Hi, Marlene, I read in JNS about the case at the Philadelphia Free Library, and was shocked at the book being used, and at the abuse of a public library for indoctrination of children against Israel.
For positive books about Israel, I'd go to the website of AJL and access the following bibliography through their Bibliography Bank: "Israeli Books in Translation for Children and Youth <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://jewishlibraries.org/bibliography-bank/__;!!KGKeukY!mKuQNth8RBU4K5_Abr67yuILqh4JoUhZ2bSuWbXii8p7FggfXmc9-or2uIMfmfCRq0o$ >: An Annotated List," produced in 2011 by Jewish Learning Works. I've linked to it here for your friend's convenience. It contains many classical, established Israeli children's writers (Devorah Omer, Galila Ron Feder-Amit, Nava Semel), and works by Amos Oz, Meir Shalev, David Grossman and Etgar Karet. But there are some more contemporary authors your friend might want to look at. For example, Anna Levine writes in English about Israel today, and not necessarily about the conflict. She writes about nature in Israel, for example -- treating Israel like a normal country. For example, her picture book, *Eyes on Alexandra,* is simply about a crane named Alexandra who joins the crane migration to the Hula Valley nature reserve. Her book *Running on Eggs* is about two teenage girls, one Jewish, one Arab, who are both training for a running match, and end up training together. A small piece of land between their communities acts as a metaphor (contested land). Very fair and balanced book. Another writer is Tammar Stein, who does write about Israel's wars (*Six-Day Hero*, about the Six Day War, and *Beni's War*, about the Yom Kippur War), two wars that affected one family. The writer is fair and balanced, and never dehumanizes the enemy as many of the anti-Israel books I've examined do. One Israeli book that presents an absolutely beautiful image of Israeli values is *Room for Rent,* a translation in verse of poet Leah Goldberg's *Dira l'Haskir* (with great illustrations by Shmuel Katz). Its theme is one of inclusion and diversity, and it's a book every Israeli child grows up with (which says something about Israeli values, if not about how people -- Israelis are, after all, human, just like us! -- act in real life). It's about a series of animals that come to a building in a bid to rent an apartment. Each animal finds something wrong with one of the tenants: The ant complains that the hen is lazy; the rabbit complains that the cuckoo neglects her children, etc. At last the Dove comes, and finds something positive in each of the tenants. It's a moral with a light touch, and if you go to any kindergarten in Israel (including an Arab school I visited), the book will likely have been read. It's a message of tolerance for the Other. I am working on an annotated bibliography of children's novels and memoirs on the Arab-Israeli conflict. It comes in three parts, and the part I've completed is based on my talk at the 2019 AJL conference in LA. Its title is "*An Annotated Bibliography of **Children’s and Young Adult Books on the Arab-Israeli Conflict **Containing Significant Anti-Israel Bias."* I am attaching it for your friend's interest, as he may need to use it if he discovers that some of the books I've examined are being used at the Philadelphia Free Library. I examine the books for historical inaccuracy as well as biased tone and double standards -- and often have uncovered antisemitism (for example, a misreading of the idea of "chosen people" as a form of racial superiority in Naomi Shihab Nye's *Habibi * and several of her poems). The books on my list are anti-Israel propaganda and don't belong in any school; they should not be used in public readings in public libraries, either, because of their distortions of historical facts (for example, portraying the Six-Day War as a war of Israeli aggression instead of a defensive war against an attempt to annihilate Israel in Ibtisam Barakat's *Tasting the Sky*). I have also examined about a dozen children's or YA books on the conflict by *Israeli authors*, and if you put me in touch with your friend, I'd be happy to share the titles with him. The Israeli writers tend to be very empathetic, if not sympathetic, to the Arab perspective. Since the late 1980s, they've been bending over backwards to humanize Arab characters, an effort that has not been reciprocated in many anti-Israel books I've looked at Please invite your friend to get in touch with me if he has any questions or would like more titles. I'm addressing this to the Hasafran list as well in case anyone else is interested. I'd be happy to share my bibliography. Marjorie Gann. On Thu, Sep 9, 2021 at 10:33 PM Marlene Schiffman via Hasafran < [email protected]> wrote: > I have received a letter from a friend of mine about this problem. Can > anyone forward the information so that he can access a bibliography of > books that are positive about Israel. Thanks. > > I have been involved with a project concerning the > Philadelphia Free Library. This is an extremely well-funded institution, > the city alone gives over $48 million, which shockingly has been involved > with programming that is extremely anti-Israel. A meeting was held between > a ZOA representative, the Federation and the Library. In trying to find > books that present Israel in a positive light, we find that there are very > few books that present history in a way that young people can understand. > > > > Some of these books include references to “stolen” land. One > refers to “occupation”, and another shows an outline of what we recognize > as modern-day Israel and labels it “Palestine”, erasing Israel entirely. > This book is called “Baba, What Does My Name Mean?” – please look it up and > check it out. I wanted to suggest that these libraries offer some books > about Israel and Zionism for children so that there will be balance – but > none seem to have the quality and richness nor present the > Israel/Jewish/Zionist story in a way that younger kids could relate or > understand as the book I refer to do with the anti-Israel narrative. > > > > Given your own involvement with publication, I thought that > perhaps you could steer me in the right direction to those who would write > or have knowledge about books demonstrating Israel and its Jewish > connection in a fair, honest, and positive way. > > > > Thank you very much. Once again, all the best. > > > > Marlene Schiffman > > Metadata and Services Department > > Gottesman Library > > Yeshiva University > > 500 West 185th Street > > New York, N.Y. 10033 > > > > Gottesman Library > > Room 301 > > 646 592 4276 > > > __ > 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: > [email protected] > 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: [email protected] > Ha-Safran Archives: > Current: > > https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran*40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html__;JQ!!KGKeukY!mKuQNth8RBU4K5_Abr67yuILqh4JoUhZ2bSuWbXii8p7FggfXmc9-or2uIMfQPnxzbs$ > > Earlier Listserver: > > https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran*40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html__;JQ!!KGKeukY!mKuQNth8RBU4K5_Abr67yuILqh4JoUhZ2bSuWbXii8p7FggfXmc9-or2uIMfUiyGwYI$ > > AJL HomePage > https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.JewishLibraries.org__;!!KGKeukY!mKuQNth8RBU4K5_Abr67yuILqh4JoUhZ2bSuWbXii8p7FggfXmc9-or2uIMfYhBAHNo$ > > -- > Hasafran mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran >
List of anti-Israel Books compiled - Draft 3 - June 6 2021.docx
Description: MS-Word 2007 document
__ 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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 [email protected] https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran
