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Topic: Study of Palestinian Texbooks

topic by John Calvin 7/16/2002 (14:32)

reply top ABSTRACT OF STUDY ON PALESTINIAN TEXTBOOKS: Prof. Nathan Brown George Washington University November 2001 For Complete Study, see: Democracy, History, and the Contest over the Palestinian Curriculum A study by Prof. Nathan Brown, Georgetown University In 1999 and 2000, I conducted research on the establishment of the new Palestinian curriculum by collecting documents, textbooks, and interviewing Palestinian educators. Since that time, I have continued the research by surveying new textbooks and following discussions of educational issues by Palestinian educators. This research was supported by a Fulbright grant through the United States-Israel Educational Foundation (USIEF) and another grant from the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). The conclusions of the research are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views either of USIEF or USIP. My research—and the attached paper—focus primarily on the role of democracy in the new curriculum. Nevertheless, I could not ignore the international controversy surrounding Palestinian textbooks and the many claims that they incite violence and racial hatred. I was therefore surprised to find books that were far less incendiary than portrayed; most were perfectly innocuous. Most accusations against the books are based on reports from the 'Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace' (CMIP). Although that organization presents reports that are tendentious and misleading, few independent reviews have been conducted. Therefore CMIP reports--which seek to obscure rather than highlight the very significant changes that have been made--are not frequently challenged. I hope that my own review of Palestinian textbooks can assist those interested in a more impartial assessment. General Background Upon assuming responsibility over Palestinian education in 1994, the Palestinian Authority (PA) restored the Jordanian and Egyptian curriculum in their entirety as an interim measure. This included the use of books that contained sharply anti-Israeli and even anti-Semitic material. It is based on these books that the strongest charges have been levied. Criticisms of that decision are fair, but must be viewed in conjunction with the following facts: * The PA determined from the beginning to replace these books and formed a curriculum development center to draft a new set of books. This decision came not as a response to international pressure but instead was a Palestinian initiative (though some international funding was available). The plan developed by that center has proceeded according to schedule. * The PA issued a series of National Education books for grades 1-6 to supplement the Egyptian and Jordanian books while the new books were being written. Those books were devoid of any anti-Semitic or anti-Israeli material. * Oddly, Israel allowed the offensive Jordanian books to be used in the East Jerusalem schools but barred the innocuous PA-authored books, probably fearful that use of the PA books would be an implicit recognition of sovereignty. * The new curriculum is now going into effect. The first and sixth grade textbooks were introduced in 2000. The second and seventh grade books were introduced in 2001. Books for the remaining grades will be introduced two at a time until the entire school system has switched over. In short, the PA should be credited with removing racist and anti-Semitic material from the curriculum, not for maintaining it. And international assistance has supported replacement of the offensive material, not its composition. More specific comments on the new (2000 and 2001) books: * History The Palestinian books strive to create a strong sense of Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim identity in students. This dominates their treatment of history. Thus, they concentrate on trying to demonstrate a continuing Arab presence in Palestine. Though they do not deny a Jewish presence, they do not dwell on it. In Islamic education, the books have to confront Muslim-Jewish conflicts (in the early days of Islam) and Muslim-Christian conflicts (during the Crusades). The books clearly are partial to Muslims in both instances. But they also clearly support peaceful relations (for instance, by lauding Saladin for insisting that people of all faiths should have access to Jerusalem). The books do not treat Jewish history in any comprehensive manner, positively or negatively. * Present Perhaps the most difficult issue is how to present Palestine in the present, since almost all matters (statehood, borders, Israeli settlements) remain unresolved. The books deliver no consistent message. Sometimes they seek to avoid the subject (for instance, a group of schoolchildren takes a trip from Gaza to Jerusalem; the books make no mention of the fact that checkpoints and closure make such a school trip impossible). Sometimes they convey the Palestinian national consensus (that Jerusalem must be their capital, that Israeli settlements harm Palestinians) while bypassing other issues. In general, they are base their presentation on an implicit distinction between 'geographic and historic' Palestine and 'political' Palestine. Thus they sometimes discuss (generally briefly) some areas within Israel's 1967 borders. But each book also contains a foreword describing the West Bank and Gaza as 'the two parts of the homeland.' In short, political realities are confusing and difficult for educators to describe to children. It would be unfair to describe such confused treatment as 'delegitimization of Israel.' * Violence Similarly, the books do not encourage violence. They do urge students to be willing to make self-sacrifice for the religion or nation (as most schoolbooks do), but they do not urge violence in that regard. One book does contain a poem praising the children who threw stones in the first intifada, but at the same time praises Gandhi at some length for non-violence. Conclusion The efforts to discredit Palestinian textbooks have already caused some damage. Many leading Palestinian educators have argued that the new curriculum should be designed not only to promote national identity but also the skills of democratic citizenship. Stung by international criticism, education officials tend to be less open to such contributions than they were in the past. The hyperbole of the charges against the books has led textbook writers to become less responsive, not more. The cause of educational reform has thus been obstructed by the harsh and unfair international criticism. Schoolbooks are products of the broader political situation. An example is the role of Hebrew in the new curriculum. The original plan (produced in 1996) involved the introduction of Hebrew-language instruction as an elective in secondary school. But the deterioration of the broader political context has taken a toll. In 2000, a first-grade book had a picture of a coin from the era of the British mandate with Palestine written in both Hebrew and Arabic. In 2001, after a year of the second intifada, a picture of a Mandate-era postage stamp erased the Hebrew. The Palestinian curriculum is not a 'war' curriculum. Neither is it a 'peace' curriculum. While some improvements in the existing books might be made, a real peace curriculum will follow, not precede, a comprehensive peace.

