Jewish group wants to educate, but Israel insists on brainwashing.

Why on earth would Israel teach their youth that their war of independence was a catastrophe? In America, we don't teach our youth that our war of independence was a catastrophe. We don't refer to it as the unlawful rebellion of the colonies against their rightful ruler, the King of England. The Arabs fought, they lost, it is time to get over it.

 

Something positive:

[rquoter]Arabic studies to become compulsory in Israeli schools
Beginning this year as pilot initiative in 170 public and religious-public schools in northern Israel, the scheme will eventually be adopted extend across the country.

By Haaretz Service

A new government program will see Arabic language classes made compulsory in Israel's schools, starting from the fifth grade.

Beginning this year as pilot initiative in 170 public and religious-public schools in northern Israel, the scheme will eventually be adopted extend across the country.

Until now, Israeli students had the option of learning Arabic to fulfill a requirement to study a second language in grades seven to ten. Other options were Russian, French, or Amharic.

But a marked increase in demand from students for matriculation (Bagrut) studies in Arabic has led education officials to rethink the curriculum. The change expected to draw dozens of Arabic teachers into the school system.

"We live in a country that has two official languages," Dr. Shlomo Alon, Head of Arabic and Islam Education in the Ministry of Education, told the 'Walla' news website. "Studying Arabic will promote tolerance and convey a message of acceptance."

According to Alon, the Ministry of Education is interested in recognizing all of the state's citizens and providing opportunities for Arab teachers within Israeli education.

"The state aspires to complete equality of citizenship. We will not deal with conflicts based on cultural identity," he said[/rquoter]
http://www.haaretz.com/news/nationa...aeli-schools-1.309941?localLinksEnabled=false

 

Thread title fail.

 

i'm always fascinated when i hear about how people are taught "the other side."

i have an english friend who says that he was taught about the American Revolution as part and parcel of England squandering a great opportunity by holding on too tightly. that's not a perspective i grew up learning or thinking about.

 

Man this sentence is Unhuman .. And somewhat insulting ..
The arabs are losing doesnt mean they should roll over and die .. And it doesnt mean that the land is now entiteled to Israel ..

 

Do you feel the same about the Native Americans? Should we not teach about the Trail of Tears and all the other inhumane crap we put them through during our early days of settlement?

 

To the victor goes the spoils, nothing wrong with teaching the tragedies and atrocities of war.

What happened to the American Indians is no different than what happened to man cultures throughout man's history...

There is nothing unique about any of it, but we should teach as much as we know so as to hopefully not repeat it.

DD

 

or the same could be applied to any battle we've lost. well, al-qaeda got the best of us on 9/11, we should really just get over it. good job japanese, 12/7/41 was a banner day for you guys, we accept that day's defeat with a hearty congrats to you!

 

Do you think American students should learn about things like "The Trail of Tears" and Wounded Knee? Should students living in northern states learn about problems with Reconstruction.

Edit: I see Baqui beat me to it.

 

The Native Americans also fought and lost, yes. They should also get over it, and as a people have done a far better job in doing so than the Palestinians. How many buses in the US have been blown up by Apache suicide bombers? How many Pueblo have opened fire in a crowded pizzaria?

Apart from that, it is a false analogy to begin with. The Arabs from the region and there descendants are far more populous now than they have ever been. On the other hand, the Native Americans were largely wiped out by the Europeans and their descendants who came here. Over 90% of all the indigenous people were killed here. In Israel, the vast majority are either still living there, or fled to neighboring Arab countries (many fleeing before the invading Arab armies who promised them that Israel would be destroyed and they could then return as victors).

Despite those differences, we do not teach that it was a catastrophe that the Europeans settled America. I believe they still teach manifest destiny in school, though I was in grade school quite a long time ago. I don't even remember being taught that the indigenous people view our arrival as bad. We learned factual things, like the use of smallpox as a weapon during the westward expansion. I have no objection to the teaching of facts about the various clashes between the Israelis and the Arabs. I just don't think there is any need for the Israeli children to be taught that the founding of their country was catastrophic.

 

I don't understand. Although the Palestinians were driven from their homes and forced off their land, it shouldn't be taught in schools since their population wasn't completely decimated?

You can make an argument about framing it as a "catastrophe". But I'm surprised that you're not questioning the fact that Israel, a supposedly "democratic" state, doesn't want its kids to to be educated on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and basic freedoms.

 

As for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I think they don't want Article 13(2) to be interpreted as giving the Palestinians the "right of return", and thus can understand why they are not teaching it. Additionally, the UN and Israel do not have the best relationship. I would go ahead and teach it and just give my interpretation alongside it, but I don't run their country. I know I never was taught the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a kid. I think I was probably first exposed to it in law school.

As I said, I am fully in favor of teaching the facts surrounding the Arab-Israeli conflicts, but I would not teach it as a catastrophe (nakba). It isn't as though the Israelis will never be exposed to the Palestinian viewpoint anyway, it is just not something I would have in the curriculum at public schools.

 

Don't agree with not teaching the palestinian point of view. However, I can see how right wingers are influencing policy with a Hamas run Palestinian government (they refuse to be a part of peace talks), a Hezbollah influenced Lebanese government and a nuclear Iran. Times are scary in the eyes of Israelis.

 

As a palestinian, sometimes I just feel as many clips as I can.

 

I always thought it was necessary to teach both sides of any historical event. Like in school, when we learned about the conquest of the Aztecs by the Spanish, we learned how both sides saw the event.

If anyone is looking to see how both sides view the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I suggest reading Exile by Richard North Patterson. Although it's fictional, it's really informative on how both Jews and Arabs feel

 

Actually it is found right in the title of the article you linked to: Israel tells schools not to teach nakba. Nakba means catastrophe. Teaching nakba would be teaching that the conflict is a catastrophe, because that is what the word means.

I would not suggest teaching anyone's viewpoint on it. Teach facts and let people come to their own conclusions.