Class Action
Dr Yohanan Manor chairs anorganisation which monitors how Israel, Jews and the West are depicted in Middle Eastern schoolbooks…and has shared his experiences with members of Sydney’s Jewish community.
Dr Manor shows one of the text books Pic: Henry Benjamin
Dr Manor makes a point Pic: Henry Benjamin
In Australia to visit his daughter, the enthusiastic French-born Israeli professor is chairman of the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education [IMPACT-SE] which he co-founded in 1998. He took his lunch-time audience on a whirlwind trip through the Middle East showing a powerpoint presentation of examples of what the region’s Muslim children are being taught.
The former professor of political science, who emigrated from France to Israel in 1957, was quick to say that Israel itself did not escape scrutiny. He showed the meeting a map from the official atlas used by Grade 6 pupils in the West Bank and Gaza which did not have “Israel” marked on its territory but had “Palestine” printed as covering the entire area. “We don’t exist. Israel doesn’t exist…and this is a very recent book”, the professor said.
Dr Yohanan Manor Pic: Henry Benjamin
He produced quotes from the Koran which his organisations had dealt with and changes had been made to certain text books.
IMPACT-SE presents its finding to the European Union and British parliaments and numbers amongst its board members distinguished academics Dr Emmanuel Ottolenghi and Dr Daniel Pipes. Its work has impacted on Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Iran, Hamas and Tunisia.
The meeting was hosted by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and The Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
