Israel To Add Palestinian View To Textbooks

I was just listening to a story about Israel and the way that they are going to treat the issue of the founding of their nation and the impact that it had on the Palestinian people who were already living there.

The Education Ministry announced that for the first time in Israel's history a school text book will acknowledge that with the creating of the nation of Israel in 1948, came a tragic side, as it impacted the Palestinians, who had been living in this land. An updated third garde primer has been approved to be used in Arab classrooms this fall, which will tell the truth of Israel's founding and the displacement of the Palestinian's which continues today.

The Rightist's in Israel are angry about this new text, and want a traditional one sided teaching of history, which would only show the "true" side of Israel's founding as a safe haven for Jews who were being killed around the world.

The book is titled "Living Together In Israel" and describes the events of 1948 and 1949, when Israel was created by the United Nations in what had been British ruled Palestine, which then prompted an attack by Arab armies and the displacement of about 70,000 Palestine Arabs.

Previous editions of the text only pointed out the Jew's historical connection to the Holy Land and their need for a state, due to persecution in Europe. The previous edition also focused on the treachery of the Arabs and the heroism of the Israel forces and indicated that the flight of the Palestinian's was strictly voluntary.

The new text also notes that Palestinian's were forced from their homes, and soon became refugees, after the winners of the war confiscated their land and barred their return.

I find this another hopeful sign in a nation that is trying to do the right thing and be more open and truthful about their history, and whether you support them or not, you should welcome the honesty that they are trying to show.

It is the "good" countries that try and live up to their past sins and try to move forward, just as America has done with Native Americans, japanese, african americans, etc., and I applaud Israel for being more open. I hope that this will lead to more dialogue with the Palestinians and hopefully the Palestinian's will pick up the baton and make this a moment to change their hard line, "kill the Israeli's stance", and instead maybe try the path of knowledge and peace. Good Luck to the Israeli's and the Palestinian's.