The article describes the peace and conflict educational approaches found in the Jewish-Israeli curricula between the years 2000–2017, and extracts the dominant themes and messages towards Muslim, Arab and Palestinian “others.” The study follows 123 textbooks recommended by the Israeli Ministry of Education for grades 7–12 of the Jewish state and state-religious sectors for the 2000–19 academic years. The academic subjects or disciplines represented in the study include history, geography, civics (Jewish) religious studies, and Hebrew language and literature studies. Study findings indicate that current Israeli textbooks do not contain any overt racism or incitement against Palestinians. However, ethnocentric perceptions and victim mentality are two themes that still dominate curricular discourse and are counterproductive to peace education goals. Additionally, the paucity of Palestinian narratives is another potential hurdle to achieving peace education goals.
Peace and Conflict in Israel State-Approved Textbooks: 2000–2018
January 31, 2020
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