Fled or expelled? Representation of the Israeli-Arab conflict in U.S. high school history textbooks

Assuming that the perceived history of a conflict shapes the potential for peace, this study examined the representation of the Israeli-Arab conflict in eight widely used U.S. high school history textbooks. The analysis focused on two issues that are crucial to the understanding of the conflict: (a) the creation of the 1948 Palestinian refugee problem and (b) the status of the size- able minority of Arab citizens within Israel. The results indicate that, although several of the textbooks do represent-to some extent-a complex and multi- faceted account of the creation of the 1948 Palestinian refugee problem, the existence of Arabs in Israel and their problematic status as a national minority are, in many cases, not clearly described.