EclectEcon

Economics and the mid-life crisis have much in common: Both dwell on foregone opportunities

C'est la vie; c'est la guerre; c'est la pomme de terre . . . . . . . . . . . . . email: jpalmer at uwo dot ca


. . . . . . . . . . .Richard Posner should be awarded the next Nobel Prize in Economics . . . . . . . . . . . .

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Textbook Inaccuracies and
anti-Israel Bias

Most textbooks contain inaccuracies to some degree (except The Economic Way of Thinking, of course). Most errors are inadvertent, but in some instances the inaccuracies reflect a pernicious bias that perpetuates problems for future generations. A recent example is highlighted on Campus Report Online, where such biases in Civilization: Past and Present (10th ed.) are highlighted. Here is just one instance of many, in which its anti-Israel bias shines through:

After inaccurately reporting the events of the Six Day War, the book continues, “Now Israel had three types of residents: Jewish citizens, Palestinian citizens (Muslim and Christian) with second-class citizenship status, and individuals under military occupation who had no citizen’s rights.” The characterization of second-class citizenship (author's emphasis) status is factually incorrect. Israeli Arabs and Christians have the right to vote, to own property, to engage in any profession, and to serve as representatives in the Knesset. In 2003, three Arab political parties, out of a total of thirteen parties, participated in the Knesset. While Jews are the majority, minority rights are protected by the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, which states “it [Israel] will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture.”
It isn't surprising that many U.S. high school students come to support the PLO if they are learning from textbooks like this one.
 
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