Cultivating acquiescence and complicity

Israel has once again exhibited its dramatic propaganda, this time during a ceremony organised by former MK Michael Ben Ari, which honoured a Zionist student for complaining about her civics teacher’s anti-Zionist sentiment. Adam Verete was suspended from teaching briefly after Sapir Sabah alleged that he was utilising the classroom environment to spread a leftist-communist agenda.

In a letter to Education Minister Shai Piron, Sabah alleged that she felt “confused” following Verete’s firm statements about his radical leftist leanings, the state of Israel and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). Verete has been quoted as stating that the IDF is “immoral” and “the state does not belong to the Jews at all but to the Arabs”.

“I am supposed to join the army in less than a year,” said Sabah, “and my teacher is telling me that the army is immoral, and that anyone who joins it is forced to do cruel things.” According to Education Ministry rules, she added, politics are to be kept outside of the classroom.

Reports on Israel National News regarding the ceremony clearly portrayed the ambiguity regarding the Zionist state and education. Ben Ari declared: “A man who returns to his home, a nation that returns to its land; there is nothing to debate of that, and there is nothing more just… There is no freedom of expression to instigate rebellion and to incite against the IDF and the Jewish State.” He also denounced the education system, stating that it “betrayed” the Zionist youth.

Ben Ari’s statements are evidence of the manipulation designed by the Zionist state which manifests itself within a society defining legitimacy on its own terms. A complaint by a student was transformed into a matter of national interest and purported patriotism, while attempting to portray education as “liberal” despite its importance in consolidating the right-wing settler-colonial narrative. Violence is an inherent aspect of that colonialism, sustaining historical violence while advocating oblivion for the indigenous people and their history. Including a sliver of indigenous history within an educational environment necessitated the broadening of hostile ideology in order to elevate the myths upon which the settler-colonial state and its institutions are founded.

The construction of the desired historical perspective remains a priority for Israel’s education system. Since opposition to state policies presents a threat to the Zionist narrative, it is easier for Israel to indulge in a semblance of discussion with regard to freedom of expression, a term already compromised and exploited in order to justify repression of opinions deviating from the mainstream. Indeed Ben Dror Yemini’s op-ed claims that during talks to students, he has been careful to present information that included “various sides” of issues. “Just information,” he stressed, “not opinions.” The statement echoes the willing acquiescence upon which the Zionist state is dependent as well as the depth of complicity in eliminating Palestinian memory.

State policy not only discourages the discussion of the indigenous narrative, it also prohibits its dissemination. Hence the indoctrination of generations, a trait lauded and awarded by the Zionist state as it seeks to cultivate an ingrained oblivion aided by education as an integral component of state repression.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.