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The following are excerpts from a discussion between Egyptian liberal writer Sabri Said and Safa Abd Al-'Aal, author of the book "Education to Racism in the Israeli Curricula". Nile Culture TV aired this discussion on April 21, 2005
Abd Al-'Aal: We were taught that when we eat, we shouldn't look at the plates of others.
The Jews teach their children at a young age: “Always keep your eyes on the lands of others.” This appears in school texts dealing with expansionism. “Always look at the lands of others.” They teach them to steal.
Said: Look how hostile you are towards the Jews!
Abd Al-'Aal: You are the one who is hostile towards Arabs and Muslims.
Said: This cannot be true since I am an Arab.
Your book reads: “The main educational goal of the Zionist movement…” Look at this generalization…
Abd Al-'Aal: What page?
Said: Page 62. “The main educational goal of the Zionist movement is to create hostility towards Arabs, and to distort their image in the eyes of future generations, in order to destroy their happiness.” By God!
Abd Al-'Aal: This is my analysis.
Said: I know it is your analysis! A researcher like you takes a school text and says this is the primary objective... Did anyone even check your book? I know it is your Ph.D. dissertation…
Abd Al-'Aal: It is not my dissertation, it is a book. Yes, a book.
Said:Didn't anyone on your dissertation committee ask you how you could say that “The main goal of the Zionist movement…"
Abd Al-'Aal: Yes…
Said: Don't say "yes," listen for a minute. "Since 1989 (sic), the main educational goal of the Zionist movement, or rather, has been to distort the Arab image.” I see… The sole pupose of the Israeli curricula since its establishment in 1948, has been to distort the Arab image. If this were true there would be no Israel.
You wrote: "The Israeli entity are all guards." Look at your choice of words. In you book you call it “the Zionist entity,” and Dr. Hamed ‘Ammar, who wrote the preface, uses the same term.
Even if we assume that what you wrote here is true, it is still only half of the truth, not the whole truth. The other half of the truth is that there is a culture of Arab hostility… Let me finish…
Abd Al-'Aal: Did I say anything? Here, I'm being quiet.
(This Arab culture) distorts not only the image of Jews, but minorities in general. There's been discrimination throughout the history of Arab culture. Don't say this isn't true. There is a degree of discrimination. There is a degree of mockery of others…
Abd Al-'Aal: You mean among the Arabs, or among the Jews?
Said: Yes, I am talking about the Arabs.
Abd Al-'Aal: You are talking about the Arabs?!
Said: Yes, I am talking about the Arabs. Take the Jewish image in the media and in Egyptian cinema since 1940…
Abd Al-'Aal: Did you come here to polish the Jewish image, or what?
Said: No honey, I am not saying that.
Abd Al-'Aal: Don’t call me "honey"!
Said: You are only telling half of the truth. There is also another culture of hostility.
We must take into account the establishment of the state of Israel. The state of Israel was established due to a historical error. But Israel is not the only such country. The US was also established due to a historical error, Jordan was established due to a historical error. Many countries were established due to historical errors, but they became an existing fact. You cannot call Israel “the Zionist entity,” or America “the white colonialists.” There is no such thing. There is such a thing as "the United States."
There is a new reality. Yes, there is geography, and so I say… But does it erase a people in its entirety? No, it doesn’t. And the proof of this is what the Doctor believes to be the plan of Zionist settling since the days of Herzel. In effect, it was not fulfilled. To this day, it has not been fulfilled.
What you call “The guards of the Israeli entity”… I don’t know how you come up with these expressions. “The guards of the israeli entity,” which is, in fact, the state of Israel, withdrew from South Lebanon, withdrew from Jordan, withdrew from Egypt, and is withdrawing from the Palestinian territories. Where is this imaginary ideological plan that we fantasize about? By the way, you attribute strength to the Jews and the state of Israel that they do not deserve.
Host: Tell us in which of the Golf States or any other Arab nation, does the curricula call attack the Jews and incite to fight against them. Jews – as a nation, as a religion, as members of the Jewish faith. Not as the state of Israel and Zionism.
Said: I want to cite two important things from of her book, in order to end the discussion.
Abd Al-'Aal: What page?
Said: Page 35. You probably know this by heart, since the entire book is full of this sort of thing. “The text of the Torah…”
Abd Al-'Aal: You say that I am generalizing.
Said: You can let me continue.
Abd Al-'Aal: You attack me and I must respond. Not all of the book is like that…
Said: “The text of the Torah, the Old Testament, and the Talmud had an important and vital role in achieving the Zionist objectives.” What does this mean? How can you claim that you respect religions, and at the same time say they were distorted?
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