Community leaders in Ireland reveal that Jewish pupils are changing schools to escape hate as new report exposes shocking bias in textbooks
November 13, 2024 11:20
Antisemitism in the Irish education system is so widespread that “traumatised” Jewish children are being forced to change schools, the JC can reveal.
It follows a report showing how Irish school textbooks are riddled with classic antisemitic tropes and bias against Israel.
Among the examples uncovered by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (Impact-se), an education watchdog, one textbook portrays Judaism as inherently violent compared to other religions and another describes tallit-wearers as people who “do not like Jesus”.
Another book cited in the report illustrates the parable of the Good Samaritan with an image of a boy wearing a Palestinian scarf protesting against Israel; elsewhere Israel is framed as the “sole aggressor” in the conflict with the Palestinians, the report says.
Ireland’s Chief Rabbi told the JC that some pupils now feel “afraid because they are Jewish”.
The Jewish Representative Council of Ireland (JRCI) supported that remark, saying that young Jews felt under siege in the classroom and that a number had changed schools due to antisemitism.
JRCI chair Maurice Cohen said he had been repeatedly refused an opportunity to put his concerns to the Irish Minister for Education Norma Foley, whose department told the JC: “There is no evidence of antisemitism being taught in Irish schools”.
Cohen said: “There has been a marked increase in incidents [of antisemitism in schools], with deeply hurtful remarks ranging from Holocaust denial to comments about the Israeli-Gaza conflict.
“The government and the minister’s complete failure to address both the rise of antisemitism in Ireland and the presence of inappropriate and inaccurate content in school textbooks is nothing short of scandalous and shocking.”
Referring to his repeated efforts to meet with the education minister, the chair said he had decided to wait for the appointment of a new minister of education and hoped for a more “respectful and proactive response to address these troubling issues”.
Speaking to the JC, the Irish government dismissed the 40-page Impact-se report, which uncovered a catalogue of biases against Jews and Israel in numerous Irish textbooks aimed at pupils aged from 12 up to 16.
It said: “The Department of Education is confident that Irish students are being taught in a fair and balanced way by high quality Irish teachers in a variety of subjects, including the history of the Jewish people and Judaism.”
In Call to Action, a civics textbook published by Gill Education, an activity called “Shrinking Palestine” is recommended to readers, featuring contested maps demonstrating Palestinian land loss.
The civics book in which children are tasked with a "shrinking Palestine" activity[Missing Credit]
Other activities in the book – which boasts a picture of anti-Zionist climate activist Greta Thunberg on its front page – invite students to empathise exclusively with Palestinians, compare images of Israel and Palestine, and include a case study about a Palestinian family attacked by Israeli settlers.
Palestinian suffering is extensively covered, but Israel’s rejected peace proposals are excluded. In one task, students are asked to imagine a possible future for Palestinian children, in which they will either “join militant groups” or “get good jobs”.
Another book, Inspire - Wisdom of the World, published by Educate.ie, claims Jesus was born in a country called “Palestine.”
Israel is erased in one book's description of its location: 'Today this area, between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea, is also known as the Holy Land'[Missing Credit]
“Today this area, between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea, is also known as the Holy Land,” the book states, attaching Jesus to the Palestinian cause and ignoring the existence of Israel.
Impact-se said, “Historical references to Jesus living in ‘Palestine’ without appropriate context can contribute to narratives that challenge Israel’s legitimacy and undermine the Jewish historical connection to the land.”
In another book, Jews are portrayed as the killers of Jesus. In a 2019 addition of Veritas’s Grow in Love, people who “do not like Jesus” are depicted wearing tallit. Following criticism, Veritas updated the textbook in 2024, removing the tallit image and the implicit age-old antisemitic trope of Jewish deicide.
Those who did not like Jesus were shown as Jewish in Grow in Love, Junior infants. Veritas (2019). A later version of the book revised the image.[Missing Credit]
However, the report claims that several textbooks continue to portray Judaism as inherently violent compared to other religions. For example, Inspire - Wisdom of the World describes Judaism as violent while emphasising positive examples of other faiths, including Islam and Christianity.
