B C teachers launch campaign to include education on Palestinian history

it's proposal brought forward at sensitive time motion passed at the bctf AGM in March asking the teachers union to Lobby the government to add the 1948 Arab Israeli War and the expulsion of Palestinians from their land as suggested topic into the BC curriculum the driving force group of teachers some of them Palestinians some of them Jewish facing questions in their classroom about the mid East and feeling uncomfortable answering them without guidelines as Palestinian educator it's been it's been challenging in the sense that don't feel my you know my people's history is represented right now and there's not much mention of Palestine and Israel really in the curriculum right now it's noticeably absent it does impact the kind of background learning that teachers themselves do and are exposed to and if something is in the curriculum that means teachers would receive education about this topic and be much better equipped in order to have that discussion with students the forcing of thousands of Palestinians from their homes is known in Arabic as the nagba or the catastrophe those forced to leave never to return in the midst of the war that led to the creation of Israel this educational expert says if you wait into the Middle East conflict you need to talk about the complete historical picture and that includes the nagba don't know how you could teach about the history of Palestine Israel certainly don't think you could teach about the the refugee issue over time and the root and the historic roots of that don't think you could teach about that without the knock it's pivotal moment it's key issue it's historical root issue of what we're of what we're seeing today but the movement to include the nagba is facing backlash among members of the Jewish Community this mother of two who lived in Israel started petition urging the government to dismiss the proposal over fears it will Target marginalized students lot of question about how this curriculum is going to be built because this is very one-sided none of the Jewish Community was involved in this the organized Community it's very complex topic and by simplifying it becomes purely political propaganda in the classroom which it doesn't belong there Jewish leaders have reached out to the bctf over fears it will compromise the safety of students at time they say Jewish kids and teachers are facing intimidation in the school system characterizing the return of the Jewish people to their ancestral Homeland after more than 2,000 years of Exile as catastrophe it is deeply offensive teaching about the NAA NAA they will they legitimize Israel the the legitimization of the Jewish State leads to the demonization andal of not just Israelis but Jewish Canadians who overwhelmingly support Israel marking the nag and teaching about it will worsen the division between students in the classroom but not all people in the Jewish Community agree Tamara Herman's Family survived the Holocaust she she says it shaped her view of the world and she's actively fought against discrimination including anti-Semitism she feels it's necessary to teach kids the full history of the Middle East in order to break the cycle of violence in the region don't feel that my children can be equipped to be able to find different trajectory moving forward as they pick up the pieces after this horrific Devastation without understanding the history of Palestine and Israel and that history includes the Naka and my child is entitled to learn about it just as much as my child is entitled to learn about the Holocaust as for the government they say they have no intention at this point to change BC's curriculum I'm leaving it to the teachers feel that they are fully equipped and they have the professional judgment how to assess their student population and how to depart these lessons so this is what my expectation is that every child is feeling safe in their schools for CBC News I'm Francis BL in Vancouver