L.A. TIMES PUSHES FOR THE "NAKBA"

A WEEK AFTER PUBLISHING AN OP-ED BY HAMAS TERRORIST MOUSA ABUL MARZOOK, THE LA TIMES COMES OUT IN FAVOR OF NEW TEXT BOOKS FOR ISRAELI-ARAB CHILDREN THAT TEACH ISRAEL'S FOUNDING WAS A DISASTER.... BECAUSE IT'S THE TRUTH (EVEN THOUGH THEY THINK ALL TRUTH IS RELATIVE).

Two versions of history (LA Times)
When Israel's education ministry announced that history textbooks for third-graders would now include a heretofore unmentionable truth -- that the creation of a homeland for Jews in 1948 resulted in the exile of 700,000 Palestinians -- it seemed an enlightened step.

"History is written by the victors," as Winston Churchill said, and for the last 59 years, Israeli elementary school textbooks have taught only the Jewish version of events: The outcome of the Arab-Israeli war was justifiable because of Jews' historic roots in the Holy Land and their need for a permanent refuge from persecution. The Palestinian exodus from Israel, called the Nakba (catastrophe) by Arabs, was nowhere to be found.

The education ministry's apparent openness, however, is deceptive. For the new, balanced textbooks will be printed only in Arabic and distributed only to Arab classrooms. Hebrew editions of "Living Together in Israel" won't be revised. Some education officials sought to amend Jews' textbooks too, but they were overruled by those who said Jewish third-graders cannot understand divergent interpretations of history.

Education Minister Yuli Tamir says the new books will help Arab children reconcile the history they learn at home with the history they are taught in school. But Jewish children, who are less likely to hear the Palestinian version of events in their homes, need this information even more than their Arab peers, who at least may have the personal experiences of family and friends to educate them. If Israel acknowledges the fact of the Palestinian exodus, then it should be taught to all children. Instead, the ministry seeks to placate Palestinians without standing up to hard-line Jewish conservatives, who oppose the revisions even for Arab classrooms. [ED. ONE MUST BE "HARD-LINE" AND "CONSERVATIVE" TO BELIEVE THE ISRAELI (TRUE) VERSION]

History is continually being revised. Although written first by the victors, over time the voices of the defeated and disregarded demand inclusion. China and Korea insist that Japan acknowledge wartime atrocities; Native Americans, that their 4,000-year history become a part of this country's founding narrative; and women, that their deeds get equal scrutiny with those of men. [ED. GUESS WHO ISRAEL IS IN THESE ANALOGIES]

Whether most Palestinians fled their homes voluntarily or through coercion and force, and whether they have a right to return, will likely be argued until the end of time. But that thousands did flee and have spent subsequent decades living in refugee camps -- the United Nations says that descendants have swelled the number of refugees to 4 million today -- is not at issue. Why not teach that truth? [ED. OH, KNOW THEY KNOW THE TRUTH...BUT IT'S NOT ISRAEL'S VERSION]

By amending history textbooks for Arab children, Israel has acknowledged the validity of the Nakba. And if it's valid for Arabs, it should be valid for Jews as well.

AGAINST CULTURAL RELATIVISM

NOT ALL CULTURES ARE EQUALLY WORTHWHILE.

A Clash of Cultures - Interview with Amnon Rubinstein by Ari Shavit
There is an Israeli-Palestinian conflict that we have to try to end. But one must also see the broad picture. There is a clash between a narrative of enlightenment versus a dark narrative. Islam is not an open society. In the terms of Karl Popper, it is the most closed society conceivable. It is an intolerant society.

A well-known professor said not long ago that we have to adopt the values of the Middle East in which we live. I would like to ask him which values he is talking about. About the humiliation of women? About corporal punishment? About the hanging of a homosexual a month ago in a city square in Iran? About the flogging to death of a young homosexual in Saudi Arabia? About the Nazi propaganda in Egypt? I really want to know. What values are we talking about? After all, there is not one Arab state that upholds the values of freedom of expression, human rights and minority rights. And across the Middle East the Arab Christian minorities are disappearing at an appalling rate. No one talks about that.

I am not willing to accept a multicultural approach that says that their culture is like my culture. I do not understand how one can talk about cultural relativism in a generation that saw Nazism and Stalinism. Is it really possible to say that all the narratives are equal? That the Nazi narrative is equal to the Anglo-Saxon narrative? That the Stalinist narrative is equal to the narrative of the French Revolution? (Ha'aretz)