“Judaism believes that violence and war are sometimes necessary to promote justice,” the book states. Islam, however, is described as “in favour of peace and against violence”, and the aim of Christianity is said “to promote a world in which peace and justice and enjoyed by everyone”.
Impact-se claims a page in this exercise book presents Jews as violent. Inspire - Wisdom of the World. Junior Cycle Religious Education. 7th–9th Class. By Michael Purcell & Ailís Travers, Educate.ie (2020). e-book. Page 364.[Missing Credit]
In the same book, examples of Christians, Muslims and atheists supporting homeless people are presented - but no such example is provided about Jewish charitable efforts.
Inspire—Wisdom of the World. Junior Cycle Religious Education. 7th–9th Class. By Michael Purcell & Ailís Travers. Educate.ie (2020). e-book. Page 123[Missing Credit]
The report also finds numerous examples of anti-Israel bias. In another Veritas publication, Faith Seeking Understanding, Christianity: Origins and Contemporary Expressions, the parable of the Good Samaritan is illustrated with an image of a boy wearing a Palestinian scarf protesting Israel.
Above the image, students are asked: “Can you think of a group or groups that face intolerance in our society today?” suggesting they should think of Palestinian suffering.
Faith Seeking Understanding, Leaving Certificate Religious Education Syllabus. Section B: Christianity: Origins and Contemporary Expressions. 11th & 12th Class. By Paula Goggin & Colette McCarthyDineen. Veritas (2005). Page 83.[Missing Credit]
The book states: “The Samaritans were a group within first-century Palestine who came from a region to the north of Judea, called Samaria. They were despised by the Jews because of their mixed ethnic and religious background.”
Narratives in several of the books, according to Impact-se, “question the legitimacy of the state of Israel and undermine Jewish claims on the land. Additionally, discussions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict often lack the necessary historical and political context, presenting a one-sided view that frames Israel as the sole aggressor”.
Jewish mother and primary school special needs assistant Naomi Taylor attacked the Irish government’s “dereliction of their role” in relation to the textbooks. She raised alarm with the education department when she saw the civics textbooks her daughter was using in high school.
She said: “They advised me that they have no oversight on what goes into textbooks,” adding she was “truly shocked” that the department does not check materials used in classrooms.
She also voiced concern about the Irish National Teachers Union (INTO), which promotes anti-Israel material on social media and in their newsletter to their members. “How can teachers not be influenced by this when teaching?”, she said.
Ireland’s Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder said a number of school children told him “they feel afraid because they are Jewish, or that they avoid talking about being Jewish in front of their non-Jewish peers”.
The chief rabbi urged the book publishers to seek advice from the community before producing content which might “reinforce flawed or negative beliefs about Jewish people.”
Rabbi Wieder, who grew up in London, said: “The anti-Israel narrative in Ireland has become so distorted and widespread that it creates a context in which antisemitism can thrive.”
Yanky Fachler, another member of the Irish Jewish community, said he feared that “generations of Irish schoolchildren who will become the politicians of tomorrow have been fed this wilfully antisemitic material. No wonder we got to a situation where today the entire Irish government - opposition and ruling party - are anti-Israel.”
Responding to the report, the Irish Department of Education said: “Apart from a small number of prescribed texts at post-primary level, determined by the NCCA, it is the responsibility of each individual school to select the resources (other than prescribed material) that it will use to support its implementation of the curriculum. The content of textbooks is decided by each publisher.”
Impact-se chief executive Marcus Sheff told the JC: “As our report makes clear, there is content in Irish textbooks that is deeply concerning. When aspects of the Holocaust are minimised and when Judaism is portrayed as being less peaceful than other great religions, it should raise a clear red flag for the Irish authorities. The good news is that where there is willing, these issues can be tackled and rectified. We hope that both textbook publishers and members of the Irish government will be open to making much-needed changes.”
The JC sought a comment from all publishers mentioned.