ISLAMIC EDUCATION IN USA HOSTILE TO ISRAEL, DISTORTS CONFLICT:

Islamic education curricula in the United States contain a clear "us versus them” paradigm that projects hostility toward Israel and distorts the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a study conducted by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education. The report, which surveys five Islamic Studies curricula studied in the USA and Canada, also showed that Israel is often delegitimized. "Israel is presented by the curricula as a usurper and referred to on occasion as Palestine. There is no discussion of peaceful solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the report states. In two of the curricula, Israel appears on some maps, while others omit the name entirely. One textbook even states that Israel has no historic claim to the land, while another places anti-Israel activities at the center of its call for political activism [terrorism]. "It seems that Israel is the place where tolerance and acceptance stop as far as Islamic education in the USA is concerned,” Marcus Sheff, CEO told media sources last week. Sheff explained that the narrative about Israel and the Palestinians is simplistic, one-sided and unhelpful. "History is distorted and Israel is demonized,” he said. "Imagine the possibilities of educating young Muslims in America as to the real issue, to the fact that the conflict is complicated, and then presented with these difficulties, we would open the dialogue, between young Muslims and young Jews in the United States” he continued. "If such dialogue existed at a young age," Sheff said, "it would solve many problems later on in universities, such as conflict between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel students." (Jerusalem Post)