Jewish-Arab Love Story Excluded From Israeli Classrooms
- 8 years ago
Israel 's Ministry of Education has decided not to include a novel about a romance between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man on the list of required reading for Hebrew high school literature classes, prompting a stormy debate over how Israeli society deals with its cultural divides.
Dalia Fenig, the education ministry official who leads the committee responsible for the decision, said that at a time of heightened tension between Israelis and Palestinians, the inclusion of the book, "Borderlife," by Dorit Rabinyan, "could do more harm than good."
Later Thursday, after a flurry of protests by high school principals and teachers , the education ministry appeared to partially back away from its decision, saying that teachers could recommend the novel to students in advanced literature classes, but not as part of the regular school curriculum, according to Haaretz, the Israeli daily .
Isaac Herzog of the center-left Zionist Union party, which leads the parliamentary opposition, posted on his Facebook page on Thursday : "Tell me, are the People of the Book afraid of books?
Dalia Fenig, the education ministry official who leads the committee responsible for the decision, said that at a time of heightened tension between Israelis and Palestinians, the inclusion of the book, "Borderlife," by Dorit Rabinyan, "could do more harm than good."
Later Thursday, after a flurry of protests by high school principals and teachers , the education ministry appeared to partially back away from its decision, saying that teachers could recommend the novel to students in advanced literature classes, but not as part of the regular school curriculum, according to Haaretz, the Israeli daily .
Isaac Herzog of the center-left Zionist Union party, which leads the parliamentary opposition, posted on his Facebook page on Thursday : "Tell me, are the People of the Book afraid of books?