More than 20 years ago, it was true that some Israeli textbooks used stereotyped images of Arabs; however, the books in use in public schools today are very different.

Israeli texts go out of their way to avoid prejudices and to guard against generalizations. In one seventh grade lesson, students are given the following problem:

"Many people think: The dove is a bird that pursues peace. This belief is incorrect; it is a prejudice: people believe it without checking it. There are a lot of prejudices. For example:

1. The Jews control the world and exploit all those who live in it.
2. The blacks are inferior; they are incapable of being scientists.
3. The Arabs only understand the language of force...

Be ready to explain orally why these are prejudices." (I Understand, 1993, p.259)

In an elementary textbook on reading comprehension, students read how a Jewish girl was saved by an Arab woman. The book notes,

"The Arabs are like the Jews… There are nasty people among them and there are decent people and… they should not be labeled" (What is the Interpretation? Comprehension B, pp. 184-188).

The Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace (CMIP) reviewed 360 Israeli textbooks from the 1999-2000 school year in order to show how Arabs, Palestinians, Islam and peace were represented in Israeli school textbooks. The report showed that in Israeli textbooks, there are positive descriptions of Islam and the Arab culture and their contributions to human civilization. The report showed that many books describe the need for peace between Israel and the Arab countries. The CMIP issued an additional report covering the 2000-2002 Israeli textbooks. The report showed that:

▪ Many Israeli textbooks focus on education towards reconciliation, tolerance and peace. Peace is presented not only as a Utopian aspiration, but also as a reachable political goal. The new textbooks give information about the peace agreements between Israel and Arab countries and the Palestinians, in particular on the question of the borders between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

▪ The Palestinians' struggle is presented as that of a national movement whilst not identifying with their aims. The conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians continues to be presented as a clash between two national movements, thus legitimizing the existence of the Palestinian national movement. None of the new textbooks contains indoctrination against the Palestinians as a people.

▪ There is no instance of education to hatred of the Arabs or of any other people.

▪ In the new editions of literature readers, stories depicting Arabs in a positive light continue to appear. The textbooks approved by the Ministry of Education still include literature readers that contain stories written by Palestinian and other Arab authors.

▪ Israeli texts use simulation games to help students understand different perspectives on an issue. In one, students are told to divide into groups representing Jewish and Palestinian journalists and prepare a report on the discussion in the United Nations leading to the partition resolution. Students are then asked to discuss the differences between the reports of the Jewish and Palestinian journalists (K. Tabibian, Journey To The Past - The Twentieth Century, By Dint of Freedom, 1999, p. 294).

▪ Israeli books recognize the achievements of Arabs and Muslims. One text highlights the Arab role as creators of culture: "...they were the first to discover the existence of infectious diseases. They were also the first to build public hospitals. Because of their considerable contribution to various scientific fields, there are disciplines that to this day are called by their Arabic names, such as algebra." (From Generation to Generation, Vol. b, 1994, p. 220)

▪ Islam's contributions are also acknowledged in the same passage:

"The Islamic religion also influenced the development of culture. The obligation to pray in the direction of Mecca led to the development of astronomy, which helped identify the direction according to the heavenly bodies. The duty to make a pilgrimage developed geography and gave a push to the writing of travel books. These books, and the Arabs' high capability in map drawing, helped develop trade. To this day, merchants use Arabic words, such as bazaar, check and tariff" (From Generation to Generation, Vol. b, 1994, p. 220)

▪ While Palestinian textbooks negate the Jewish connection to the Holy Land, Israeli texts show respect for the Arab/Muslim attachment to the land.

"The Land of Israel in general, and Jerusalem in particular, have been sanctified more and more in Islamic thought ― as Islam has developed and spread, both religiously and geographically. As Islam absorbed more and more of the world conquered by it, so it adapted and Islamized the values that it absorbed, including the holiness of the Land of Israel, its flora and its water, living in it, the sanctity of being buried in it and the like. All these became from that time onwards part of orthodox Islam" (H. Peleg, G. Zohar, This is the Land - Introduction to Land of Israel Studies for the Upper Grades, 2000, pp. 161-162.)

▪ Israeli textbooks explain the origins of Palestinian nationalism. For example, a 9th grade text observes that "during the 1930's, Arab nationalist movements evolved all over the Middle East. Many of the Arabs of Eretz Yisrael also began formulating a national consciousness ― in other words, the perception that they are not just part of the larger Arab nation, but are also Palestinians." (The Twentieth Century - On the Threshold of Tomorrow, Grade 9, 1999, p.44)

▪ The Arab point of view is also represented. For example, a history text notes how Israel's government treated Anwar Sadat's 1971 peace proposal "with scorn out of the feeling of power and superiority that had taken hold of Israeli society following the Six Day War. After his proposal had been rejected and the political stalemate continued, Sadat decided to go to war" (K. Tabibian, Journey to the Past - The Twentieth Century, By Dint of Freedom, 1999, p. 313).

▪ Israeli textbooks contain a plurality of views, including those that conflict with conventional research and are critical of Israeli policies. Controversial topics, such as the disputed territories, the refugee issue, and the status of Israeli Arabs are covered from multiple viewpoints. For example, one book quotes historian Benny Morris's unconventional position attributing the flight of Palestinians in 1947-1948 more to the actions of Jewish forces than the instructions of the leaders of Arab countries (From Exile to Independence - The History of the Jewish People in Recent Generations, vol. 2, 1990, p. 312).