Israel textbooks admit expulsion of Palestinians in 1948

It is a start that is both too late and too little. According to the Associated Press and as published in the IHT, "For the first time, an Israeli textbook offers Palestinian narrative of the country's creation." The new textbooks give the Jewish narrative of the war, pointing out the Jews' historical connection to the Holy Land and their need for a state because of persecution in Europe, said Dalia Fenig, an Education Ministry inspector. But they also offer the Arab version of the war for the first time, she said, explaining why its results were tragic for Palestinians and referring to the Arab defeat as "al-Naqba," Arabic for catastrophe.
Two salient points need to be made. First,  the textbooks are for Arab schools only and for third graders in particular. Secondly, Jewish schools will continue to hear the Jewish narrative only. This narrative persists in claming that no crimes were committed when Israel was established. Consequently, Palestinians have no moral or legal rights to which Israel should be held accountable. Read the IHT article

As expected, many Israelis are outraged at this menial and meaningless admission. Yet it must be stated that the uproar is not about taking responsibility for what befell the Palestinians but rather about merely including in a textbook the view of the victim. This "update" to Israel's history books is taking place 59 years after the fact. The impetus for the curriculum change, according to Ms. Feing, "resulted from purely pedagogic considerations of professionals in the field of education." (NYT) No moral or legal considerations were considered or implied.

Palestinians have long demanded recognition with full acceptance of the attending responsibility as stipulated by Article 11: calls for the return of refugees, UN Resolution 194 and subsequent resolutions.   To the Palestinians, this Resolution is encapsulated in their  long held belief in the Right of Return.
As Charels Taylor wrote, "Due recognition is not just a courtesy we owe people. It is a vital human need."  The history of Palestinian refugees is very much about the vital yet elusive quest for recognition. Palestinian refugees have struggled to be heard and understood since approximately one-half of the Palestinian population was displaced from historic Palestine in 1948. Though they remain scattered around the world, Palestinian refugees have steadfastly refused to allow their individual or collective identities to be swept into the dustbin of history. Their love and yearning for their homeland is indomitable.

Recognition is intimately connected to identity, narrative, time, space, power, justice, and nation. Many books have documented how Palestinian history and geography was obliterated from Israeli textbooks in an attempt to obliterate "Palestinian's" from, above all else, the minds of the Palestinian citizens of Israel.  Israel and the Jews who support it must know that their political and moral salvation will only happen if the Palestinians accept as legitimate an historic and irrefutable admission of guilt and all the attending responsibilities. Heck, Germany did it.  AA