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| For Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel, left, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president |
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| United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., for a one-day conference on Middle East peace |
The study found that “Israeli state textbooks- when compared to Palestinian and Israeli ultra-orthodox texts-
provide more information about Palestinians, less negative overall
characterizations, and multiple examples of actions by Israelis against
Palestinians that were criticized as wrong by Israeli citizens and
leaders”. Ravid and Kashti both found
that the final study proved that each side has it’s faults and while
Palestinian textbooks are criticized for being too harsh in their portrayal of
Israel, and, although Israel has a more balanced history, their narrative isn’t
balanced enough and portray Palestinians negatively. What’s funny is that this
study took three years, a lot of money, and a lot of controversy to find
information that seems kind of obvious: Israel and Palestine demonize one
another in their textbooks, but Palestine more than Israel. The study is flawed
but the hope is that there will be modest improvement in how the other sides
understand and respect the other.
When the study was conceived in
2008 relations between the leaders of Israel and Palestine had peaked, but in
2009 a new government took over in Israel and relations hit a wall. Many people
criticize the study and the author brings up how the comparison between the two
groups is twisted and that Israel and Palestine are not the same. The Education
Ministry opposed the study because they didn’t want to work with anyone who
“seeks to slander the Israeli education system and the State of Israel”.
The study turned out to be a
nightmare for many of those involved. The U.S. was over the whole situation and
decided not to adopt the conclusions of the study. The Education Ministry
opposed the entire study and refused to cooperate siting that the study lacked
objectivity. Their refusal made the U.S. officials were eager for the project
to end, they believed that the study would only make the situation more
complicated.
The article written by Or Kashti
and Barak Ravid titled “Both Israel and Palestinians demonize other side in school textbooks, first line in article “a study due to be
released on Monday…” My first impression of the article is that it seems a bit
premature since it was written before the release of the final study. Kashiti and
Ravid explain that the textbooks found in both Israel and Palestine portrays
one another negatively. The authors explain the situation and how the study of
each countries textbook came about. Because this article was written before the
release of the final study it takes into question the reliability of the
article. The authors appear to be using sources who have read the final report,
but they fail on specifics of who these people are and their relations to the study. Although, at the time of the article, they hadn’t seen
the final report, the authors do quote authorities on the subject, all of who
are Israeli. Because they fail to use sources that are of from Palestine the authors are solely giving you the view from Israel.
The authors appear to try to stay
unbiased, by not criticizing Palestine, but Haaretz is an Israeli news source and not a Palestinian sources.
Their point of view isn’t clearly stated and they give a lot of objective
information that can’t really be argued. The authors are both Israeli, Kashti
specializes in Israeli education and Ravid was a former diplomatic correspondent
who served six years in the Israel Defense Force. But since the authors are
both Israeli and all sources seem to be coming from Israeli points of view you
strictly get the point of view of the Israelis. There are no mentions of
Palestinian authorities on the subject, only that they were involved in the
study. Also, other articles have indicated that while Israel felt the study was partial and unprofessional, the palestinians planned to embrace the study with the hopes of improving it's educational system.
