Verity Educate Report Summary by Kerry

Parents for Excellence in Newton SchoolsMarch 8, 2015

Verity Educate Report Summary. 16 out of 26 documents surveyed are extremely problematic.*= problematic; not suitable for use by students or anyone else

Note: It is very unlikely that any of these materials were used solely to stimulate discussion or as an example of bias; all present themselves as historically accurate and neutral.Please note that this summary has not been reviewed or approved by Verity Educate.Handouts

*A. Prominent Voices on One and Two-State Solution No attribution. Did a teacher put this together or is from a source document? Class assignment: Majority of voices promote a one-state Palestine solution, which does not accurately portray the opinions of either most politicians or ordinary residents of the region (both Israeli and Arab). Opinions of one-state Palestine solution given inordinate space

Radical 'one-state Palestine' solution (the destruction of Israel) presented as a mainstream and well-accepted option

No mention of other options, including maintaining the status quo and one-state Israel solution Fails to state that the two-state solution is the official policy of both the P.A. and Israel The only Israeli voices proponents are either left or far-left on the political spectrum

The only statistics given are from 1987 One-state Palestine proponents are inaccurately presented as experts in Middle East history

Experts misrepresent Judaism and Israeli law

Many of those quoted are little known, not prominent

*B. Letter to the Family of the Sniper who Killed David Damelin No facts or historical context. What were the circumstances of the killing? What was the political situation at that time? Purely personal narrative with no stated connection to historical events No attribution, appears to be from website www.onbeing.org Assignment is to write a return letter, again with no context or incorporation of historical events, only students personal feelings about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Most important: There was in fact a (unsympathetic) response the snipers family; however as far as can be ascertained, neither that information or the letter was provided to students. The feelings of David Damelins family may have changed significantly after receiving this response, however students will not know this unless they are told of the response. This is academically and historically dishonest.

*C. Islamic History (from www.islamicweb.com) Material is from a radical Islamist website which denigrates other religions and implies that non-Muslims should be killed

Texts radical origins not noted

Extremely inaccurate, distorted view of the subject - there are so many problems that summarizing them would take several pages. See Verity Educate report.*D. POV -Timeline - History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Material specifically claims to be a neutral contrast of the Israeli and Palestinian versions of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. However, there are numerous inaccuracies and distortions, especially on the Israeli side, which (falsely) reflect negatively on Israel.

Created under the supervision of an anti-Israel BDS proponent, which is not disclosed to students. Again, a summary of the issues and inaccuracies would take many pages - The Verity Educate report has fifteen pages discussing these inaccuracies in only the first part of the material.

E. How Hard Could it Be? No attribution for the provided maps, which appear to be from the CIA Factbook. A larger set of maps would be helpful. Overall, however, the material is accurate.Primary Sources

*F. Perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Two similar, though not identical, packets containing altered primary source material No attribution

Several items have changes which are not in the original documents. There is no mention of these changes. Students are provided with falsified and deliberately altered primary source documents. At times, the alterations change the meaning of those documents.The following primary source documents, which consist of every document in the packet, have been altered or amended:

Hamas Covenant The version given to students is a non-standard translation from a radical Islamist cleric instead of the translation commonly used by academics and political commentators. Students are not told they are utilizing a little-used and discredited translation. The version distributed to students is not only translated in a non-standard manner, it has undergone two separate occurrences of deceptive editing. The first was by the editors of the sourcebook from which the text was taken; the second was by the teacher of other individual who copied and pasted the text from the sourcebook into the form in the handout given to students. Verity Educate: The editing of the Hamas Covenant is so extreme that in some cases sentences from different articles of the Covenant are fused together...the extreme edits, from both the sourcebook and whoever created the handouts, have so altered the original primary source as to create an entirely new meaning.

The title of the Covenant is incorrect. The word Palestine is not part of the Arabic phrase from which the acronym Hamas is derived; and the proper (English) name of the document is Covenant, not Charter. The comments state that Hamas considers itself to be the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, implying that this may not actually be the case. In fact, Hamas is closely connected with the Brotherhood and was founded as an offshoot. The comments inaccurate claim minimizes the close connection between the two groups. The comments imply that America cutting off aid was one of the reasons Hamas took over Gaza instead of taking over both Gaza and the West Bank was the withdrawal of American aid. In fact, not only the U.S. but the U.N., E.U., and Russia also imposed foreign aid sanctions.. The intent of the U.S. withdrawal of aid was not to allow Hamas to only take over Gaza instead both Gaza and the West Bank, but an attempt to stop Hamas from seizing power at all. There is no mention that the Covenant references The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a discredited, anti-semitic hoax from the early 1900s. Speech by Yasar (sic) Arafat: We Recognize Israel The purported title of the speech, We Recognize Israel, is NOT part of the original speech but has been placed there by an editor. In reality, the speech has no title. The words We Recognize Israel do not appear anywhere in the speech

