Please see the following follow-up item from the JAT (Jewish Action Taskforce):
Next Step With "History Alive" Textbook
We are happy to report that the anti-Israel junior-high- school textbook "History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond" has been withdrawn from use in the Scottsdale, Arizona, schools after letters concerned activists drew the problem to the attention of the school authorities.
ACTION
------
The book is still in production and in use in other school districts. We are, therefore, asking that you write to the Medford, New Jersey, public schools, where the book is in use, and to the publisher of this unprofessional and anti-Israel book asking that it be withdrawn from publication.
CONTACT
INFO
------------
~~~
School
Official
~~~
Virginia
Grossman
District
Curriculum
Coordinator
Medford
Township
Public
Schools
Medford
Township,
New
Jersey
email:
ggrossman@medford.k12.nj.us
~~~
Mayor
of
Medford
Township
~~~
Walter
Urban,
Mayor
Medford
Township,
NJ
email:
wmurban@leggmason.com
~~~
Publisher
of
Book
~~~
postal
mail:
Teachers
Curriculum
Institute
P.O.
Box
1327
Rancho
Cordova,
CA
95741
email:
info@historyalive.com
After
sending
an
email
message
to
the
above
address,
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SpamLion@historyalive.com
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not
spam.
When
you
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your
original
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be
delivered.
SAMPLE
LETTERS
--------------
~~~ Letter 1: to Medford Township ~~~
Dear Mayor Urban / Dear Ms Grossman,
I am appalled that the new "History Alive!" textbooks are being taught in public schools in Medford. These books present a picture of the Middle East so distorted as to be more propaganda than scholarship. For example, the only use of the word terrorism in the unit on the Modern Middle East comes in the sentence: "Zionist terrorist groups formed and began attacking..."
The unit on the Middle East presents a distorted history of the region that omits mention of ancient Israel as a sovereign Jewish nation, omits mention of the centrality of Jerusalem to Judaism, and erases the pertinent fact of continuous Jewish presence in the Holy Land throughout history.
It falsely states that the Jews "left" Israel 2,000 years ago. The Jews did not "leave." The Jewish population of the area around Jerusalem was shipped in chains to Roman slave markets, while the Jewish population of the Galilee not only stayed in place but continued to flourish for many hundreds of years.
Medford has a responsibility to present history in an accurate and unbiased fashion. I trust that you will immediately withdraw this propaganda-text from use.
Sincerely yours,
~~~
Letter
2:
to
Publisher
~~~
Dear Sir,
As you are doubtless aware, your textbook "History Alive!" has been widely criticized for presenting a highly biased view of the Middle East and for containing information so factually inaccurate that it can be better characterized as propaganda than history.
Specifically, the Teacher's Curriculum Institute unit on the Modern Middle East presents a distorted history of the region that omits mention of ancient Israel as a sovereign Jewish nation, omits mention of the centrality of Jerusalem to Judaism, and erases the pertinent fact of continuous Jewish presence in the Holy Land throughout history. It falsely states that the Jews "left" Israel 2,000 years ago.
The Jews did not "leave." The Jewish population of the area around Jerusalem was shipped in chains to Roman slave markets, while the Jewish population of the Galilee not only stayed in place but continued to flourish for many hundreds of years.
The sort of propaganda-as-history presented in "History Alive!" has no place in the public school curriculum.
History Alive!'s constant use of the name "Palestine," refusal to use the name "Israel," omission of any mention of the nearly one million Jewish refugees driven from Muslim lands, and use of the word "terrorism" only in the sentence "Zionist terrorist groups formed and began attacking..." demonstrates that this curriculum is not scholarship but mere propaganda carefully planned to delegitimize the Jewish claim to the land of Israel.
I hope that you will cease publication of "History Alive!" and replace it with a textbook that takes an evenhanded and factual approach to the Middle East.
Sincerely yours,
BACKGROUND
----------
The "History Alive!" textbook and its instructional materials are published by the Teachers' Curriculum Institute, a privately held company.
The chief author-advisor on Islam is Ayad Al-Qazzaz, professor of sociology at California State University, Sacramento. Al Quazzaz is a Muslim apologist and anti-Israel and pro-divestment activist.
The historical distortion and factual misrepresentations woven throughout the TCI curriculum renders it unacceptable for classroom use. A valid educational approach would present fully the nationalist narratives of both sides of the dispute, in an objective and fair manner, and would explain clearly that these narratives are what each side passionately believes. This would give the student (and teacher) the opportunity to weigh the arguments of both sides in a balanced exercise in critical thinking.
This material is so biased that it cannot be "fixed" either by using additional materials to supplement for its inadequacies or by omitting any given section. As a result of the bias, a potential exists for the creation of a hostile environment in the classroom against Jewish students.
Reports
on
the
curriculum
are
available
at:
http://schoolpropaganda.us/TCI_final_report.htm
http://www.historytextbooks.org/islam.htm
http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/20546