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Last update - 17:56 10/06/2008
Arab towns to distribute 'Nakba' alternative history booklet outside schools
By Yoav Stern
Tags: nakba, education ministry 

Israeli Arabs will distribute 20,000 booklets on the Nakba - the "catastrophe," what happened to the Palestinians after 1948 - outside of schools in Arab settlements throughout the country.

The booklets, which were written by 150 Palestinian children in Israel, the Palestinian territories and Syria and Lebanon, are part of an initiative by the Ibn Khaldoun Center for Development Studies (ICDS) in the northern town of Tamra to "reaffirm Palestinian consciousness, and maintain and reinforce it among future generations."

Dr. Asad Ghanem, the chairman of the ICDS, told Haaretz yesterday that the project is the first of its kind to involve Palestinians in Israel, the West Bank, and Lebanon and Syria.
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"There's a double message here: Firstly, that we are one people with one Nakba; secondly, that the status of the Palestinians in Israel supports the Palestinian national movement," Ghanem, a senior faculty member at the University of Haifa, said. "There are fields in which we don't need to wait for the Jewish establishment, and one of these is education."

The booklets have been criticized by some Israeli Arab educators for not providing an Israeli side of events. For instance, the booklets mention the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan was passed with "strong U.S. backing," but failed to mention that it also received Soviet support. In addition, it does not state that the plan was accepted by the Jewish leadership while it was rejected by the Palestinians.

"This is catastrophic and will only lead to increased tension," an Israeli Arab educator said. "This booklet is exactly what the Islamic Movement would like to hand out."

The booklet discusses events like the Deir Yassin massacre, in which Jewish paramilitary troops killed about 120 Palestinian villagers, and refers to the separation fence as ethnic cleansing. "Only after the Palestinians become more familiar with their own narrative can we discuss others," Ghanem said.

Meanwhile, the Education Ministry said it had not been consulted on the booklets, which received no ministry support.