In fact, nothing in the speech even remotely implies that the PLO agrees to recognize Israel. The only mention of U.N. Resolution 181 is in references to Palestinian, not Israeli, rights and recognition President Abbas has clearly stated that the P.A. STILL does not recognize Israel

Commentary by the editor, who claims that Arafat recognized Israel in a speech the previous day (December 13, 1988) is inaccurate. The only mention of Israel in that speech were complaints about her behavior and demands on her sovereignty. There is no mention of recognizing Israel in that speech; Arafats citing of U.N. 181 are was made with respect to Palestine, not Israel. The meaning of U.N. Resolution 242 set forth in the comments is inaccurate, as is the use of the term Occupied Territories which was not in use at the time the resolution was made, and which even today is not ordinarily capitalized.Speech by Ariel Sharon: Program for Dealing with the Palestinians Commentary falsely states that Sharons visit to the Temple Mount was instead a famous visit to the Muslim shrine Dome of the Rock during which Sharon was accompanied by hundreds of armed Israeli soldiers. This claim removes all Jewish historical connection, as well as Judaism itself, from the site of the Temple Mount. Why is the word armed included, as soldiers by definition are expected to wear arms? This promotes bias by presenting Israel as an armed and presumably violent nation. The purported title of the speech, Program for Dealing with the Palestinians, is NOT part of the original speech but has been placed there by an editor. In reality, the speech has no title. No wording even remotely similar to the phrase dealing with the Palestinians appears in the speech In fact, the speech itself is not concerned with dealing with the Palestinians. The speech underlines the need for a broad national consensus about Israels security and the status of Jerusalem. The phrase dealing with the Palestinians implies a nefarious plan by Israel. The term dealing with a person or situation is usually used to either connote a hostile or violent response, or a response to a difficult (often hostile) person or situation. The editors comment that Sharons proposal would the West Bank [presumably meaning a future Palestinian state] entirely within the state of Israel implies that this situation is novel and/or unacceptable. In reality, the existence of such an enclave, while not common, is neither unheard of nor a barrier to establishing independence. The nations of Lesotho, San Marino, and Vatican City are all enclaves; there are also enclaves of extranational territories in Europe, Africa, and Asia. In addition, several nations would be considered true enclaves (nations entirely surrounded by another nation) but for the presence of a water boundary. The comments section misstates how the Israeli political process worksSpeech by Yitzhak Rabin: The Price of Occupation Yet again, the editor supplies a title to Rabins speech which does not exist The speech is misleadingly edited. The editing creates the impression that the IDFs estimate of Palestinian injuries discussed in the speech is 25,000. In reality, Rabin first set forth the (actual) IDF estimate of 18,967 injuries and later states that his own estimate is at least 25,000. Although this may seem like a relatively minor matter, it illustrates the disregard for factual accuracy, which is present in much more serious claims and deceptive editing elsewhere. The comments imply that the 1994-1995 agreements between Israel and the PLO, commonly known as the Oslo Accords, was a great achievement. There is no mention of the fact that twenty years later, the Accords are widely considered to be a failure and believed by many to be responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people. The comments imply that the election of Arafat as President of the Palestine Authority was a great achievement. There is no mention of the fact that both Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas, the current P.A. President, both remained in office illegally after their terms expired, and that it is generally acknowledged that one of Arafats most important legacies was a culture of corruption and millions of dollars donated by Western nations which went to Arafats bank accounts, not for their intended purposes.*G. Palestinian National Charter (1968) Article 2, which states that all of Israel is part of Palestine, is eliminated

Article 2 is important and integral part of the Charter. It contradicts the principles of the 1993 Oslo Accords and other peace initiatives. In addition to being deceptive, its elimination changes the meaning of the Charter and gives readers an inaccurate understanding of Palestinian Authority goals and principles.

The numbering of the Articles is removed so that the removal of Article 2 is hidden. This is an intentional attempt to deceive readers.

