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‘Message of Jewish supremacy’ dominates new Israel civic curriculum

November 14, 2022 at 6:52 pm

Israeli schoolgirls on February 21, 2020 [HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images]

The “message of Jewish supremacy” dominates Israel’s proposed civic curriculum, sources in the Education Ministry are reported saying. The curriculum was formulated over the past year by five members of the curriculum committee. All are Jews and three are said to be religiously observant. The curriculum is expected to serve as a basis for a new high school civics program in the future and is pending final approval.

“The program conveys well the message of Jewish supremacy to the students,” Professor Mordechai Kremnitzer of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Israel Democracy Institute is reported saying in Haaretz. He stressed that the contribution of Israel’s education system could not be ignored when looking at the recent election results. “The subject has been hijacked by the right and shaped in accordance with its values,” said another Education Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Jewish supremacist groups and members of the Israeli Knesset that have been slammed for their openly fascist views emerged as the biggest winners.  They won 14 seats, the third highest but, more importantly, they have become kingmakers for the foreseeable future.

READ: Upcoming government ‘most fascist’ in history, says MK

The new curriculum is meant for the ninth grade in public non-religious schools and religious schools in the general community and public schools in Arab and Druze communities. It was recently brought up for discussion among senior Education Ministry officials.

According to a copy of the curriculum obtained by Haaretz, the first part deals with Israel’s Declaration of Independence, with a focus on “the government authorities and a number of representative symbols and laws.” The second part offers a list of topics to choose from, including “Israel and the Diaspora”, “Religion-State Relations”, “The Israeli-Arab Conflict” and “the Founding Fathers”. There is no mention of the existence of millions of Palestinians or the economic and social inequality within Israel.

Words like “equality is not mentioned once in the new curriculum, while in the current curriculum, the word it appears nine times, mainly with regard to equality before the law. “Loyal” has been introduced for the first time within the context of being “law-abiding and loyal to the State”. The list of goals does not include the State’s obligation to care for and serve its citizens and that the word “rights” does not appear.

“At the heart of the democratic system is the human being, together with various combinations of values of equality and liberty. This is not seen in the curriculum,” an Education Ministry official is reported saying. The term human dignity is said to have been removed. The curriculum has not yet been approved and is under review.

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