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      1.   This must stop now 05:19  |  Robert 10/06/08
      2.   arab hand out propoganda arabs will be the looosers 06:06  |  zionist forever 10/06/08
      3.   #1 Robert in Canada. The native people of all of America? 06:26  |  Maureen Ann 10/06/08
      4.   IS THIS ANY MORE LEGAL THN PASSING OUT WRITINGS OF R. MEIR KAHANE 07:07  |  Chaim 10/06/08
      5.   Arab settlements 07:18  |  x 10/06/08
      6.   An Ode to Israeli Democracy! 07:56  |  Adam 10/06/08
      7.   #1 Important news for Robert in Canada. 08:15  |  Maureen Ann 10/06/08
      8.   Some folk want to remember 2,000 years and forget 60 years ago 08:29  |  JK 10/06/08
      9.   Nakba Booklet 08:39  |  Fredy Ross 10/06/08
      10.   #1 Robert in Canada. The native people of all of America? 08:50  |  Basel 10/06/08
      11.   Do not trust them. 08:53  |  Jean Van Daem 10/06/08
      12.   that`s a slap into the face of peace education 09:05  |  scallywag 10/06/08
      13.   #Jean Van Daem. You have a problem... 09:32  |  Maureen Ann 10/06/08
      14.   This is good for peace 10:05  |  Titan of Mars 10/06/08
      15.   Israel serves up its own alternative history 10:12  |  Natallie Durson 10/06/08
      16.   Maureen Anne - Look who`s talking 10:16  |  Zelkha 10/06/08
      17.   #13 moaning ann and total disegard of historical events 10:33  |  victor hardman 10/06/08
      18.   #15 nutullie and the hispanics n the usa 10:36  |  victor hardman 10/06/08
      19.   #16 Zelkha. Israeli Arabs have every reason to fear their master. 10:49  |  Maureen Ann 10/06/08
      20.   To Maureen & Natallie. No duties but Chutzpah 11:25  |  Altalena 10/06/08
      21.   Nakba book-40 years of Israeli occupation 11:48  |  Ricardo Kolbe 10/06/08
      22.   Yoav & Haaretz: Please don`t parrot the Standard Israeli Narrativ 12:09  |  Kol ha-Nevi`im 10/06/08
      23.   A DEMOCRACY GONE TOO FAR 12:10  |  Nicole 10/06/08
      24.   US activists are distributing their booklets on `Nakba` too 12:13  |  Dutch 10/06/08
      25.   The Ministry of Education missed the boat 12:36  |  Tzfonit 10/06/08
      26.   Most history, particularly from the ME, is propaganda. 13:15  |  a wandering Jew 10/06/08
      27.   #6 Adam 14:16  |  MR 10/06/08
      28.   Accepting reality is a good first step 14:21  |  Titan of the Sea 10/06/08
      29.   IMPORTANT news For Maureen.Jews have ALWAYS lived there 14:27  |  PETER SM 10/06/08
      30.   all the supporters of this who see handout as a history book 14:31  |  zionist forever 10/06/08
      31.   DURSON Israeli Arabs are represented at every level in Israel 14:52  |  PETER SM 10/06/08
      32.   "schools in Arab SETTLEMENTS throughout the country" ??? 14:53  |  Diane Mason 10/06/08
      33.   Natallie 15:01  |  Ehud 10/06/08
      34.   Real History 15:03  |  George 10/06/08
      35.   NAQBA when will Arabs face that THEY chose war over peace 15:06  |  PETER SM 10/06/08
      36.   what about germans from sudeten 15:10  |  nelly 10/06/08
      37.   Delusional dual reality. 15:20  |  petra 10/06/08
      38.   # 1 Robert, Quite right!!!!!! 15:21  |  petra 10/06/08
      39.   Maureen And Basel 15:24  |  Robert 10/06/08
      40.   High time,to counter zionist propaganda with which the world has 15:45  |  lakshmi 10/06/08
      41.   Why not have a book burning like they had in Germany 15:50  |  American in NY 10/06/08
      42.   I agree with # 25 Tzfonit.... 15:53  |  Rami 10/06/08
      43.   More lies and propoganda, to damage young minds. 15:55  |  Yosi 10/06/08
      44.   It`s about time to get realistic and truthful. 15:55  |  NIKE 10/06/08
      45.   Prof at University of Haifa 16:01  |  Michael 10/06/08
      46.   A question to Peter SM ! 16:13  |  Nathan 10/06/08
      47.   To acknowledge the wrong that has been ... 16:20  |  Edith 10/06/08
      48.   The fate of the 600,000 exiled dispossessed Mizrahi Jews 16:24  |  Observation 10/06/08
      49.   Even Haaretz 16:28  |  Edith 10/06/08
      50.   `NAKBA` 16:38  |  David Nigel Braham 10/06/08
      51.   THOUSANDS of Jews Maimed & MURDERED for WICKED LIE of Occupation 16:43  |  Linda Rivera 10/06/08
      52.   Jew-HATERS DECEIVE for Expansionist Islam. Already ARAB Pal State 16:44  |  Linda Rivera 10/06/08
      53.   Jew-HATERS WICKEDLY Ignore Justice for One Million JEWISH REFUGEE 16:46  |  Linda Rivera 10/06/08
      54.   #49 and the extremes.... 16:52  |  Tenar 10/06/08
      55.   A lie lasts for a moment, truth lasts forever 16:53  |  sarahs child 10/06/08
      56.   56 sarah`s child,Truth will out! 17:06  |  lakshmi 10/06/08
      57.   It`s just amazing how easily they can lie 17:06  |  b`Galil 10/06/08
      58.   ArabClassified as Refugees after LIVING ONLY 2 YEARS IN PALESTINE 17:09  |  Linda Rivera 10/06/08
      59.   # 3 Maureen Ann 17:12  |  Mordecai Ben Natan 10/06/08
      60.   Where can I donate to this project? 17:36  |  Jeff 10/06/08
      61.   During WW2, could German-Americans hand out copies of MeinKampf? 17:36  |  Feiglin for PM 10/06/08
      62.   # 58 b`Galil 17:42  |  Vinegar Hill 10/06/08
      63.   Rami #22 17:49  |  Tzfonit 10/06/08
      64.   #3 maureen ann - WHERE is your PROOF there are INDIGENOUS palis? 17:51  |  CK Tan 10/06/08
      65.   #13 maureen thinks her CHEAP 5-letter-word is ENOUGH 17:53  |  CK Tan 10/06/08
      66.   #24 dutch - those ACTIVISTS are doing a LOUSY JOB 17:54  |  CK Tan 10/06/08
      67.   B`Gallil - you make an excellent point 17:59  |  Jo 10/06/08
      68.   Tzfonite considers that Israel should reproduce lies 18:37  |  Iz Ray Leigh 10/06/08
      69.   C K Tan?? 18:41  |  Benjamin 10/06/08
      70.   To 41. American in NY: War or peace 18:53  |  Altalena 10/06/08
      71.   Israel is not USA, act now or tomorrow you wil have to kill them