are all Palestinian. They never say ‘Israeli territory’ - it is only the ‘lands of 1948,’” Groiss said.

“They are not so explicit in the books because they know they will be scrutinized. They are much more subtle than Syrian, Saudi Arabian and Egyptian text books,” he said. “But the struggle for liberation will not end at the borders of 1967, this [message] is very clear. They do not say it explicitly, but the hint is very well understood, I believe, and the teacher is there to explain if necessary.”

The seasoned translator and research director says that the inclusion of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion as a historical document is a disturbing feature of one of the 10th grade history text books. “For the first time in the history of text-book publishing in the PA, they claim the Protocols of Zion as a valid document, saying it was a resolution of the first Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland in 1897.”

Groiss read from a 10th grade PA textbook: “There is a group of confidential resolutions adopted by the Congress and known by the name ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion’, the goal of which is world domination. They were brought to light by Sergey Nilos and translated into Arabic by Muhammad Khalifa Al-Tunisi.”

In fact, Nilos, a Russian priest, authored the “Protocols” at the behest of the Czarist secret police.

“Our reports are made up of quotations taken directly from the books as-is,” Groiss said, reading a passage (“The martyrs rank is above all ranks”) from a fifth-grade grammar book. “Analysis is presented at the conclusion of the report.”

Some of the report’s conclusions include:

* “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 fact 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.”

* “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.”

* “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…”

* “Israel’s image is wholly negative: It has been an occupying entity since 1948 [emphasis added], exclusively responsible for the Palestinian Catastrophe of that year and the source of violence.”

* “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.”

* “Positive references to ‘martyrs’ and ‘prisoners-of-war’ within the context of the struggle against Israel.”

CMIP did find a few “minute changes for the better,” Groiss said. They include:

* "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."

* "One piece of literature presents a dead enemy soldier as a human being."

Groiss hopes that the publication of the report can lead to improvements in the PA educational system through external pressure to make reforms in the school books.

“I believe there are three main elements that should be inserted in books,” Groiss said. “First: some sort of recognition of the other party in the conflict – interests, rights, something – at least something. Second: stopping the process of stereotyping the other and giving some objective and valid information about the individual Jew or Israel for example. Third: trying to advocate for peace based on real reconciliation with the other.”

http://www.arutzsheva.com/news.php3?id=85566

[Ralph]

Pretty sickening s*hit, isn't it. How can this poisoning be stopped or its victims, because that's what the children are, taught reality? With the Hitler Youth we had the unparalleled advantage of occupying their country and seeing an indepednent press emerge that would not publish base, racialist propaganda.

[Ted]

Pretty sickening s*hit, isn't it.

But not surprising

[Ralph]

Pretty sickening s*hit, isn't it.

But not surprising

*****

Not in the least.

[pizza]

The Belgian gov't. doesn't think "The Protocols" forgery is so bad.


The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition

Belgium: PA textbooks not anti-Semitic
Sheera claire Frenkel, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 12, 2005

Although a new report states that some Palestinian Authority textbooks feature descriptions of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" as being an "integral part" of Zionist history that was approved in "a confidential resolution of the First Zionist Congress," the Belgian government says it is continuing to fund production of the textbooks and does not consider them offensive.

"We do not find [the textbooks] anti-Semitic in any way," said a spokesman from the Belgian government press office, speaking to The Jerusalem Post by telephone. "We have a screening process that goes through and reads the books. There has been some controversy about it in the past, but we have had people look into it."

However, other countries may be having second thoughts. While Finland, Italy and the Netherlands have also provided aid for PA textbooks in the past, this year's books only credit Belgium and "Arab nations" as providing aid.

Widely regarded as a cornerstone of anti-Semitic theory, the fabricated Protocols purport to disclose the secret plans of a Jewish conspiracy for world domination.

The description of the Protocols is one of many anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic statements made in PA textbooks, according to a report issued by the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace (CMIP) on Monday, a watchdog group.

The 122-page report notes that Israel is omitted from all maps of the Middle East, and that Palestinian martyrs are portrayed as "heroic" strugglers against the "occupying force."

