Under the nose: A Fatah man's work enters the curriculum
Education Minister Yoav Kisch ordered the removal of a theater project based on the work of Ghassan Kanafani, a Fatah man, from the Ministry of Education's Gfen system. The review began following a query from Channel 14. The minister ordered a freeze on the operator's programs and is considering legal steps on suspicion of deception.
Education Minister Yoav Kisch ordered the immediate removal of a theater project from the Gfen system, the Ministry of Education's program database. The project, titled "The Return," is based on the work of Ghassan Kanafani, who was a spokesman and member of the terrorist organization Fatah (the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine). The project was operated by the Arab-Jewish Center for Culture and Society at Beit HaGefen in Haifa, and dealt with issues of displacement, refugeehood, and the Palestinian return. The inquiry was prompted by a query from Channel 14. In a letter dated September 16, Kisch ordered the removal of the center and all its programs from the system, citing concerns of "misrepresentation and deception of the Ministry of Education." The minister also ordered a freeze on the programs pending a full investigation, consideration of legal steps, and transfer of findings to enforcement authorities. Shai Glick, CEO of the B'Tzalmo organization, said: "The reality in which Israeli children can be educated in the light of a terrorist is inconceivable." The affair raises questions about the oversight mechanism for external programs entering schools.