(Jerusalem Post) Yael Teff-Seker and Nir Boms - A new report published by the office of PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad claims that "Israeli textbooks foster hate" and that "Israeli schools teach [from] racist textbooks." For instance, the report objects to the use of the name "Judea and Samaria," and the reluctance of Israeli textbooks to present Jerusalem as Palestinian territory. But these do not constitute incitement, nor are they even considered wrong or biased by international standards. First, Jerusalem is under Israeli control and therefore an accurate geography book could not depict matters otherwise. Second, the technical (Hebrew) geographic name for the above-mentioned area is, actually, Judea and Samaria, and therefore its use does not demonstrate political prejudice. By contrast, Israel remains absent in the vast majority of Palestinian textbooks maps. Yael Teff-Seker is a researcher and Nir Boms is a member of the board of the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education.
2012-06-29 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive