Israeli students are learning how to annex Hebron
There is no other place in the occupied territories where injustice is so blatant; visits by schoolchildren to Hebron, while ignoring what Israel and the settlers have done there, is anti-educational.
Haaretz EditorialEducation Minister Gideon Sa'ar's announcement that starting in the upcoming school year, his ministry will make student trips to the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron part of a new curriculum is cause for serious concern. In his decision to bring schoolchildren to the heart of the most violent and problematic settlement in the territories, the education minister took a controversial political step - not a pedagogic one.
Sa'ar's desire to promote knowledge of the historic roots of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel is understandable. It is also possible to see why the Tomb of the Patriarchs could be designated a Jewish heritage site. But the problematic political context of the trips cannot be overlooked.
The Tomb of the Patriarchs is today next to a settlement housing a handful of Jews, who have forced thousands of Palestinians to abandon their homes and shops, turning the place they lived into a ghost town. There is no other place in the occupied territories where injustice is so blatant. Visits by schoolchildren to this place, while ignoring what Israel and the settlers have done there, is anti-educational. The visits will intensify nationalist feelings, faith in power and blindness to the injustices of the occupation. They will also promote the effective annexation of the Hebron settlement.
Even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes a point of not visiting occupied areas beyond the separation barrier, whereas Sa'ar, considered for whatever reason to be relatively liberal, is pressing to stake another claim to a site that no political agreement would include in Israeli territory.
There are a myriad of problem in the education system, and Saar has confronted difficulties solving them. Unsatisfactory performance on achievement tests, rising violence and the low status of teachers are just some of the issues. Provocative political trips will not solve these problems and will even exacerbate them. In Hebron, schoolchildren will learn that might is right, that whoever takes over property that is not his and evicts others from their homes with violence, backed by acts of fraud and the guns of the IDF, wins. This is an extremely problematic educational message, but the education minister wants to instill it in Israeli schoolchildren. For that reason, this new curriculum of his should be scrapped immediately.
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at one hand haaretz says "Sa'ar's desire to promote knowledge of the historic roots of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel is understandable. It is also possible to see why the Tomb of the Patriarchs could be designated a Jewish heritage site" then complains on how the vicious colonists turned the city into a ghoast town and had made the liveso f Palestinians unbearable!! sorry haaretz, either you are will the old funny story of Torah, or you are in line with the human rights codes, International law, and secular logicality... there can not be two clashing faces in one stary...stop the farce of "love, sex and R&R"
The city is sacred for Jews. We should not let it into the hands of Muslims and Christians.
Funny how when it comes to Jerusalem and Hebron, jewish extremism reaches its peak of popularity on this forum !!
"Haaretz Editors frightened of our kids learning about the Jewish right to Hebron " Is so funny to hear about rights, Would you agree if palestinians learn at the same point about right?
So called "p" people cannot learn anything as they simply do not exist. If you are talking about Jordanians defeated in 6 day war but who remained in Israel. Well, they lost all their national rights when they started that war.
Well i'm palestinian. And there are 7 millions of them all around you that are ready to refresh your memory and educate you. Feel free to ask.
I support that fundamental right What I dont support is a right for them to fabricate some nonsense identity so as to expurge their guilt for trying to exterminate us in 1967. Have a nice day (in Amman)
I guess it is a question of peace. Who wants it. How to get it. Is it valuable to live in peace with your neighbors or is perpetual occupation and degradation always going to be the norm. Do we want our children to view others as human beings with rights and history or only as cardboard prop-ups with kalishnikovs in their hands.
We must always remember that the defeated Jordanians of 1967 are just that. Calling them phalistines is to accept their propaganda that they belong to some lost special nation. That is obviously nonsense and that is what we must teach our children.
Are the Patriarchs really buried in Hebron? Did the Virgin Mary really appear in Lourdes? Did the winged horse Buraq really fly Mohammed from Al-Aqsa to heaven? Let's have some real education!
in fact, that was the very reason the education minister gave for his decision, ie. that the curriculum is lacking in jewish history, to the very significance of sites within israel. students don't get any idea of where they actually live. hevron is not enemy territory, it is david hamelech's initial uniting capital. remember the north came to david, he didn't go to them.
