Thread by @HediViterbo

Israel says that #Palestinians brainwash their children.

But what does Israel teach its own children?

A thread 🧵

1/20

#Palestine #Gaza #WestBank

As we'll see, Israeli children are taught 3 things:

1. They can get away with harming #Palestinians, especially if they later serve in the military.

2. Service in the military (which oppresses Palestinians) is a sacred duty.

3. Palestinians are dangerous and primitive.

2/20

Let's start with Israeli schoolbooks and the way they describe Arabs.

One book calls all Arabs "Jew-haters".

In another book, Israel is described as "a lamb", and Arab countries as "wolves":



3/20 haaretz.co.il/news/education…

Israeli schoolbooks often describe #Palestinians as a primitive and dangerous "problem".

In this video, Israeli professor Nurit Peled-Elhanan talks about her research on the issue:





4/20
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09…

Israeli schoolbooks also legitimize Israeli military action – and even massacre – according to Peled-Elhanan's research:





5/20 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09…
bloomsbury.com/us/palestine-i…

A few years ago, Israel banned high schools from teaching a novel about a love story between a Palestinian man and an Israeli woman.

Why? Because the book supposedly "threatens Jewish identity":



6/20 haaretz.com/israel-news/20…

In Israeli textbooks, the #WestBank (and sometimes #Gaza) are described as part of Israel.

There's almost no mention of the local #Palestinians, or the fact that they live under Israeli military control:





7/20 web.archive.org/web/2022061922…
haokets.org/2017/02/26/%D7…

The result is that many Jewish Israelis support violence and discrimination against #Palestinians (including Palestinian citizens of Israel):



8/20

https://twitter.com/HediViterbo/status/1729073649251196942

In addition, public schools in Israel are legally required to teach students about the importance of military service.

Israeli law also prohibits schools from hosting talks by organizations that criticize the military:



9/20 nevo.co.il/law_html/law00…

Israeli teachers who've criticized the military – have lost their jobs.

Here are two examples:





10/20 972mag.com/israeli-teache…
haaretz.com/israel-news/20…

In 11th grade, (non-Orthodox) Jewish students in Israel attend a week-long paramilitary camp, known as "Gadna".

They're dressed in military uniform, receive weapons training, and practice shooting.



11/20 web.archive.org/web/2009071700…

Some Israeli summer camps also train young children for military service.

For example, one summer camp offers children (as young as 3 years) military-like drills and military history education:



12/20 yediot.co.il/articles/0,734…

In another summer camp, Israeli children aged 10 and above undergo firearms training at a site "similar to #Gaza", and they also use military aircraft simulators:



13/20 calcalist.co.il/local/articles…

There are even Israeli summer camps within military bases.

Children assist soldiers with their chores and are taught by the commanders about battle history:



14/20 inn.co.il/News/News.aspx…

As a result, most Jewish Israeli children see military service as an important rite of passage into adulthood and full citizenship:





15/20 link.springer.com/article/10.102…
academia.edu/713443/The_Mil…

Even before they're born, Israeli children are already treated as future soldiers.

For example, here's an advertisement for the maternity ward of one of the country's top hospitals.

It contains an image of a soldier-like fetus:



16/20 972mag.com/ad-for-israeli…

Finally, the fact that Israeli youths will serve in the military in the future, can save them from punishment now if they harm #Palestinians.

Let's look at two examples, which I've also written about here:



17/20 cambridge.org/core/books/abs…

In 2017, two Israeli settler youths admitted to throwing stones at Palestinian cars.

But the court didn't convict them - because of "their wish to enlist and serve in a combat unit".

The court added: "A conviction might obstruct [their] recruitment to a combat unit".

18/20

The following year, a 17-year-old Israeli settler admitted to throwing stones at a Palestinian journalist's car and hitting it.

But the Israeli court didn't convict him - because he was enlisted to a military religious program (known as "Hesder"):



19/20 web.archive.org/web/2018122411…

Palestinian citizens of Israel (who aren't enlisted to the military) - are usually treated much more harshly.

Not to mention the many Palestinian children from the #WestBank & #Gaza who are imprisoned by Israel, sometimes without charge or trial:



20/20

https://twitter.com/HediViterbo/status/1718932382042976585