Textbooks as tools of power: Israeli censorship and Palestinian curriculum in East Jerusalem

In this article, I examine how power and control manifest through the censorship of the Palestinian curriculum following the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) establishment and distribution of PA-created textbooks. I investigate the ongoing struggle over the Palestinian curriculum in East Jerusalem and explore the ways in which Israel exerts its power over the content that students will learn, with a specific focus on the textbooks implemented in the 2017–2018 academic year. I examine the impact of Israeli censorship, which includes altering educational materials by removing references to Palestinian narratives, heritage, and history. These modifications are intended to normalize Israeli perspectives and obscure the realities of occupation, raising concerns about violations of professional and academic standards. The research question guiding this study is: how do Palestinians and Israelis use textbooks as tools of power and control? I explore how Israeli authorities enact significant changes in Palestinian textbooks, which reflect broader power dynamics and efforts to normalize Israeli perspectives. At the same time, I show that Palestinian curricula include assertions of Palestinian historical and national identity, often in response to political pressures and efforts to preserve Palestinian heritage and resistance narratives. Through my thematic analysis of 28 social studies textbooks from grades 3 to 10 and interviews, I underscore the ongoing struggle over educational content, revealing far-reaching implications for Palestinian education and identity in East Jerusalem. The article highlights how textbooks serve as tools for asserting national narratives and shaping students’ understanding of history and identity.