In other words, students are provided with an intentionally falsified and altered version of the document.H. Declaration of Israel's Independence Attribution on document, accurate, and complete

I.Resolution 242 No attribution, but accurate

J. Letter from Yasser Arafat No attribution, but accurate*K. 2006 Hamas Electoral Reform No attribution

Edited to remove meaning of some passages

Media & Press

*L. The Checkpoint No attribution; from Atlantic magazine 2006 No 'Palestinian' voices at the checkpoint From Arab Palestinian point of view - need Israeli point of view

Misconstrues the game "ga-ga" (like dodgeball) as (1) below knee (it's below the waist) (2) training for army

Suitability for class depends on context. Is the Israeli view of checkpoints and the security fence also presented? Class needs to be told that the author's far-fetched extrapolation of the game ga-ga as a means to train two- and three-year olds for the IDF, where (according to the author) they will be trained to quell civil unrest by shooting at rioter's feet, demonstrates extreme bias against Israelis.*M. Faces in the Timeline (1947-2009) and A Brief History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (1947-2009)Faces in the Timeline

Accurate but for one important fact Most analysts agree that Hamas does not have separate military and political wings Numerous grammatical errors No attribution. Where is this from?Brief History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 'Israeli-Palestinian' not 'Arab-Israeli'

No attribution except "BBC" - from BBC 'Israel Timeline' written for adults following the news in 2009, not students who are unfamiliar w/history - i.e. Timeline assumes reader knows of Iraq Scud attacks and lack of Israeli retaliation; students are mostly unaware of this Many historical inaccuracies and unsupported hypothesis/allegations - i.e. Shia Islam caused Hezbollah Extremely inaccurate. Verity Educate report found 37 errors*N. Mapping Middle East Peace (NY Times Interactive Feature 9/11/2011) not interactive any longer - URL no longer in use

lacks Arab perspective - focus completely on Israelis (other material may make up for this) no mention of difficulties of two-state solution/land swaps including security concerns, infrastructure, etc. Confusion between fact and opinion; many opinions not backed by evidenceO. Five Pillars Taken from BBC website, no attribution (plagiarized), edited. Academically dishonestP. The Middle East During World War I No source attribution; is from a BBC website. Authors name correctly attributed. Accurate and unbiased. Author is a recognized expert in the subject. Written for adult British readers; students may not have background needed to fully understand material.Q. History News Network - What is the difference between Shia and Sunni Muslims and Why does it Matter? Attributed correctly Accurate and unbiased

*R. The Hajj (film) Misstates population figures over 300% Implies that Islam is a 'better' religion than Christianity or Judaism because there are no 'rabbis or priests' to intermediate between a worshipper and God. This is a recurrent theme in Wolfe's (author/narrator) work. In addition, his other works contains negative descriptions and stereotypes of Jews (describes observant men as smelly and pushy and their wives as over-dressed and made-up, gossipy).Textbooks & Books

*S. The Modern Middle East - A History No attribution. Author James Gelvin holds extreme anti-Israel views

Contains many errors, extreme bias against Israel

See Verity Educate report and PENS review Use of this material is extremely prejudicial and inculcates students with anti-Israel bias unless complementary materials are also studied. There is no indication that this is the case.*T. World History - Human Odyssey Contains numerous errors and bias. See Verity Educate report and PENS review.

*U. A Muslim Primer: The Status of Women Numerous inaccuracies

Written for Christian audience

Fanciful statements, including claim that Catholic church reconsidering polygamy as a Christian option

Purportedly a comprehensive review of status of women in Islam, yet ignores child marriage which many believe is the greatest challenge effecting women today Introduction of book (not distributed to students) cites with approval the claim that astronaut Neil Armstrong was secretly a Muslim prevented from declaring his faith by government agents Introduction also describes the Ayatollah Khomeini only as a "brilliant Shiite theologian" and thanks a militant Islamist for teaching the author the "true meaning" of IslamV. Islam - The Straight Path Scholarly, authoritative resource. Correct attribution.

One criticism regarding the date the Koran became codified.*W. Middle East Textbooks - Saudi v. Israeli No attribution as to source - especially important in 'compare and contrast' analyses

Cannot accurately compare textbooks

3 Saudi textbooks v. one Israeli textbook

Saudi textbooks cover years 1917-1973; Israeli textbook covers the year 1973 only

Material eliminates the explanatory notes for all textbooks in the original Claims to be 'equal' analysis, however Saudi viewpoint predominates*X. The Reaches of the Empire Incomplete attribution

Verity Educate report states: Written in flowery, non-scholarly, non-factual prose ("coffee-book" style). At least 13 inaccuracies described, including major issues such as describing Bedouin culture as "barbaric", untrue statement that there was no year-round water source in Arabia, narratives from religious books described as factual, inaccuracies as to source of various cultural exhibitors, falsified description of treatment of conquered peoplesY. Important Muslim Figures in History No citations or attributions, otherwise factual and accurate

*Z. The Middle East in Transition Numerous and extensive inaccuracies. Verity Educate report found 68 errors in the first 18 pages of the booklet. The Report has an extensive analysis. Important - it appears that Mr. Russell's honors history class makes use of five additional works from the same program that produced this booklet. Many if not all of the program's works are inaccurate and biased.Page 1 of 8