History curricula and textbooks in Israel and Palestine — part 3: The role of History education
This is the third of a series of articles examining how history education has changed over time in Israel and Palestine, as part of the World School History project.
While the previous article considered the ways in which disparate historical narratives emerged in the Israeli and Palestinian education systems, this article takes a step back to consider the purpose of history education and its evolution through time in Israel and Palestine. This is important since it often shifts in the objectives of history education that drive the creation and revision of curricula and textbooks.
The purpose of history education
It is worth taking a moment to reflect on some of the functions that might history education might be expected to serve. These might include:
- Helping us to analyse human experience and learn from it.
- Shaping collective memory (this in turn helps shape national identity).
- Building national and/or personal identity.
- Establishing social norms and values, often in line with the wishes of the state (which might be combative or peace-seeking).
- Legitimising an established political or social order (which again might be combative or peace-seeking).
Thus History education has the potential to shift both the beliefs and aspirations of a population, and at different times, the respective roles of history education can have different importance.
In times of conflict or perceived threat, history education is often used by the state to fortify national identity and sometimes to delegitimise the “other” to create a more combative or defensive orientation in a population.
As outlined in the previous article and the first article’s contextual timeline, we can (perhaps over-simplistically) identify the following periods of state curricula in Israel and Palestine:
- Israel late-1940s to 1970s: First Program curriculum centred around nationalist Zionist ideals.
- Israel 1970s to 1990s: Revised curriculum with inclusion of the Arab perspective.
- Palestine Mid-1990s to mid-2010s: First unified Palestinian curriculum and textbooks created in line with the Oslo framework, and adopted in Gaza and West Bank.
- Israel 1990s to late-2010s: Revised curriculum places increased emphasis on Jewish identity. In the 2010s there are also bans on “deviant” textbooks (both Jewish and Arabic).
- Palestine from mid-2010s: Revised curriculum which places greater emphasis on Palestinian national identity.
Israel late-1940s to 1970s: Nationalism and negative Arab portrayals in the First Program
Following the 1948 war and declaration of the state of Israel, the atmosphere is likely to have been one of great anxiety and unrest; in the words of Ben-Zion Dinur, then Minister of Education:
“we are like a besieged city. We are in a situation resembling ‘a certain agreement of cold war’ while openly preparing for a war of annihilation against us”
For this reason, the first program set out by Dinur was very much centred around the building and strengthening of Jewish identity:
“Everything taught in school must assist in imparting to the student these values, train him to absorb them within him and raise them as a guiding factor in forming his identity, his thoughts and his way of life. Nothing in the curriculum or school life should be opposed to these goals”
During this period, much of the historical narrative centred around return from the Diaspora and renewal of national independence of the Jewish people. Oppression of the Jews throughout history was also a dominant theme.
As part of this focus on oppression, conflict between Arabs and Jews through history was represented as pogroms or disruptive riots on the part of the Arabs. Furthermore, valanced language including words such as “savage” “sly” “cheats” “thieves”, “robbers” and “terrorists”, was used to negatively stereotype Arabs.
Israel 1970s to 1990s: Teaching different perspectives within a Nationalist framework
The 1967 war between Israel and Palestine prompted a desire to revisit the portrayal of conflict between Jews and Arabs (both the most recent war and more generally). Around this period, some educators also started to object to the narratives in the First Program’s curriculum for being biased and even deepening “hatred between nations” (Adar). At the same time, the purpose of history education beyond building national identity started to be explicitly discussed.
The curriculum and textbooks developed in this period described conflict between Jews and Arabs in a more balanced manner, with fewer negative
stereotypes. The myth that the first immigrants had found an “empty and desolate land” also started to be challenged.
At the same time, there was a debate over how much complexity and nuance young people should be exposed to in historical narrative, and concern over whether this could induce too much uncertainty and threaten their sense of identity. For example, in a 1969 debate on whether or not to teach the 1969 conflict, one of the participants argued that teaching the Arab perspective could “undermine the justice of our case and sap the strength of our soldiers when they go to war” (see below for a similar rationale behind the revision of the Palestinian curriculum).