reply by John Calvin 7/16/2002 (14:57)

reply top ISESCO to UN: Treat Palestinian Schools As You Treated Afghanistan’s Statues RABAT, April 17 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – The director general of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) called upon its UN counterpart to take responsibility of the deteriorating conditions of Palestinian education institutions. In a statement published on the organization’s website, Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri told his counterpart: “The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – UNESCO - which you are chairing at this very sensitive point of time in the history of mankind, is invited more than any time past to move in the right direction and assume its historical responsibilities towards the Palestinian children and youth.” The Palestinians, he said, are denied their lawful and natural human rights guaranteed to them by the international law and by all relevant international conventions. This especially includes the right to education, stripped by the Israeli occupation authorities which wage an ugly, savage war against helpless Palestinian populations, under official instructions from the Prime Minister Sharon who, commits untold crimes against humanity. Altwaijri said that “hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children and youth (boys and girls alike) were being forcibly denied access to their schools, faculties, colleges, polytechnics, etc. indifferently throughout Palestine, in the West Bank, in Gaza Strip, in towns, in villages and in the countryside. These youth were doomed to lead an unbearable life of misery and despair.” The Director General pointed out that UNESCO has, of late, taken urgent steps at different international levels to salvage the monuments in Afghanistan for they constituted an historic human heritage and that now it was time for UNESCO to take urgent action in order to save the lives of millions of Palestinians, to salvage the human civilization threatened by destruction in the Palestinian territories and to save Palestinian school children. “The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization will stand by UNESCO and will support and back up the positions which it would hopefully take urgently,” he said. He noted that it was clear that the aggression perpetrated by Israeli Prime Minister Sharon in the Palestinian territories was by all ethical, legal and political standards an awful crime against humanity. Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri went on saying: “The grave situation that the Palestinian people is wading through at these difficult days, and more specifically the four hundred thousand Palestinian pupils and students, requires on your part that you take every action to bring pressure to bear on the Israeli government, through the Israeli Ministry of Education and National Commission, to lift the sanctions on Palestinian pupils and students and secure for them their legitimate, inalienable right to free and open education that would not be disrupted by any exceptional measures taken by Israeli authorities.” The world - he noted - was expecting a bold position that UNESCO would take in order to extend urgent aid and adequate support to the Palestinian school children who must be able to go back to their schools and faculties to pursue their studies in all tranquillity, the statement said. On April 1, the ISESCO issued a statement strongly condemning crimes perpetrated by Sharon against the Palestinians and demanded his dissuasion and trial before an international court. “The radical Israeli government is waging a comprehensive, mass destruction war against the Palestinian people and their legitimate leadership, committing thereby untold crimes in unprecedented defiance of the international conventions and resolutions, and sheer disrespect of the recent Arab initiative adopted by the Arab League Summit. “The Organization appeals to the Muslim world, to all justice and peace-loving nations and to all international organizations to rise to the help of the Palestinian people, by means of extending support and assistance to them, securing international protection for them and ensuring implementation of relevant international resolutions requiring Israel to pull out of the occupied Arab territories and affirming the right to establish an independent Palestinian Sate with Al-Quds (Jerusalem) as capital, as part of promotion of global peace and security.” On March 5, the Palestinian Ministry of Education officially complained to the United Nations the Israeli aggression killing of students and Palestinian children. The complaint was filed a day after the wife of Sheikh Hussein Abu Kuwaik and her three children were killed by a missile fired from an Israeli tank while they were on their way back from school. The same complaint would also be forwarded to the UNESCO, UNICEF and Amnesty International said the statement issued by the ministry and published by news agencies. The Ministry asked human rights organizations and the international community to intervene to put a halt to the killing of Palestinian children adding that since the start of the intifada nearly 435 children were killed, 150 of them students, and 148 schools were shelled. The teachers were also harassed on their way to school as Israeli forces completely block roads leading to them.