Poll Shows Mizrahi Jewry Slighted in Israeli Schools

YERUSHALAYIM

The Israeli school curriculum has largely ignored the heritage of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), according to a survey submitted to the Ministry of Social Equality released on Thursday.

While 74% of all respondents in the survey said that the history, heritage and culture of European Jewry is taught in the educational system to a large or somewhat large extent, only 14% could say the same about Mizrachi Jewry. 80% said that it was either taught to a small or no extent.

75% of those polled said they could not recall any program or lesson in school that reinforced a positive perception of Mizrahi Jewry.

The poll was commissioned by Iraqi-British Jewish businessman and philanthropist David A. Dangoor of Dangoor Education, a subsidiary of the Exilarch’s Foundation, a charity which supports educational initiatives, including many in the field of Sephardi/Mizrahi heritage, culture and education. Dangoor has been Vice-President of the World Organization of Jews from Iraq (WOJI) for the past ten years.

As an example of how little is known about MENA Jewish history, only 7% of respondents could identify the Farhud, a pogrom against the Jews of Iraq in 1941, when hundreds of Jews were slaughtered, whereby 58% could correctly identify Kristallnacht.

Since 2014, according to a law passed by the Knesset, November 30th has been set aside as the Day of Commemoration for the Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries and Iran, but only 11% of those polled had heard of it.

Some 57% of respondents said they were in favor of greater coverage of MENA in the school curricula. 74% were in favor of establishing a government-funded museum dedicated to the history, heritage and culture of MENA Jews.

“The results are both disappointing and heartening,” said Dangoor. “Disappointing that so little has been done to educate about the history, culture and heritage of MENA Jews in Israeli schools, but heartening that so many from different backgrounds seek to change that. I hope that these results serve as a wake-up call to the Israeli Government and those involved in education that the history and heritage of the majority of Jews in Israel is largely ignored.”

Minister of Social Equality Meirav Cohen, the Israeli government minister in charge of the issue, said: “With great regret, in a country where more than 50% of its citizens, and their descendants, are from Arab countries and Iran, their history and heritage is not being passed on. Events and personalities such as the Farhud, Operation Magic Carpet (which brought 50,000 Yemenite Jews to Israel during 1949-50) and Rabbi Shalom Shabazi, are unknown in the Israeli education system. Through research, documentation and commemoration, we can change this trend and ensure that the history of the Mizrahi Jews is never forgotten and commemorated for eternity.”

The polling was carried out by Smith Consulting, one of Israel’s leading polling agencies, among 500 Jews in Israel as a representative sample of young people up to age 30, with a sampling error of 4.5%.

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