Israeli Hate Literature for Children
Scores of children's books published in Israel encourage hatred and contempt for the Arabs. The principle is identical in all these endless serials: the Israeli hereos defeat the stupid Arabs. There is no control over these books, which are swallowed indiscriminately. Who are the authors of these books and what motivates them?
One of the most shocking phenomena in the field of children's literature in this country are the books published every now and then, and which are eagerly grabbed by children, whose themes are always how the mighty child or children defeat the funny and thickheaded Arabs who seek to kill us for their personal pleasure.
Once we were alarmed when we discovered anti-Israeli propaganda, accompanied by racist caricatures, which was included in textbooks used by refugee children in Gaza. And now it is clear, although only few parents know about it, that we, the Israelis, are employing much worse material of racist hatred which is accompanied by caricatures no less racist. Parents buy those books for their children, often without knowing their content; or the children get them in school or municipal libraries. And what a wonder: those are almost the only books which are never left on the shelf. At the moment they are returned to the library, a queue of children is waiting for every book.
Recently, some parents have started to discover the content of these books. A mother of an eight year old girl says: "I was astounded to find out what children read, and the worst of it is that I have no way of preventing it. They get those books at the library, and if I forbid them to read them, they will read them secretly. I see what they read, but I am helpless. Why is the distribution of these books not prohibited?"
A father says: "It is really astounding to see to what extent these books hold the children spellbound. In these books there are sadistic horror descriptions, detailed descriptions of cruel treatment and offensive caricatures of the Arabs who are described as wretched cowards. But I can not succeed in preventing the children from reading them. They are totally hypnotized. Why is there a standard for clothes, for articles, for food and for everything else-and no control over children's books? Why can anyone earn money by producing this contagion, and even municipal libraries buy it?"
