Values and Ideology in Descriptions of Jerusalem in Geography Schoolbooks: The Israeli Case

Abstract

From the establishment of the Hebrew-Zionist education system, in the period from the latter half of the 19th century to the end of the British mandate in 1948, geography was seen as a subject which had to assist in establishing a connection for the children of immigrants with their new country. This was to be achieved by emphasising the Zionist-Jewish aspect of the subject. Geography was not only intended to convey knowledge about the Land of Israel, but also, principally, to assist children’ s emotional absorption into the country, through transferral of knowledge about Israel’ s past, landscapes and nature (Bar-Gal, 1993, 1996). In order to face the challenges, following the establishment of the State of Israel (1948), two laws were passed: the law of compulsory education, and the law of governmental education, which established two kinds of schools — governmental-secular and governmental-religious. The central educational ideological goal of these laws was Jewish and Israeli, and within it existed the geographical dimension (love of the homeland). The other values were liberal (freedom and tolerance), socialist (equality, mutual assistance), and pioneering values (Curriculum, 1954). All of these values had to be expressed in the various curricula, and in the textbooks which were created at the same period. In the field of geography the curriculum emphasised nationalist goals. In the geography textbooks produced under such circumstances and goals, various places are represented with differing esteem, in conjunction with their ideological value. The selection process of the material in the textbook (i.e. the selection of the places and the ways in which they are presented) is connected to personal siftings which stem from the personalities of the book authors and their social-political world view. Interesting places, from the point of view of the author, will be described in depth, while other places will receive relatively less discussion. Also, evaluation of the places is accomplished through contrasts and use of adjectives to describe their nature. Places which are highly esteemed are described with positive expressions, such as order, beauty, health, plenitude and happiness; in contrast, other places are described with expressions such as filth, poverty, sickness, neglect and sadness. The purpose of the research upon which this article is based should now be clear: to demonstrate how the attitude to central places in geography textbooks has changed, according to the ideology and world view governing the Zionist education system. Of about 200 geography textbooks written in Hebrew over the last century, about one-third is dedicated to the subject of the Land of Israel. The