"Unfortunately, the whole Palestinian Authority operation of publishing new books for schools has fallen short of the standards set by the international community," said Arnon Groiss, who wrote the report. "Until massive changes are made, I don't think that the Palestinian Authority's textbooks contribute to peace. The opposite is being done."

The PA Ministry of Education could not be reached for comment and did not return phone calls.

However, a document on the ministry's Web site says that the issue of incitement in PA textbooks is "a myth."

Claiming that CMIP has engaged in an "orchestrated crusade against Palestinian education," the ministry's document also denies that PA books incite hatred against Jews and says that it is, in fact, Israeli textbooks that incite hatred against the Palestinians.

"Those who are critical of what Palestinian children are learning should try to find out how Israeli children are taught to hate Arabs, and trained to kill them," the document says.

Prior to 1967 Jordanian textbooks were used for schools in the West Bank and Egyptian textbooks were used in the Gaza Strip.

"When we took over funding of the textbooks, we did so because we wanted to replace the totally outdated textbooks that had been used up to that point," said the Belgian spokesman. "We wanted them to stress social values, human rights and democracy."

In "A Study of the Impact of the Palestinian Curriculum," commissioned by the Belgian Technical Cooperation at the end of 2004, researchers concluded that in "light of the debate stirred by accusations of incitement to hatred and other criticisms of the Palestinian textbooks, there is no evidence at all of that happening as a result of the curriculum."

The report added that violence from "soldiers and settlers shooting in the streets and in schools" and "occupation" were preventing Palestinian children from realizing democratic values.

Members of CMIP claim that the other countries withdrew their funding of the books because of their content, but officials in those countries could not be reached for comment.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which provides millions of dollars to Palestinian schools and universities each year, said that the international community could not be expected to "turn its backs" on the PA education system.

"There are problems in any education system," said Sylvana Foa, head of USAID's public diplomacy office in the West Bank and Gaza. "But there is a conscious effort being made to improve the Palestinian system."

The European Union also helped fund the PA textbooks until 2001, when a group of pro-Israeli members of the European Parliament attached a rider to an EU budget line saying the organization's money must not be provided for PA textbooks if they contain material that is anti-Semitic or incites hatred.

"Israel supports the international effort to aid the Palestinians," said a Foreign Ministry official. "When such support is given by the international community, we hope that that aid is done in a way that encourages positive political development in the Palestinian territories."

He added that the government encouraged all international groups to make certain that they were not supporting an education process that was anti-democratic or "encouraging xenophobic, nationalist or any racist stereotypes."

[Holden Fourth]

Let's face it, 'history' is created to serve the needs of those who are in power and it doesn't matter whose history we are talking about. I'll use a local perspective to give an example.

In the 19th century the Tasmanian Aborigines were systematically hunted down and wiped out. This was condoned by the government of the day who actually paid a bounty for every aboriginal that was killed. (I'll let you guess how they asked for proof)

Yet you will find very few social studies texts that do anything more than briefly gloss over the issue. So imagine how that 'history' would be written from an aboriginal perspective! You can be sure it woud be markedly different.

In any society where there is cultural conflict the 'history' of that conflict is usually written by the winner of the battle/war whatever. Would we be seeing or even know about the Holocaust if the outcome of WWII had been different. What would out view of people like Hitler be. Simple, he would be regarded as a hero, just like Stalin was for over 4 decades.

So don't be surprised or upset that this is the content of the history syllabus in schools run by the Palestinian Authority. BTW, while we're on that let's look at a very famous piece of American history - Custer's Last Stand. How is George Armstrong Custer portrayed in the annals of American history and just how accurate is this depiction? Is he a hero, a villain or a fool.

[Brendan]

This is hardly a place to get into the lack of standards in Australian academic history departments, but the history of Tasmania is mostly focused on the genocide, contrary to Holden's post, with much data being reinterpreted and even invented by concerned academics. Google Keith Windschuttle (or get a copy of The Fabrication of Aboriginal History) for a way-too-long look at the issues in Australia's history departments and their political (and almost uniformly politically correct) reinterpretation of history.

[Holden Fourth]

Brendan, thanks for bolstering my argument. Your phrase "reinterpretation of history" probably says it all