First civics lesson : be a Jew
None of the people in this picture of a Christian school in Israel attended by Arab children would ever be classified as an Israeli citizen by the rules of the new civics textbook. Photo by Oded Balilty/ AP
‘Take my name off’: Author slams new civics textbook
New civics textbook ‘Being citizens in Israel’ is expected to be sent for printing shortly, but the storm surrounding it is not dying down. One of the authors of the book has requested that her name be taken off the ‘inappropriate’ new version.
By Shahar Hai, Ynet news
January 29, 2016
In the wake of the waves of criticism that met the new version of Israeli civics textbook “Being Citizens in Israel,” which revolve around the book emphasizing Israel’s Jewish character over its demographic one, it has now come to light that one of the textbook’s authors previously demanded that her name be removed from the document.
Ynet has obtained internal correspondence between the author in question, Osnat Savron, and one of the book’s evaluators, Varda Ashkenazi, at the Education Ministry from two years ago.
The controversial civics textbook, ‘Being citizens in Israel: A Jewish and democratic state.’
The controversial civics textbook, ‘Being citizens in Israel: A Jewish and democratic state.’
Savron is one of three authors who requested to have their names removed from the book, along with Avital Spivak, a civics lecturer at Oranim College, and Dr. Revital Amiran.
She made her request after Ashkenazi sent out a section of the book Savron had worked on that had been amended following external evaluation.
Savron replied to Ashkenazi a few days after receiving the updated version of her contribution to the book.
“The version you sent for external evaluation includes a number of distortions that I find unacceptable,” she wrote.
“They removed meaningful examples of matters central to a range of contentious issues that are currently at the heart of public discourse in Israel,” Savron’s response continued.
“Sentences and paragraphs have been shortened and changed, altering their original meaning. Your version of the sub-chapter on collective rights is, in my view, mistaken. If you remember, was a point of disagreement between us before I wrote the last version.
“I don’t think it’s right to present the subject as inextricably bound up with the national and civic discourse,” Savron added.
‘This sentence has no place in a book that teaches about democracy’
“I can’t be part of a book which describes citizenship as follows: ‘The realization of collective rights depends on the group’s desire to preserve its uniqueness, on its demand that the state grant it these rights, and on the willingness of the majority to grant these rights,'” Savron’s letter continued.
“Ending the paragraph with this sentence is extremely problematic and contradicts the idea of a government of the people, as well as the principle of majority rule. The willingness of the majority to grant these rights? Does a statement like this have any place in a book which is supposed to teach about democracy?” she added.
Education Minister Naftali Bennett. Teachers, academics and pupils have appealed to him to step in and stop the new book from going to print. (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
Education Minister Naftali Bennett. Teachers, academics and pupils have appealed to him to step in and stop the new book from going to print. (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
Savron sent an updated and shortened version of the section to Ashkenazi that she deemed more appropriate for the book. “I sincerely hope that you will integrate this version into the book,” Savron wrote, emphasizing that she wanted to know whether her update would be used or not.
In July 2015, Savron sent Ashkenazi another email saying that she didn’t know which stage of production the book was at, but that she wanted to remind her of her request not to be mentioned as one of the book’s authors.
“The section I wrote has been revised into a document that I cannot be signatory to and I cannot safeguard the way in which the subjects I worked on are presented,” she wrote.
Ashkenazi replied to Savron on the same day, writing: “I respect your request and your name will not appear on the list of those who worked on the book.”
‘Rabin’s murder was not the result of incitement and most terrorists are Arab-Israelis’
The storm around the textbook started a few months ago, after some of the main indicators relating to the civics portion of the high school matriculation exams were published, angering teachers and academics.
They claimed that these indicators featured concepts that emphasized the state’s Jewish character over its democratic one and realized that this emphasis would also be reflected in the new civics textbook
Arab-Israeli boys at school in Umm al-Fahm. What lesson will they learn from the civics textbook emphasising that Israel is a Jewish state? Photo by Rami Shllush.
The revision of the textbook began in 2011 and was recently completed. The new version will replace the current book and join two other books on the subject that are part of the curriculum.
School heads and civics teachers will be able to choose which of the three books to teach from. With the new book due to be printed in the next few days, teachers from both Jewish and Arab schools will not use the new civics indicators, in protest at their content.
Education Minister Naftali Bennett. Teachers, academics and pupils have appealed to him to step in and stop the new book from going to print. (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
Education Minister Naftali Bennett. Teachers, academics and pupils have appealed to him to step in and stop the new book from going to print. (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
Criticisms of the new book have poured in from across the spectrum. Teachers, school principals, academics and even students approached Education Minister Naftali Bennett, requesting that he prevent the book from being printed and that he stop the new indicators from being used.
The book’s language editor, Yehuda Yaari, at the beginning of the month sent a letter to relevant officials in which he wrote that the draft he’d been sent said that Rabin’s murder was equivalent to the sinking of the Altalena, as well as claiming that Rabin’s murder was not the result of incitement.
Yaari’s letter, which was published last Monday, also addressed the fact that the draft claimed that most of the terror attacks in the current wave of violence have been committed by Arab Israelis.
The Education Ministry responded that these quotes had been taken from a specific version of the draft which was not final and that some of them had been taken out or revised for the final edition.
Nonetheless, one of the book’s opponents said: “Experts who read the draft of the book say that it presents Israel as a Jewish state, period, and pushes democratic values to the margins.
Israeli Arab Maram Faour gives an Arabic class to Israeli schoolchildren in a school at the northern Israeli village of Yokneam, Tuesday, Dec 20, 2011. In an educational revolution of sorts, a growing number of Israeli schools. Perhaps she’ll be able to explain the disappearance of Palestinians/Arabs from civic studies. Photo from Oded Balilty
“The principle of majority rule has been turned into the tyranny of the majority and the line between citizen and subject is blurred. As if that weren’t enough, the writers have also revised reality and ignore the existence of Israel’s Palestinian minority.”
The Coalition for Democracy in Education initiated an online petition that called to stop the use of the new indicators as well as the new book before it was printed, and to establish a professional committee that would include representatives from every educational stream. This committee would deal with citizenship as a shared phenomenon, rather than one based on factions.
The controversial civics textbook, ‘Being citizens in Israel: A Jewish and democratic state.’
“Over the last year we have exposed the process by which the teaching of civics has undergone fundamental changes,” the petition said.
“The failure of attempts to discuss (this process) with the education minister and ministry representatives strengthens our belief that this is an attempt to force a fundamental change in how civics is taught – from emphasizing Israel as a Jewish and democratic state to emphasizing Jewish nationhood while weakening democratic values.”
The Education Ministry has not yet responded to the claims made in the petition.