Dear Colleagues, My son is in the 7th grade and his social studies class is profiling examples of females (women or girls) who have exhibited courage while living under an oppressive regime. Among the reading list is a book by a young Palestinian woman named Ahed Tamimi whose book "They called me a Lioness" details her personal story of Palestinian resistance to Israeli oppression on the West Bank. This is the same young woman who slapped an Israeli soldier filmed in a video that went viral.
The book paints a very harsh and sympathetic picture of Palestinian life on the West Bank perpetrated by Israeli settlers, the IDF, and the Israeli government. Ms. Tamimi advocates non-violent resistance. No doubt this girl has suffered and there is much injustice being inflicted on Palestinians, but the book is completely subjective and paints Zionists as racist, pro-apartheid, land stealing Jews with a few exceptions who have no rights to the land (West Bank and Israel proper). I stated my strong objections in a letter to the teacher a few days ago and this morning met with him and the principle to discuss the problem. They were most reasonable but unfortunately, bias has already been established among the students. The teacher has plans to show the class a documentary on the founding of the state of Israel, the origins of the dispute, a documentary on Hamas including what happened on October 7th, and a show on PBS Frontline about the conflict. He welcomes a book that the class could read that is pro-Zionist that also displays female courage. I would welcome some suggestions. The book must be in English. Preferably something that can counter the anti-Zionist rhetoric the kids are reading now. Thank you for your assistance, Steven Glaser Professor of Music Melton Center for Jewish Studies at The Ohio State University [email protected] Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef>
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