Posted on 07/23/2007 10:44:41 AM PDT by Contentions
School textbooks used by Israeli Arabs will henceforth embrace the new historians’ version of history: the 1948 Israeli War of Independence is now officially “al-Naqba” (the Catastrophe), in books vetted by Israel’s Education Ministry. Education Minister Yuli Tamir defended her decision by saying that “the Arab public deserves to be allowed to express their feelings.” The Minister is entitled to believe, of course, that textbooks are the natural conduit for the expression of collective feelings—rather than the preferred instrument of instruction in history. But the real question is not whether Israeli Arabs—or a guilt-ridden minister—should be allowed to “express their feelings.” They are, and they do (as anyone who has spent any time in Israel can tell you). The real question is: should the discipline of history be the victim of those feelings?
(Excerpt) Read more at commentarymagazine.com ...
Even the fairest of historians can't help but push people towards thinking their way. It's only human nature.
People should remember that when reading.
When the loser writes a history it becomes "myth".
This "Israeli" minister is playing with fire and will cause the country of Israel to get burnt.
This is the same bad decision making that allows the Waqf to dig on the Temple Mount with earthmoving equipment and destroy thousands of years of archaeologically important strata.
Are you saying I should ignore the books on Vietnam that I've read by Americans?
I didn’t say accepted history was always actually what happened.
I have no problem with a statement that Arabs view it as a catastrophe. For many Palestinians it was exactly that.
The term shouldn’t be used as a description of fact, but rather as a description of one group’s view of what actually happened.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.