Hamas rewrites history in new textbooks for Gaza Strip schoolchildren

Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip. Photo by Filckr User Al Jazeera English

Islamist group Hamas has created new textbooks, which rewrite the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the 55,000 students in eighth, ninth and 10th grades, living in the Gaza Strip.

The two countries contend the legitimacy of each other’s claim to land in Israel and the State of Palestine. Textbooks have become a battleground for the dueling narrative of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
These textbooks deviate from the approved Palestinian Authority curriculum. They do not recognize modern Israel, make no mention of the Oslo Peace Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization, and say the Jewish Torah and Talmud are “fabricated.”

“Textbooks are always and everywhere a very important means of representing a national ethos,” Tel Aviv University professor Daniel Bar-Tal said to The New York Times.

“When a leader says something, not everyone is listening. But when we talk about textbooks, all the children, all of a particular peer group, will be exposed to a particular material,” he said. “This is the strongest card.”

H/T Cindy Huang