The Israeli government is set to revise text books used in the bulk of state-run schools for being overly critical, sparking questions as to the freedom and broader role of public educational institutions. Governments have notoriously — whether in Israel, the Arab world, or the United States — shaped the historical narrative to their advantage. Arab countries push the narrative that Israel is an occupying state that has oppressed Muslims and threatens the region. Meanwhile, the Israeli government, through schools and IDF-enlistment education, has heralded the historical Jewish roots dating back to the Bible and portrays early Jewish revolutionaries as state heroes.
Because these schools receive state funding, how much responsibility do they have to tout the state’s narrative, or, as an educational institution, should they provide dissenting views recognizes as fact by some — but not the state — as history?
In this case, a main offending line in the text book surrounds the portrayal of Arab-Israeli citizens. The text book says:
“since its establishment, the State of Israel has engaged in a policy of discrimination against its Arab citizens.”
On one hand, this statement is flatly false. Arab Israeli citizens have voting members in the Knesset, participate in the general election, receive social security and health benefits, and are by definition equal citizens compared with their Jewish counterparts.
On the other hand, Arab Israeli towns — particularly in southern Israel — are in much poorer shape than the Jewish towns. Israel has built schools, provides trash clean-up and developed the infrastructure, but the bottom line remains that the Arab-Israeli towns are much dirtier and rundown than Israeli towns, which are often covered in greenery and maintained well.
The cause of this discrepancy is two fold. On the one hand, the infrastructure in Arab-Israeli towns has been ransacked — the metal has been stripped and sold and the streets are often filled with garbage. This destruction has occurred in large part at the hands of the Arab-Israelis themselves. But, this vandalism could easily be thwarted by increasing patrols, and that is at the hands of the Israeli government.
So, the question reemerges — how should the text books portray this immensely complicated situation, where blame should be placed on both sides for the inequitable situation of Arab Israelis, even though they are on paper equal citizens?
As educational institutions, these schools have an obligation to provide students with the facts. As documented by Israeli law, Arab-Israeli citizens have the exact same rights as their Jewish-Israeli counterparts. The Arab-Israelis are encouraged to participate in politics and are represented, with those parliament members often speaking out against the basic tenets of the state. The schools have a responsibility to address that fact, regardless of all the complications of this policy.
But, the schools also have an obligation to not obfuscate the truth and shy students away from critical thinking, even if it runs counter to the Israeli narrative. The bottom line is that Israeli-Arab citizens have worse living conditions than their Israeli counterparts and students should be aware of that fact. Granted, the cause of that situation is not squarely on Israel’s shoulders, but the state cannot wash it’s hands of it either.