The question is why? I think it is the fact that if they learn about our historical RIGHTS to Hebron then they will come to the conclusion that THIS IS OUR LAND. Hence, our kids will understand that the PLO & Hamas are an enemy that needs defeating ( not appeasing) All this contradicts the marxist, postmodernist self hate that the enlightened ones wish to oppose on us.
this is NOT your land, you stole this to the palestinians... Should they learn about their rightS¿
It seems like Haaretz supports the enemies that wish us dead, rather than the truth. How can one deny Hevron as the epicenter of Judaism, after Jerusalem. I think Haaretz thinks Dizengoff is the epicenter.
What on earth is Historical rights ? same as Biblical rights ? there is no such thing. This is an invention.
Right-wing point is that this land belong to Jews historically, and to Palestinians by humanitarian reasons. In other words, one cannot come back after 2000 years and kick away however lives here, but on the other hand local residents should accept the coming of Jews. In practice this means that at the time of peace accords, the land should be divided demographically. Left-wing point of view denies historical rights, and is completely based upon UN 47' resolution, giving Jews a much smaller land. By this, every Jew living outside 47' declaration borders is an occupier. A hypothetical future peace agreement would not absolve the left-wing morally, as it would be obtained from Palestinians under duress. This also means that if by any chance the UN will cancel its 1947 resolution, those left-wing Jews will be morally compelled to return to Europe or North-Africa. Same if the UN enlarges its resolution and decides Israel should be homeland for all people in need, like Gypsies, Sudan, Rwanda and so on - Israel would be legally compelled to accept all of them. Basing the validation of a state on a UN resolution is an extremely weak moral argument.
You admit yourself there is an argument for Hebron being declared a jewish heritage site but in the same sentence you say jews should not go there. Lets say for a moment the arabs took control of the Old City and decided they didn't want jews going there would you use the same argument. Should the Kotel be off limits to jews it the arabs don't want jews there, what happened it they took over Tel Aviv and declared all the local synagogues off limits ,,, should jews just not go and pray at a syangogue? It starts with Hebron so where does it end? You can't pretend Hebron has no importance to Judsaism because of current political problems? Also those handful of jews living there, up until they were driven out by force Hebron was almost exclusively a jewish town but now you seem to think jews have neither a right to live or visit. Of course Bibi doesn't visit beyond the green line that is because of his position. He has a right to visit Hebron but if he goes there it may spark a riot. Ariel Sharon had every right to visit Temple Mount and it was even coordinated with the Waqf and PA security forces in advance but his visit sparked a riot. School children are not politicians and is probably not going to spark a riot. This new curriculum is teaching jewish children their heritage, something you can't wipe out because of current politics. Judaism has been around thousands of years but the Israel / arab conflict has only been going on a matter of decades. If we want the religion to last for thousands of years into the future the children must be educated in it and that means visiting holy places.
It is Theodor Herszl's "principles".
That is the point
While there is legitimate debate about the political nature of settlements. Saying that when you go you see violence, danger, oppression is just plain false. The people who inhabited the casbah until 1929 were actually Jews. Hebron was a Jewish city, not in the remote past, but just a few decades ago. Not a mention of this in this article. Whether or not you think the patriarchs are important doesnt change the fact that this has been recognized as the site of their burial for at least 3000 years and hebron is indisputably the site of birth of the Davidic dynasty - all important Jewish historical realities.
What is wrong is you.. Replacement history won't work. And Israel belongs to us Jews. Cheers,
1 - Being the only democratic country to occupy another people is wrong. It cannot last forever. 2 - Israel belongs to us Jews. Of course. As long as we are the majority. 3 - Hebron is part of Israel. The West Bank is occupied territory, populated (today) by 2 million foreign arabs. At least.
it IS important that Israeli school children will see with their own eyes the cruelty of the occupation, the religious fanatism of the Hebron settlers, the complete madness of the situation. One of the biggest problems of the Israeli occupation in Palestine is the simple fact that the Israeli general public doesn't know how bad the situation is. Most Israelis and most Israeli children are intelligent people with a healthy sense of justice. When they walk in the empty center of hebron they will be able to draw their own conclusions about whether this is good or not. In fact, I am convinced that these school visits will stimulate the support for Peace Now and other anti occupation organisations, and might even help tip the scale in Israeli society towards a popular revolt against the settler dominated Israeli government. It will help open the eyes of Israelis and will contribute to the end of the settlement project that is doomed anyway. I am am a staunch opponent of the occupation and thus completely support this plan.
