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Abstract
In Israel, changes in history teaching and the publication of new history textbooks in recent years triggered a stormy public controversy that went far beyond the content of the books themselves. The disputes over how history should be taught revealed the state of transition that had characterized Israeli society since the beginning of the 1990s. The perennial controversies over the history curriculum are actually a culture war over the ‘space of collective memory’. This space is a battleground because it is here that the perception of normative identity and society’s future image begin. There are many signs that Israel is beginning to turn away from the unifying memory imposed by the canonical Jewish–Zionist narrative when the State of Israel was first established as a sovereign entity; but, as the state celebrates its sixty‐first anniversary, no other solid, bonding set of narratives has yet been constructed to take its place. This article seeks to show that history‐teaching in Israel is still a bone of contention – caught in a tug‐of‐war between conflicting ideals. The article will argue that the more history teaching in Israel succeeds in freeing itself of the victimized, stereotypical and defensive perception that attended it from its beginnings, and the more history students develop as historical thinkers who think independently and critically, there is a better chance of cultivating peace education in young people.
Notes
1. ‘Report of the committee to examine the history textbook A world of changes [Hebrew]’ (4 March 2001: 2–35).
2. For the details of the curriculum, see Curriculum for state and state‐religious elementary schools, history (Jerusalem: Ministry of Education and Culture, 1954).
3. The Cyrus Declaration is that of King Cyrus, founder of the Persian Empire in 538 BCE. The declaration, which enabled all nations living under his rule to worship their own gods, brought back the Jews who had been driven out from Persia to the Land of Israel where they created a new independence. The story is told in the book of Esra, 1, 1–4.
4. The Balfour Declaration is the term used for the document signed by the then British Foreign Minister, Arthur James Balfour, on 2 November 1917, in which Great Britain (which ruled over Palestine) agreed to support the founding of a national homeland for the Jews in these areas.
5. Gideon Ben‐Yoash and Ehud Ben‐Gera were biblical protagonists identified with the beginning of the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel in the eleventh and twelfth centuries BCE. The history of their military heroism is described in the book of Judges, Chapters 3, 6–8.
6. The Maccabees belonged to the Hasmonean dynasty that ruled over the Jews in the Land of Israel in the second century BCE until the first century AD. In the revolt against the Hellenic Empire (167–161 BCE) the Maccabees succeeded in driving out the Greeks from the Land of Israel. Their heroic battle is considered in modern Israel a paragon of the struggle for religious and national freedom.
7. The term ‘purity of arms’ was prevalent among IDF soldiers in the 1950s and 60s; it means that in war soldiers should show moral and humane responsibility towards the civilian population and prisoners of war.
8. The October 1973 War was one of the most grueling wars in the history of Israel, resulting in 2297 Israeli casualties and thousands of Egyptians and Syrians. In addition, Israel had 294 prisoners of war. At the end of the war Israel occupied Egyptian and Syrian territories. A cease‐fire agreement was forced upon the parties by the Security Council (Resolutions 338 and 339) and by the super powers, the US and the Soviet Union.
9. In the wake of the 1973 war there was a tidal wave of protest movements against the government and the army. A national commission of inquiry was formed following the demands of these mass movements. The commission recommended dismissing the Chief of Staff and several IDF senior officers and brought about the fall of the government.
10. The Lebanon War was fought between Israel and Syria and the Palestinian organizations in Lebanon. The war lasted three years and ended in June 1985 with Israel occupying a narrow buffer zone along the Lebanese border. Eighteen years later, in May 2000, the government of Israel decided to withdraw its forces to the international border. While the army was in Lebanon 1866 Israeli soldiers were killed and 17,825 Arab soldiers and civilians.
11. The Intifada is a term given by the Palestinians for their rebellion against the Israeli occupation.
12. The national–religious education stream welcomes the idea of a Greater Israel, stretching from the sea to the Jordan River, as a religious perception which is prone to a more radical stance vis‐à‐vis the historical right of the Jews to the Land of Israel. The secular stream is pluralistic and pragmatic by nature and accepts the prevailing approach among the moderate political powers in Israel that are willing to give up parts of the country for the benefit of a Palestinian state.