Israel bans use of word "Nakba" in textbooks

Thunder

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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1102099.html

I have to say...I agree with this decision.

Israel must protect the right of citizens to dissent...even angrily dissent against state policies..and even past policies.

But Israel is under no obligation to use tax funded textbooks to insult and defame the actual creation of the State of Israel.

If Arabs want to discuss the racism suffered by their people in Israel..thats all fine.

If Arabs want to discuss the ethnic cleansing that took place during the 1948 war....that is also fine.

But if they want to identify the creation of the State of Israel as a tragedy..do it on your own dime and don't demand that Israeli tax payers flip the bill for your dissent.

Non-violent dissent is a fundamental right in any democracy....but that does not mean it has to be financially supported by the people.
 
"The Arabs call the war the nakba - a war of catastrophe, loss and humiliation - and the Jews call it the Independence War."
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This is the language they want to remove from textbooks? I suppose it's their prerogative, but I question the wisdom of suppressing an awareness of the Arab perspective, no matter how strongly you may disagree with it.
 
Kookwatcher said:
This is the language they want to remove from textbooks? I suppose it's their prerogative, but I question the wisdom of suppressing an awareness of the Arab perspective, no matter how strongly you may disagree with it.
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I sort of agree with you. This seems petty.

DR
 
Kookwatcher said:
...I question the wisdom of suppressing an awareness of the Arab perspective, no matter how strongly you may disagree with it.
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A "perspective" that serves to feed the Arab psychosis of victimization and revenge, but, far more importantly, a perspective that is the root cause of Arab terrorism against Jews. Both Jews and Arabs, and the world, would do well to not have any of this Nakba business.
 
a_unique_person said:
A diversion. So you accept it is rewriting history.
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No, not really. You see, given that the entire ethnic and cultural identity of the "Palestinian People" have been completely fabricated, then, any other aspects of their history are inherently not credible.
 
Personally, I think in the context of the book it makes sense to just leave it. It's improtant to understand where all sides are coming from, especially in the study of history, and disallowing an account that shows where the Arabs are coming from just increases the prejudice that already exists between culture. The first step to peace is either understanding or mass genocide. Most people prefer the former.
 
Soon it will be that Arabs will falsely be called Palestinians. Oops, already has happened.
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You mean the way Europeans, Africans, Asians and Latinos that just happen to live in the USA and Canada are called "Americans" and "Canadians"? Or am I missing something here?
 
athene said:
Personally, I think in the context of the book it makes sense to just leave it. It's improtant to understand where all sides are coming from, especially in the study of history, and disallowing an account that shows where the Arabs are coming from just increases the prejudice that already exists between culture. The first step to peace is either understanding or mass genocide. Most people prefer the former.
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The study of history? The Palestinians never existed in history, unless you consider 1964 history, when the PLO was created. So, spare me the faux history lesson.

The Israeli Arabs are mourning the creation of the country in which they live, the country that accords them rights and freedoms only dreamed about in the Arab and Muslim worlds, the country whose soldiers give their lives in protecting them, which breeds resentment toward Israel and Jews and incites violence and terrorism. If the Israeli Arabs want to mourn the creation of Israel, let them relocate and take it outside of Israel. If they dared mourn the creation of Jordan or Saudi Arabia, they'd be shot.
 
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Marc39 said:
A "perspective" that serves to feed the Arab psychosis of victimization and revenge, but, far more importantly, a perspective that is the root cause of Arab terrorism against Jews. Both Jews and Arabs, and the world, would do well to not have any of this Nakba business.
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I don't see how the excerpt I quoted feeds or promotes the Arab perspective. It's merely a descriptive statement.

And let's say for the sake of argument - I'm neither agreeing nor disagreeing here - that the Arabs are suffering from a "psychosis of victimization and revenge". Even a criminal profiler strives to understand a psycho from the psycho's perspective. I think censorship here will only harm Israelis by making them less aware of what's going on around them, and why. It's a head-in-the-sand move. Arab anger and the perceived reasons for it won't go away because Israelis refuse to recognize them.

The creation of a taboo on use of the word nakba will also give the impression that Israel has something to hide, somethng to cover up and suppress. Not smart.
 
Marc39 said:
The Israeli Arabs are mourning the creation of the country in which they live
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Its hilarious the way you want to tell people what they are mourning. They are mourning the things that happened to them, the things you want to erase from history.
 
Marc39 said:
A "perspective" that serves to feed the Arab psychosis of victimization and revenge, but, far more importantly, a perspective that is the root cause of Arab terrorism against Jews. Both Jews and Arabs, and the world, would do well to not have any of this Nakba business.
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I agree completely.

Arabs should come up with a new word, a word for "live with it", or "move on".

The Fool said:
Its hilarious the way you want to tell people what they are mourning. They are mourning the things that happened to them, the things you want to erase from history.
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You're confusing "mourning" with "whining". They are whining about something that happened 60 years ago. What's the use of commemorating something nobody can do anything about anymore?
 
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parky76 said:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1102099.html

I have to say...I agree with this decision.

Israel must protect the right of citizens to dissent...even angrily dissent against state policies..and even past policies.

But Israel is under no obligation to use tax funded textbooks to insult and defame the actual creation of the State of Israel.

If Arabs want to discuss the racism suffered by their people in Israel..thats all fine.

If Arabs want to discuss the ethnic cleansing that took place during the 1948 war....that is also fine.

But if they want to identify the creation of the State of Israel as a tragedy..do it on your own dime and don't demand that Israeli tax payers flip the bill for your dissent.

Non-violent dissent is a fundamental right in any democracy....but that does not mean it has to be financially supported by the people.
Click to expand...


Let's assume the creation of Israel was a "Catastrophy" for a lot of people, wouldn't it be fair to point out that those people call it that way? And if not, maybe they also should ban the terms Shoah and Holocaust, because Arab-Israeli taxpayers shouldn't "flip the bill for your dissent"? :boggled:

Strange thread, me thinks.
 
Marc39 said:
Is Palestine a country?
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There used to be a country called Palestine, yes, in the last century. If the US (I guess you are an American?) were taken over, and a different state founded in its place, would you wish your children and grandchildren to not call themselves "Americans"? Would you think if they did call themselves "Americans," that "other aspects of their history" would be "inherently not credible"? To make the question fair, assume that the new state "accords them rights and freedoms only dreamed about in" the US.

Personally, I would want my daughter and grandchildren to continue to consider themselves Americans, to fight for the US if there was a chance it would work, and if (like the Palestinians) there wasn't any gain to be had by fighting, I would hope they would find a way to accept what had happened and work for peace, but without forgetting where they came from.

But, like everything else in this debate, it seems to be all or nothing. :(
 
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