The Missing Narratives in Palestinian Schoolbooks

The highly politicized Israeli and Western scrutiny of Palestinian textbooks has seemingly led the Palestinian Authority to opt for a cursory discussion of the Nakba. Al-Shabaka policy member Zarefa Ali urges that refugee testimonies be incorporated into the curriculum and that it be overhauled to present the historical, critical and literary dimensions of the Nakba. Otherwise, she warns, the Palestinians risk raising entire generations ignorant of their own history.

Which comes first: shifting the balance of power or reclaiming the Palestinian narrative? Does the Palestinian Authority education system undermine the Palestinian story? Is there a place for the Israeli in the Palestinian narrative? How badly has the hegemonic narrative on Israel in the U.S. been shaken? These questions and more are thrashed out in this provocative Al-Shabaka roundtable.

Will the Palestinians be written out of history? There is a serious danger that this may happen, writes Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Jamil Hilal, who identifies five major misrepresentations of Palestinian history, geography and identity in the dominant discourse. He also discusses how Palestinians and their supporters must take hold of the way their story is told and reclaim their narrative.

The Mahmoud Abbas who heads to the United Nations for non-member state status expressed willingness to give up his right of return. Not so the other Palestinian millions. Instead, as Al-Shabaka Policy Members Ahmad Barclay and Dena Qaddumi argue, the region’s upsurge in grassroots political movements offers an opening to view Palestinian return through the lens of decolonization and to go beyond the zero-sum logic of competing ethnic nationalisms. They will be launching Al-Shabaka’s first Policy Circle to develop this approach.

The latest Al-Shabaka roundtable examines the effectiveness of different forms of resistance in achieving Palestinian rights. The participants discussed a range of issues from the implications of armed struggle to the potential and limitations of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement.

As progressive forces in the United States prepare to convene the second U.S. Social Forum this week in Detroit, Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Noura Erakat comments on the gap between Palestinian and Arab dreams of an America committed to justice and the reality of the work it would take to achieve this dream