In the organization Breaking the Silence, they created a lesson plan on the massacre in the Cave of the Patriarchs, in which they accuse the IDF of harming the Palestinians for no reason, and contacted teachers who intend to teach the lesson.
The organization recently sent dozens of teachers a lesson plan that deals with the murder in the Cave of the Patriarchs in which the Jewish doctor Baruch Goldstein slaughtered 29 Muslim worshippers.
Praying in the Cave of the Patriarchs (archive), photo: Lior Mizrahi
As mentioned, this is a lesson plan critical of the conduct of the IDF and the State of Israel in regards to the event that happened thirty years ago, and the events that happened before and after it. A number of teachers have already announced that they will teach the lesson to their students.
The lesson plan of the Breaking the Silence organization focuses on the effects of the massacre on the situation in the West Bank today.
It details the policies of the State of Israel after the massacre, such as a two-month curfew on Palestinians in Hebron and traffic restrictions that occurred on the main street.
"The silencing in the education system slowed down the immigration of Smotrich and Ben Gvir", photo: Oren Ben Hakon
The document claims that the IDF "collectively punished the Palestinians, and in general the Palestinians suffered twice, once from the massacre, and a second time from the Israeli army." The authors of the lesson outline ask the teachers to connect the massacre to the current situation, for example to discuss the issue of denying citizenship to the families of those guilty of terrorist acts.
In breaking the silence they claim that they will "discuss the fact that two Hebron settlers are ministers in the current government - and one of them hung the picture of the murderer in the living room".
As a note, the teachers were told to "show that this massacre can enter the Guinness Book of Records as the most successful massacre in human history."
The "Breaking the Silence" organization stated: "It is amazing that such a significant historical event is not taught in the Israeli education system. Only 4% of respondents stated that they learned about the massacre that led to a series of attacks against Israelis in the education system, and over a third of the population had never heard of it.
"This is a shocking figure and a clear failing mark for the Israeli education system. The majority of the Israeli public is in favor of studying the subject in schools. The attempt to suppress the occupation from the education system, even in its most extreme manifestations, allowed the rise of figures like Ben-Gvir, Smotrich and Strock to the center of decision-making in the country. Those who think they can ignore our tyranny in the territories will find themselves fighting for democracy within Israel's borders."
The Ministry of Education stated: The education teams are obliged to teach the curriculum approved by the professionals in the Ministry.
Any other curriculum is not approved.
We will be happy to receive detailed information regarding studying a study program that did not receive the approval of the Ministry and to make further inquiries.
S. is a veteran history teacher who testifies that he intends to teach his students on the subject: "If the Ministry of Education doesn't like it - that's his problem. Teachers today are under threat and summon teachers to a hearing because they did their job. I want students to be critical and recite how moral we are in totalitarian countries. We also need to show that we as a country and our army are doing things that are wrong, also as a policy."
According to him: "The issue of the conflict is complex, we try to expose the students to as many issues as possible, students today lack a lot of knowledge. Students today do not know who Rabbi Kahana was or who Baruch Goldstein was and it is our job to let them know that."
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