Dear Mrs. Kinberg, It goes without saying that students at the impressionable age need to learn about both sides. The challenger becomes clear when it is unsupervised reading, like when the book is a part of the summer reading and the teacher does not dedicate time for discussion on each book. The conflict is so complicated that one lesson of 45 minutes is not enough. Unfortunately most public school teachers and even Jewish educators have minimal knowledge of the Israeli-Arab conflict. Does the reader about the “Palestinian child whose only experience of Jews is as fully armed soldiers” know about the child that will remain disabled for the rest of her life because of a bomb on the bus ? This is not the place for discussion on the Israeli Arab conflict. The books on the list below (I’m nor familiar with all) are not balanced for sure. I underhand Marjorie’s concerns that some books used in PUBLIC schools are extremely hostile to Israel. I hope to hear from Marjorie when she completes her research, Amalia Warshenbrot
Dear Marjorie Gann, I appreciate your close look at books for young readers about Israel and the Palestinian people, and your invitation to comment. In my work as librarian at Temple Beth Emeth in Ann Arbor, I have curated a collection of books for young Jewish people that includes diverse Palestinian points of view and I am pleased that our library offers diverse points of view from Jewish, Israeli, and Palestinian writers that help our young people become critical thinkers. My library includes, several books on your list: The Cat at the Wall (2014) Naomi Shihab Nye: Habibi (1997) Golbarg Bashi: P Is for Palestine: A Palestine Alphabet Book (2018) Leanne Lieberman, The Book of Trees (2010) Pamela L. Laskin, Ronit & Jamil (2017) I was surprised that you called several titles "distortions of history or complicit in stereotyping or demonizing," specifically Tasting the Sky (which is on my to order list), Habibi, and Ronit and Jamil. I would appreciate seeing a list of titles from a Palestinian point of view that you would recommend. I'll never forget a lecture I attended by Marc Tessler, author of the massive A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, when he told the story of a several year convening of Jewish and Palestinian historians in which the participants never came to agreement on the facts. Last year I taught our high schoolers a class on looking at points of view in Jewish and Palestinian children's books on Israel/Palestine. The class was wiser than me at the time. They pointed out that readers should not expect books to be "fair" and "balanced," particularly when involving difficult issues. Rather, readers should expect and be aware of bias. I hope you understand that I am not saying the Jewish narrative we are familiar with is false, but it leaves out the Palestinian experience. A book including a Palestinian child whose only experience of Jews is as fully armed soldiers may be a true reflection of a Palestinian child's experience. It's our crucial (and even sacred) responsibility as educators to fill out the picture, but suppressing pieces of it that are truthful within their own sphere doesn't help children who need to deal with a complex world when they grow up. I also have had the experience of being asked by a public school teacher who had assigned A LITTLE PIECE OF GROUND, to teach a class on the book. That was a very challenging experience, as I was tempted to try to give a lecture on the whole Israeli/Palestinian conflict. I am very interested in hearing from others about experiences applying the values of critical reading of these books in the public school setting. L'shalom, Clare Kinberg, Temple Beth Emeth Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan On Sun, Aug 23, 2020 at 11:46 AM Marjorie Gann via Hasafran <hasafran@lists.osu.edu> wrote: Hello, Safranim, I am working on a presentation -- a spinoff from a session I gave at the 2019 AJL Conference-- on anti-Israeli propaganda in novels and memoirs for children and young adults. I am concerned that some books extremely hostile to Israel may be in use in schools. I am aware of one school in the U.S. in which Elizabeth Laird’s A Little Piece of Ground, with its toxic anti-Israel message and its demonization of Israeli soldiers, has been used for class study. I was wondering if anyone else on this list might be aware of the use of this or other anti-Israel books in schools (or in public readings for children) in the U.S. or Canada. Below you’ll find my list of some of the titles which, following detailed analysis, I’ve found to contain factual errors, distortions of history, or instances of demonization and stereotyping of Israel or Israelis. If anyone is aware of the use of any of these books, or of public controversies surrounding the use of these or any other anti-Israel books, I’d appreciate your contacting me off-list at marjoriega...@gmail.com. Thank you. Marjorie Gann Children’s and YA Novels or Memoirs which contain distortions of the Arab-Israeli conflict: Elizabeth Laird: A Little Piece of Ground (2003) Anne Laurel Carter: The Shepherd’s Granddaughter (2008) Deborah Ellis: Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak (2004) The Cat at the Wall (2014) Cathryn Clinton: A Stone in My Hand (2002) Michael Morpurgo: The Kites are Flying! (2009) Ibtisam Barakat: “Marked for Destruction,” in several anthologies Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood (2007) William Sutcliffe: The Wall: A Modern Fable (2013) Randa Abdelfattah: Where the Streets Had a Name (2008) Naomi Shihab Nye: Habibi (1997) Leila Abdelrazaq: Baddawi (2015) Anthony Robinson & Annemarie Young: Young Palestinians Speak: Living Under Occupation (2017) Golbarg Bashi: P Is for Palestine: A Palestine Alphabet Book (2018) Leanne Lieberman: The Book of Trees (2010) Pamela L. Laskin: Ronit & Jamil (2017) -- Marjorie Gann Latest Book: Speak a Word for Freedom: Women against Slavery by Janet Willen and Marjorie Gann Penguin Random House/Tundra, 2015 "An inspiring collection of those who have fought and continue to fight against the evil of slavery and an effectively solemn reminder that slavery remains a global plague." Kirkus "A powerful indictment of human rights abuses and tribute to the women who have fought them." Starred review, Publishers Weekly Five Thousand Years of Slavery, by Marjorie Gann and Janet Willen Tundra Books, 2011 A 2012 Notable Book for a Global Society, Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group, International Reading Association ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year, 2011 Silver Winner, Young Adult Nonfiction Visit our website, www.gannwillen.com, to steal a peek at both books! __ Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) ================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@lists.service.ohio-state.edu To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: galro...@osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html Earlier Listserver: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org -- Hasafran mailing list Hasafran@lists.osu.edu https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran -- Clare Kinberg -- Clare Kinberg
__ Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) ================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@lists.service.ohio-state.edu To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: galro...@osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html Earlier Listserver: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org -- Hasafran mailing list Hasafran@lists.osu.edu https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran
