Rewriting history

Just ahead of Israeli-Arab children returning to school, Israeli Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar has informed the cabinet that the word “Nakba” can no longer be used in the school curriculum. Approved for use by prior Israeli overlords, al-Naqba (“the catastrophe”) refers to the time in 1948 during which Palestinians were driven from their homes by Israeli forces.

“It can be said with certainty that Arab Israelis experienced a tragedy in the war, but there will be no use of the word ‘Nakba,’ whose meaning is similar to holocaust in this context,” Sa’ar said, adding that the “Arab sector” would be taught a revised curriculum dealing with “the homeland, geography and society.” The announcement infuriated the Committee on Arab Education in Israel (CAEI), who say it is another of “a number of dangerous decisions” that the Education Ministry and Israeli government have adopted in recent months, which include prohibiting the commemoration of the Nakba in schools and requiring Arab students to sing the Israeli national anthem.

The CAEI says any governmental attempts to enforce the ministry’s plans will be met with “refusal and civil disobedience.”

by SCOTT SAXON