When a group of teachers from UK Jewish schools were asked at a conference last week to sum up teaching about Israel in a single word, here were some of the responses: “complicated”, “defensive”, “woke”, “questions”, “contentious”.
Enabling pupils to identify with the Jewish state is for many Jewish schools a core objective. But whereas half a century ago in the wake of the Six-Day and Yom Kippur Wars, there was near-unanimity about support for Israel in mainstream Jewish society, now the diaspora is more divided. The bearpit of social media, where youth get their news about the Middle East as everything else, only adds to the fraught nature of the subject, making it harder for teachers to tackle it.
Enter Unpacked for Educators, an Israeli-based initiative which produces free digital content on Judaism and Israel for teachers — videos, podcasts and articles as well as blogs with pedagogic tips.
It deals upfront with difficult topics, as a glance at some of the titles in its video library on the Arab-Israeli conflict shows. “Does Israel act as an apartheid state?”, “Is Israel an occupying power?”, “Did Israel expel Palestinian Arabs?”, “Was Zionism a form of colonialism?”.
These short information films are not designed to be tools for advocacy but springboards for discussion and exploration in class.
“Advocacy efforts aren’t designed to help young people create personal connections to Israel,” explained Avi Posen, senior director of Israel education at Unpacked, one of the guest speakers at the London School of Jewish Studies annual conference for Jewish secondary school teachers.
Unpacked offers “a more nuanced approach,” he said.
Since one of its aims is to help cultivate students’ interest in Israel — “our homeland” —Unpacked obviously operates from a pro-Zionist outlook. One piece of work it created last year was a five-minute video version of the academic Gil Troy’s essay, “Why I am a Zionist”.
But it encourages the understanding of different points of view and that historical events can have more than one interpretation.
Mr Posen suggests that Israel education might take a leaf from the teaching of sacred texts, where the biblical source will be examined from the varied perspectives of different commentators.
While teachers should preserve “moral clarity” — Israel is not the equivalent of Hamas — students should be motivated to grapple with complexities and develop a deeper understanding of events.
As well as material on historical episodes, Unpacked publishes a weekly briefing on current affairs which is intended to help “teach about politics without being political”. These range from Israel’s policy towards Ukrainian refugees to the religious controversy over the Women of the Wall to the recent death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
Students are advised to avoid unnecessary fights on social media and if they do engage, to underline the message that Palestinians and Israelis are “real people” and “not sport teams to root for”.
While institutions may have their red lines, it is important to welcome a range of perspectives in classroom discussions. “We need to create a healthy space for dialogue for our students,” Mr Posen said. Teachers should be able to facilitate conversations where students feel they have a voice.
In one survey carried out by Unpacked of students who experienced its approach, more than 80 per cent reported wanted to read and know more about Israel and felt a greater connection to it.
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