Palestine mid-1990s to mid-2010s: Palestinian identity and opposition to Zionist Ideology within a constrained curriculum
While the First Palestinian Curriculum Plan (1998) sought to create a strong identity around ‘heritage and religion’ and impart ‘ambitions for the future of our people’, the curriculum was subject to constraints to keep it in line with the Oslo policy framework, which implied certain constraints and guidelines regarding the representation of Israelis and the State of Israel. For example, the Green Line and the Partition Plan of 1947 had to be included, as did the history of Jews in the land of Palestine.
A clear distinction was also drawn between Judaism and the Jewish people on the one hand, and Zionist ideology and Zionism on the other. The conflict was described as being between Palestinians and Zionist ideology, rather than being between Palestinians and Jewish people or the State of Israel.
Palestine mid-2010s onwards: National identity and calls for self-determination
In 2016, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) started to revise the curriculum and develop new textbooks to adopt a more pronounced Palestinian nationalist approach. As in the case of the Israeli curriculum, it was felt that a multi-perspective approach could threaten the development of a strong national identity and cohesive collective memory, and that this could be disadvantageous in a conflict situation.
Within this new curriculum, Palestine is presented as a state integrated within the Arab nations, and the identity being promoted is of an Arab nation and part of the Islamic world. Unlike in the first curriculum, there is no reference to Israel or the Green Line, the argument from the Ministry of Education being:
“Why [do] we have to mention Israel in our textbooks when Israel never mentions us?”
Furthermore, Zionism is framed in terms of occupation and referred to as a threat to Palestinian identity. As in the case of the curriculum of the First Program in Israel, there is a focus on oppression and resistance, and Zionism is framed in terms of occupation.
Teaching history for peace
The recognition that history education can be used as a powerful tool for transforming the values, mindset and motivations of a population has as its corollary its potential for promoting peace. In particular, showing all sides of a conflict the narratives of the other sides can be highly effective in re-humanising them with respect to each other. Examples of such efforts include the Side By Side: Parallel Histories of Israel-Palestine textbook published over a decade ago, and more recently, the Parallel Histories initiative for teaching disputed histories in conflict regions. Peace is also a central motivation for the World School Project, which hopes that by gathering and presenting the histories taught in schools around the world side by side, we are better able to understand both our differences and our shared experiences.
At the same time, it is recognised that where there is conflict and where young minds are concerned, it is often necessary to first establish a workable account of the past grounded in collective identity before a multi-perspective approach is possible (Pingel, 2008; Wertsch, 2002).
Striking a balance between building a collective “self” identity and understanding the “other” is a challenge for creating history curricula. It may be that a more holistic approach is required to instil peace in a population, with fundamental transformations in the way we educate and think about “truth”.
The World School History Project studies the content and underlying principles driving history education in different populations over time using a range of methods (qualitative, quantitative, big data, thick data) to better understand different narratives and perspectives. Readers are warmly invited to comment on this article, point out mistakes and omissions (I’m sure there are many), and engage in a respectful conversation with other readers. For those who would like to give deeper feedback or have a more extensive dialogue, please use the World School History Project participation form.
References
Abu Lughoud, I., Jarbawi, A., et al. 1996. The Palestinian Curriculum Development Center. A Comprehensive Plan for the Development of the First Palestinian Curriculum for General Education, 2nd Edition. Ramallah.
Adar, Z. 1965. Teaching the Humanities in High School.
Alayan, S. 2012. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 6(4), 214–229. Arab education in Israel: Lessons from positive learning experiences of Palestinian-Israelis.
Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research. 2021. Report on Palestinian Textbooks.
Gur-Ze’ev, I. 1999. Philosophy, Politics and Education in Israel. Haifa: University of Haifa press and Zmora Modan.
Israeli Government Press. 1954. Curriculum.
Nasr, N. 1999. The First Palestinian Curriculum for General Education.
Palestine Ministry of Education. 1998. The first Palestinian curriculum plan, prepared with the assistance of UNESCO. Palestinian Curriculum Centre.
Wertsch, J. V. 2002. Voices of collective remembering. Cambridge University Press.