The Hebron settlers came in the 7th century and build their mosque on the ruins of our temple. These muslem settlers oppress the indigenous Jews and they must be stopped. The Arab settlement enterprise is doomed anyway. I too am a staunch opponent of the Arab occupation of Ertz Israel.
1 - No problem. End the "Arab occupation of Eretz Israel" by annexing all of it. With of course all its population. And get 2 million israeli arabs more. Or dare throw them out. But where to ? 2 - Zionism has never been a jewish crusade for reclaiming holy sites from the infidels.
You obviously have never been to Holy Hevron. Every premise of your post is factually wrong, starting with the premise of the fiction known as occupation. There is nothing more steeped in fiction. Why didn't the Pals create their state in the '50s? At that point, this wasn't an issue. Why was going to war in '67 more important than creating the Palestinian State? You can be an opponent, but an armchair observer from far disqualifies your opinion. Once the fiction of occupation takes hold, the rest of your post crumbles.
Hevron predates Islam in the Bible by many hundreds of years. The Jewish people have come home to reclaim the land, the land promised by G-d Almighty. If you all have a problem, take it up with the ultimate Judge. Until then, you can occupy 23 other countries
Perhaps because palestinians in the 50's wanted to get their house and land back and could not ? thousands got killed. At this point it was an issue. Did you know where all these people were from ? Haifa, Jerusalem, Yaffa and all the land Israelis took from them. Learn a bit of history, that would not harm you. But rather you prefer to stick to the old official propaganda. Why ? do you feel guilty of something ? you should be. Before 48 Palestine was mainly populated by arab palestinians......thanks for the history lesson Gianni. You're just one extremist.
I agree wholeheartedly. I think the Israeli education system should take young Jewish students to visit the remains of the ancient Jewish sites in the Muslim world, such as Baghdad, Morocco, Egypt, Damascus, and so on. There they can learn first hand the disrespect the Arabs treated the Jews amongst them.
And here is a question for you: Should there be trips to the Kotel? Yes? But then the trip goes beyond the green line. There are also other schooltrips that go deep into the West Bank. Have you heard about Ein Gedi and the Dead Sea? So you argue that this is ok, but we should back away from Hebron? It´s a legitimate claim, but not the only option that is logical. But it goes back this: Which version of zionism should prevail? I don´t like the far-right of Israel, but I also know that some extreme left-wingers would like to question the schooltrips to cities like Safed and Lod. But that would be absurd, wouldn´it?
1 - All of Ein Gedi is in israeli sovereign territory, and so is half of the Dead Sea, the other half being jordanian. 2 - I am living in Israel for 54 years and have never heard or read anyone questioning schooltrips to cities like Safed and Lod. 3 - Yes, we should back away from Hebron. Or annex it. With, of course, all its population, jews AND muslims.
...the palestinians claims to the West Bank includes the northern shores of the Dead Sea. I´m sure you are aware of that. And today, if you go from Jerusalem to Ein Gedi, then you travel on disputed land. So why should all this be ok, and trips to Hebron banished? And you didn´t adress the issue of the Kotel, which is in the disputed Old City. I am just pointing out that logic shows one thing, and the rest is the political fashion ot the day. Well, Abbas was born in Safed. He and the other arabs fled 1948. We took over. Now, this is within the internationally recognized borders, but what is being said to our students during their trips to Safed? And thirdly - Hebron. I don´t know what to do, but I know that the palestinians sees this town as an important part of the future state of Palestine. Shalom to you, Sir.
Who will protect our children from the increasingly virulent right wing de-education efforts like the visit to Hebron, or "the City of David" settlement in Silwan, or forced memorization of poems etc?
It's a last hurrah.
For the Arab interlopers. Holy Hevron is Jewish.
It's all over but the shouting. You'll see.
Sa'ar wants to raise a happy little bunch of Israeli fascists who will not question the goals - or the means - of Israel's extreme right wing.