A debate on Jews from Arab countries in the Knesset's Education committee concluded that school curricula must address the story and contributions of these Jews, who make up more than half Israel's Jews. The Times of Israel reports:
While the Absorption Committee focused on the contentious issue of reparations for Jewish refugees from Muslim countries and the role it might play in eventual peace negotiations with the Palestinians, there was consensus in the Education Committee’s meeting about the importance of exposing younger Israelis to the historical narrative of Jews whose origins are not European.
“More than fifty percent of Israelis are descended from Jews of Arab lands and Iran, but the younger generation doesn’t know anything about it. It hasn’t been documented or commemorated,” said Ohayon as he opened the Education Committee discussions.
“In a span of 25 years, these communities stopped to exist. Their story ended, and their contributions to the Jewish people have not been told, and they have been forgotten,” he said.
Those invited to testify before the committee unanimously agreed that school curricula must address the lacuna.
“The subject is already part of the matriculation exam studies, and soon we will be introducing it from the first grade,” testified an Education Ministry official.
“We can’t let the subject be an elective in schools. No change will happen unless it is integral and mandatory to the curriculum,” argued Yaron Atias from Hadasim, an organization promoting Sephardic Judaism.
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