Comparison of Israeli, Palestinian, and Syrian Textbooks - This is Scary

Thw World After WTC - a War Blog by Bjoern Staerk ^ | 11/3/01 | Bjoern Staerk

[vrwc54]

More middle-east school books: The report I linked to below is one of several by the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace, which compares mutual characterizations in Israeli, Palestinian and Syrian textbooks. This is scary.

From Generation to Generation, Israel:

The Arabs were not simply cultural middlemen, they were also creators of culture. For example, they were the first to discover the existence of infectious diseases. They were also the first to build public hospitals. Because of their considerable contribution to various scientific fields, there are disciplines that to this day are called by their Arabic names, such as algebra.

The Contemporary History of the Arabs and the World, Palestine:

There are a number of reasons that caused the Europeans to persecute the Jews, everywhere they were: The Bible is full of texts that support the Jews' tendency to racial and religious zealotry, and they respond with the spirit of hatred toward the other nations… The Jews of Europe were hated because of their hostile Jewish belief towards Christianity, and their seclusion, they did not join the western societies and continued to view them with suspicion. Another reason for the hatred towards them was their taking over the economy…

Ancient History of the Arabs, Syria:

A mixed people, dazzled by the richness of the Canaanite cities and their civilization, crossed the river Jordan, which gave it the name "Hebrews". It began to engage the Canaanite city-states and to seize them one by one, inflicting ruin and destruction, using all sorts of treachery and deception in order to drive a wedge between the Canaanite city-states. It took advantage of the absence of a unified Canaanite state that would be able to stand against the avid invaders and drive them back, as the Zionists do today in Palestine while taking advantage of the disagreement and weakness that inflict the Arabs.

More: The Palestinian Ministry of Education defends itself against these "right-wing, anti-peace israeli" allegations. CMIP responds by hitting them over the head with their own books.

[walden]

The least-told story in our press is the virulent anti-semitism in the Arab world. I just read "Semites and Anti-Semites" by Bernard Lewis and it made my blood run cold-- the Arab world today is the intellectual heir to Nazi Germany.

[aposiopetic]

bump

[TheGoodDoc]

The "textbooks" of the arab world are the incubation media in which children are warped and twisted into terrorists.

[RnMomof7]

FYI

[TheGoodDoc]

"The least-told story in our press is the virulent anti-semitism in the Arab world. I just read "Semites and Anti-Semites" by Bernard Lewis and it made my blood run cold-- the Arab world today is the intellectual heir to Nazi Germany."

Yes, and anti-Christian, anti-western, anti-freedom, anti-democracy, anti-woman, and anti-intellectualist also.

[father_elijah]

BUMP

[gaspar]

The Arab leaders, political and religious, were anti-Semitic during the Versailles talks following World War I. They were anti-Semitic and pro-Hitler during World War II. They have been anti-Semitic since the 7th Century. So what's new? Americans should get it right: Muslims cannot stand the thought of an independent Jewish state. Period.

[vrwc54]

That book is definitely on my list. Here is the Amazon link:

Semites and Anti-Semites: An Inquiry into Conflict and Prejudice

[okie_tech]

"It began to engage the Canaanite city-states and to seize them one by one, inflicting ruin and destruction, using all sorts of treachery and deception in order to drive a wedge between the Canaanite city-states."

What? You all never read the old testament?

[RLK]

The "textbooks" of the arab world are the incubation media in which children are warped and twisted into terrorists.

------------------------

And the problem is that one can not debate individual facts and issues with them and win. You are debating the validity of their entire lifetime of intertwined distorted conceptions which becomes so disturbing as to produce an angry psychotic break in which there is a lashing out against the world.

[LS]

I have, and the parts I remember are a Hebrew people fantastically outnumbered, often fighting with a shepherd boy using a sling, or by marching around walls shouting. The only "deception" I can find has to do with allowing the Lord to fight their battles for them. But, of course, if you ain't on the Lord's side, I guess you'd call that "deception."

[walden]

"The Arab leaders, political and religious, were anti-Semitic during the Versailles talks following World War I. They were anti-Semitic and pro-Hitler during World War II. They have been anti-Semitic since the 7th Century. So what's new? Americans should get it right: Muslims cannot stand the thought of an independent Jewish state. Period."

You know that, and I know that since reading Lewis, but most Americans don't know that because the American press tries to be even-handed about the Israeli/Arab thing-- as though the Arab desire to exterminate Israel is somehow equally as valid as Israel's desire to survive. I don't believe that Americans in general have a CLUE-- the press hasn't told them, and our President and other political leaders haven't told them.

[newwahoo]

Wake up sleeping beauty! Your alarm clock is going off!

[feedback doctor]

I saw a quote in one of the magazines by the Saudi Prince that had his money returned by Rudy. He talked about how terrible it was for us to have such a blind devotion to Israel. Well I love Israel, but do not think we have a "blind" devotion to them. But I should have sent a letter to the editor reminding the Saudi about how much worse is their blind hatred of Israel

[aruanan]

the Arab world today is the intellectual heir to Nazi Germany.

Not even close. The Muslim Arab world antedated everything anti-Jewish of Nazi Germany. During the Nazi rise to power, the Muslim Arab world wholeheartedly agreed with everything the Nazis did. Now the Nazis are gone, but the same Arab anti-Jewish spirit remains. The Nazis were an anti-Jewish blip compared to the centuries old Arab Muslim anti-Jewish bigotry.

[okie_tech]

Outnumbered?!?! The jews outnumbered the Egyptians and filled the land when they arrived. No Deception? What do you call convincing a city to have all their males circumsised and then attacking just afterwards.

[Miss Antiwar]

Oh, I am quite awake. Are you?

[walden]

While everything you say is true, Lewis traces the most virulent anti-semitism to it's roots in western Europe. It's important to note that he defines anti-semitism very carefully and rigorously; basically, he says that the natural rivalry of Islam and Judaism occupying the same territory and vying for political power and social dominance is not anti-semitic. In his view, one can be anti-Zionist, or opposed to the state of Israel or it's actions without being necessarily anti-semitic. He defines anti-semitism as the deliberate mythologizing of the Jews as evil incarnate-- the sorts of blood libels found in a book called "The Elders of Zion" and other such tracts, which allege that Jews drink the blood of non-Jews, and use it to make their religions foods-- other crazy stuff like that. Basically, he sees anti-semitism as the belief that Jews must die because they are inherently evil.

I think he takes a very reasonable tack, actually bending over backwards in the effort not to label anti-semitic any act which could possibly be explained by another motive. He gives the example of the murder of a group of Israeli tourists (men, women and children) by an Egyptian policeman (I can't remember when-- maybe the '70's or '80's?) He doesn't call that an anti-semitic act, explaining that any society can produce a lone nut. However, the Egyptian press (government-controlled) did NOT give the facts of the incident accurately, and the perpetrator became a huge folk hero in the Arab world. Lewis does see that, quite rightly in my opinion, as anti-semitism. The current myth popular in the Arab world, that the 9/11 attacks were the work of the Mossad, is also anti-semitic.

I'm not explaining any of this as well as Lewis does-- I would highly recommend reading his book.

[newwahoo]

Since fighting "war hysteria" seems to your primary goal, I'd say somnolence is more your problem than mine.