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Study: U.S. Textbooks Misrepresent Jews and Israel

[Jerusalem Post] Haviv Rettig - American elementary and high school textbooks contain many "gross misrepresentations" of Judaism, Christianity and Israel, according to a five-year study released this week by the San Francisco-based Institute for Jewish and Community Research. In examining the 28 most widely-used history, geography and social studies textbooks in America, researchers Dr. Gary Tobin and Dennis Ybarra found some 500 instances of "errors, inaccuracies and even propaganda." Among the "outrageous misrepresentations" was the statement in the textbook The World that "Christianity was started by a young Palestinian named Jesus." "Textbooks include negative stereotypes of Jews, Judaism and Israel," the authors write. "For example, textbooks tend to discredit the ties between Jews and the Land of Israel." According to Tobin, "you're much more likely to learn about Jewish terrorism before the founding of Israel than about terrorism against Israel since that time." Among the claims in the textbooks are that Arab countries never initiated wars against Israel, Arab nations desire peace while Israel does not, and that it was Israel that placed Palestinians in refugee camps in Arab lands, not Arab governments. The publishers are not bigots, Tobin emphasizes. "I learned in graduate school that you should never try to explain something with conspiracy when you can account for it with incompetence."
2008-09-26 01:00:00
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