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Portrayal of the Other in P alestinian and Israeli Schoolbooks: A Comparative Study
Author(s) -
Adwan Sami,
BarTal Daniel,
Wexler Bruce E.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
political psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.419
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-9221
pISSN - 0162-895X
DOI - 10.1111/pops.12227
Subject(s) - narrative , dehumanization , adversary , psychology , social psychology , state (computer science) , content analysis , sociology , literature , social science , anthropology , art , statistics , mathematics , algorithm , computer science
The present study examined how I sraelis and P alestinians present their narratives related to their conflict in school textbooks used by the state educational system and the ultraorthodox community in I srael and by all P alestinian schools in P alestinian National Territories. The focus was on how each side portrays the Other and their own group. The content analysis was based on a developed conceptual framework and standardized and manualized rating criteria with quantitative and qualitative aspects. The results showed in general that (1) dehumanizing and demonizing characterizations of the Other are rare in both I sraeli and P alestinian books; (2) both I sraeli and P alestinian books present unilateral national narratives that portray the Other as enemy, chronicle negative actions by the Other directed at the self‐community, and portray the self‐community in positive terms with actions aimed at self‐protection and goals of peace; (3), there is lack of information about the religions, culture, economic and daily activities of the Other, or even of the existence of the Other on maps; (4) the negative bias in portrayal of the Other, the positive bias in portrayal of the self, and the absence of images and information about the Other are all statistically significantly more pronounced in I sraeli Ultra‐Orthodox and P alestinian books than in I sraeli state books.