I was surprised at many of the titles on the "Reframing Israel" booklist.
I'd recommend instead a look at English Journal, July 2010 -- an article by
long-time AJL reviewer of children's books-- Linda R. Silver; the article is
called: Israeli Encounters: Books for Teens about Israel. But most titles are
appropriate for middle school/pre teen and above. Some books annotated and
recommended by Linda are: The Bat-Chen Diaries, by Bat-Chen Shahak; Freefall,
by Anna Levine, A Bottle in the Gaza Sea, by Valerie Zenatti, Light Years, by
Tammar Stein (I would add Stein's recent The Six-Day Hero), Real Time by Pnina
Moed Kass, and Running on Eggs, also by Anna Levine. Years ago I published an
article in Reform Judaism Magazine about kids' trade books on the Arab-Israeli
conflict, but RJ magazine no longer publishes and the link to my article,
(titled by the editors: "Lies in the Library") is no longer live. If anyone
would like a copy, write to me. It includes an appendix of recommended titles;
these were non-fiction books for kids. As an AJL reviewer of children's non
fiction about Israel/Middle East books, rather than looking for "balance," I
look for fairness, and for determining that I rely on the Washington Post's
"Standards and Ethics" for its journalists, specifically, its section on
Fairness. For example "No story is fair if it omits facts of major importance
or significance." So, when a book states, re: the creation of the State of
Israel, that the state was "declared" by the Jews on land the Arabs wanted, but
*neglects* to tell that the United Nations voted to partition the land to
create a state for Jews and one for Arabs, and that the Arabs rejected the
plan, that book fails the test of fairness. When a book depicts the hardship
created for Palestinian Arabs by walls or barriers, but neglects to say that
the barriers were erected only to stop repeated terrorist infiltration into
Israel, then the book fails the test of fairness. Another tenet of the
WaPost policy is: "No story is fair if it consciously or unconsciously misleads
or even deceives the reader." So a book that says Israelis killed refugees in
the Lebanese camps of Sabra and Shatilla (I've reviewed such a book), when in
fact Christian militias carried out those killings, the book fails the test.
Clearly, I could go on and on; I realize I am swimming against the tide, but
felt the need to respond at least in part.Andrea RappWise Temple, Cincinnati,
Ohio
__
Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author
and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL)
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