IPCRI פלסטין למחקר ולמידע/מרכז ישראל
ﻤرﻜز إﺴراﺌﻴل ﻓﻠﺴطﻴن ﻝﻸﺒﺤﺎث و اﻝﻤﻌﻠوﻤﺎت Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information
At the Outset of the New School Year:
Policy Recommendations for Peace Education in Israel and in the Palestinian Authority Twelve Recommendations for Twelve Years of Education
Much has been written and documented about the non-recognition of the State of Israel and of Jewish rights in Israel in the Palestinian Authority text books. The truth of the matter is that a mirror image of non-recognition of Palestinian rights exists in the text books of the State of Israel. This situation exists despite the fact that both the various Governments of Israel since 1993 and the Palestinian Authority have both recognized each other’s political and national rights. The acceptance of the Road Map and the Bush vision is only the latest evidence of mutual recognition. The continued ignorance of this fact is an additional element that does not help in getting us out of the impasse and the violence. Neither the State of Israel nor the Palestinian Authority have met the challenge of systematically and institutionally educating the next generation of Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace.
While it is clear that peace will not be made through education, it is nonetheless essential to educate each side about the other and to enrich each side’s conceptual maps of understanding the issues in conflict and the possibilities and means of resolving them. Not only do the educational systems of both peoples refuse to deal with the possibilities of peace, they even fail to educate the young people that from 1991 until 2000 there was a peace process going on. The young people of Israel and Palestine learn nothing about that important piece of history.