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londonblue

Topgun Pilot
Joined
Feb 18, 2004
Messages
19,161
I was talking to a friend of mine. She is a teacher, and happened to mention Israel in one of her classes. A muslim child took exception and told the her that there is no such place, and that it should be called Palestine.

She then explained that Israel is recognised as a country by the UN, and therefore there is nothing wrong with calling the country Israel.

She thought that would be the last of it, but it wasn't. The child complained to her parents, and the parents complained to the head teacher. My friend was then called to a meeting with the parents, and the headteacher. She was basically told she wasn't allowed to call "that area" Israel, and had to called it something along the lines of "disputed territories that some people call Israel, and others call Palestine". (I can't remember the actual term they settled on, but it was something like that.)

So over to you, the good people of Shrimperzone. Do you agree with this, or is it lefty PC gone mad?
 
Let's be honest here, the muslim childs view is racist and the Headteacher is condoneing it by making a compromise. Israel is a country, Palestine is a region end of. It is no better than a white child calling a black child the N word, that would be acted upon instantly and there wouldn't be a compromise. Chances are the white child would be expelled or at the very least suspended from school while an enquiry took place, I see nothing different here. Contary to popular opinion, racism works both ways.
 
Its not lefty pc at all, its a child's parents wanting to make a point about disputed teritory in a pointless way because the audience is tiny, and a head teacher going along with it for an easy life. If it was Argentinians saying 'its not called The Falklands' - would that be lefty pc even though when they last tried to take it back they had a fascist government? Not everytime someone who is not white says something controversial should it be see as left wing.
I'd suggest your mate puts it down to the fact that in life you meet a lot of people who are so fond of their own opinion they will take any opportunity to air it. Nothing more than that really.
 
Your friend should round up as many school owned Atlases/World Maps as possible and insist the Head Teacher has them adjusted to suitably reflect the school's new directive. Informing Michael Gove by email whilst copying in The Daily Mail would be a nice touch as well.
 
I think we should teach children that there's two sides to an argument. We should be giving them the facts and letting them make up their own minds.
 
If they felt that strongly about it, shouldn't the child be being educated in a Muslim school and out of reach of what they presumably consider corrupt teaching? Imho, the Head should have stood up to the family, and not effectively belittled the teacher.
 
"and by Israel I mean a sovereign state as recognised by the UN."

Just need to get Richard Osman from Pointless in to say the above to settle any dispute.
 
So if Irans nuclear facilities get bombed by heavily armed jets the finger of suspicion will be pointed at Palestine?:hilarious:
 
I think we should teach children that there's two sides to an argument. We should be giving them the facts and letting them make up their own minds.

Agreed. The fact is Israel is a country recognised by the UN, and I think the kid's parents should explain that to her.

However, that wasn't the question. The question was is this lefty PC gone mad or not?
 
I was talking to a friend of mine. She is a teacher, and happened to mention Israel in one of her classes. A muslim child took exception and told the her that there is no such place, and that it should be called Palestine.

She then explained that Israel is recognised as a country by the UN, and therefore there is nothing wrong with calling the country Israel.

She thought that would be the last of it, but it wasn't. The child complained to her parents, and the parents complained to the head teacher. My friend was then called to a meeting with the parents, and the headteacher. She was basically told she wasn't allowed to call "that area" Israel, and had to called it something along the lines of "disputed territories that some people call Israel, and others call Palestine". (I can't remember the actual term they settled on, but it was something like that.)

So over to you, the good people of Shrimperzone. Do you agree with this, or is it lefty PC gone mad?

Was your friend referring to Israel, or the occupied territories? If the latter then I can understand the, all be it petty, point. If, however, she was referring to Israel, then I'd say it's pretty much an undisputed fact that it's a country.

To be honest, I'd be tempted to take it further if I were in her place, as it's hampering the education of the other children
 
The Muzza should have been stoned to death.
I don't believe the UN recognises Daveland so I guess that dressage pony pic cannot be from the Olympics.

I think Crabby has a good point though, denying Israel exists is not something that is acceptable in education in the same way that people get miffed when it emerged creationism was being taught in an academy not so long ago.

Still in my opinion that answer to the question 'is this pc gone mad'? No, the Daily Mail would report it as such but its just two people being silly and another being weak.

'Miss, is Israel really a made up country?'
'No child, is real'
 
I feel that the parent and head teacher are at fault here,the parent for not explaining the facts to their child and the head teacher for bending to the wishes of the one.
 
Was your friend referring to Israel, or the occupied territories? If the latter then I can understand the, all be it petty, point. If, however, she was referring to Israel, then I'd say it's pretty much an undisputed fact that it's a country.

Good point. However she was talking about Israel. It is also worth pointing out that you have fallen ito the same trap. There are no occupied territories. Israel has moved out of Gaza and the West Bank, although there are some right wing nutters who still insist on living there.

The interesting thing is that the school in question is a private school. This isn't some lefty teacher taking a moral standpoint, this was about money, with the parents making an implied threat to remove the child and her siblings. The school decided it couldn't afford to lose them, and ****ing off a teacher was seen as pragmatic.

To be honest, I'd be tempted to take it further if I were in her place, as it's hampering the education of the other children

Now that is also a very good point. This child is not the only one in the class, and now the rest of the class are getting a very skewed view of that part of the world.

If I was in the position of the teacher I would have taken legal advice as you suggest.

It also raises some interesting questions. For example, if this was a state school would the teacher's union have backed her or the pupil? The other one is what would the Daily Mail make of this since this was a private school? Would they still maintain their anti-muslim scare mongering, or would they agree that a private school has done the right thing?

I guess a lesson for me is that not everything is done for PC reasons, even if on the face of it, it seems that way.
 
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