Finding a roadmap to teach kids about Mideast

Geography a landmine in disputed region
The teaching of geography is also extremely problematic in a region where borders are constantly changing, often contested, and at the forefront of the conflict. 

According to Adwan, many maps in Palestinian textbooks don't mention the state of Israel. At the same time, Firer found that Israeli maps often show the Green Line from 1967, but rarely show that Palestinian territories are on the other side. 

In Palestinian textbooks, maps use only Arabic names for cities and towns. Israeli textbooks use Biblical names. “You get a canceling out of any alternative for common ground,” said Firer, “because everyone thinks that places belong to them.”  

Also telling is the information excluded from both sets of books. The report found that Palestinian and Israeli texts downplay, or ignore entirely, periods of peace and co-existence. They also rarely recognize the victims and suffering on the other side.

According to Kelman, this “prevents people from developing a dynamic understanding of the conflict. If you present the situation as ‘they are the evil doer and we are the victims,’ you put the onus on the other side.” 

Constraints of education systems
However, while the study is critical of both Palestinian and Israeli textbooks, it found more self-criticism and self-analysis on the Israeli side. According to Kriener, "Israeli textbooks deal with history and society in a more complex and multi-faceted way than the Palestinian ones."  But it’s not surprising, he said, considering the nature of both educational systems.

Starting in the 1950s, the Palestinians used Jordanian and Egyptian textbooks. It wasn’t until 1994, when the Palestinian Ministry of Education was established, that a distinct Palestinian curriculum was created. “But this is a very slow process,” explained Adwan, “and writing and composing textbooks needs time and a staff with expertise.”

The Palestinians also have a smaller budget and a centralized system, where all schools must use the same textbooks.

Israel, however, operates under an open educational system, and although the Minister of Education gives recommendations and subsidies for certain textbooks, teachers can buy whichever they like. 

“Revisionist history”
During the late 1990s, “revisionist historians” began to influence Israel’s textbooks.  According to Kelman, they “were looking back at the history of the creation of Israel, and were willing to challenge some of what had been the dominant narratives.” 

Poetry written by Israeli Arabs started to be introduced in the curriculum, as were stories of Palestinian hardships and suffering. In one textbook that Firer studied, Israeli children were asked to write essays imagining themselves in the position of Palestinian refugees. 

However, with the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, Firer said “the inclination is to go back to traditional curriculum, focusing on the Holocaust and Zionism.” 

So where does this leave them? Can the educational systems ever be revamped to include the narratives of the other side while the Israelis and Palestinians are still at war? Can there ever be a real political peace plan when old stereotypes are being engrained in the next generation? Only time (and history) will tell.

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