Congressman tries to force New York to recognize zionism

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[pdf]https://jewishinsider.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/01211247/cid06472547-9987-4446-8811-DD3B2603FD29-With-Watermark.pdf[/pdf]

The Shift: Pro-Israel lawmakers angry over Regents exam question
https://mondoweiss.net/2023/02/the-shift-pro-israel-lawmakers-angry-over-regents-exam-question/?

You often hear concerns about Palestinian textbooks. Just last week the Jerusalem Post ran an op-ed on the subject, which was really an attack on UNRWA. "It's a wonder that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians raised in this system never carry out attacks," the authors proclaim, "The rising violence in the West Bank demonstrates that those foreign bodies that fund Palestinian textbooks must demand accountability."

In the House Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) is peddling something called the Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act https://sherman.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-brad-sherman-statement-on-the-house-foreign-affairs , which would require the State Department to produce reports on the state of curriculum in Palestine. This would give congress "the information and tools it needs to finally fully reform" the educational system. One of Sherman's big issues with these textbooks is that they "erase Israel from maps."

Back in New York pro-Israel activists and lawmakers are up in arms about some questions on the state Regents exam for high school students. One acknowledges that Israel illegally annexed the Golan Heights and another asserts that Zionists benefited from the country being formed. They also claim that the test identifies the Holocaust as the sole reason that Israel exists.

On Twitter Lara Friedman makes quick work of these complaints in a recent Twitter thread.

"The NY Regents exam is under fire for alleged anti-Israel/antisemitic bias over this graphic and these two questions included on a recent test. Let's take a look! Pro-Israel critics say they offer a 'dishonest' picture of Israel's expansion. I agree! The 3rd map inaccurately describes the West Bank as 'controlled partly by Israel, partly by Palestinians.' That's like saying a jail is partly controlled by guards, partly by prisoners. They also take issue with the 3rd map stating Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 — a fact they argue should be erased by Trump's recognition of the Golan Heights as part of Israel in 2019 (historical facts on a history test? NO WAY). Also the map is dated...2017.  Next is their OUTRAGE at the test suggesting the Holocaust is the SOLE REASON for Israel's existence! Except, the test doesn't do that. Q1 does suggest the Holocaust, more than some other events, influenced the development of the 1947 partition plan. Which is a 100% true. Then there is the kicker: their rage at the question: which people benefited most from the changes on the historically/factually accurate] maps shown? Because the answer is, indeed, Zionists (who were there in 1948, pre-state) and Jewish immigrants (who came post-1948). This is the kind of thing that Israelis and Zionists CELEBRATE! But apparently these facts, presented in a way that is not triumphant, is....anti-Israel and antisemitic. Get it?

https://twitter.com/LaraFriedmanDC/status/1621170751507152898?s=20&t=kebWqKHgjKS8Xw73qhk1BQ

Former state Assemblyman Dov Hikind and Brooklyn Councilwoman Inna Vernikov are calling on New York State Commissioner of Education Betty Rosa "to swiftly remove the disingenuous questions and conduct a thorough audit to ensure such egregious distortions of history that invariably lead to animosity for the sole Jewish state aren't being inadvertently fed to our children."

If the name Inna Vernikov sounds familiar to you, it's probably because she pulled money earmarked for CUNY Law School last year in response to the faculty endorsing a BDS resolution. The Ukrainian-American attorney says she jumped to the Republican party over these issues. While running for office in 2021 Vernikov told the Jewish News Syndicate, "I'm running as a Republican on principle because I can't support the Democratic Party, which is no longer the party of John F. Kennedy or Bill Clinton. Jews coming from the former Soviet Union are very familiar with communism and socialism, and many of us feel strongly that what today's Democratic Party is promoting is exactly what we ran from—a place where speech was censored, where we were not allowed to practice religion, where we didn't have freedom or economic opportunity."

This issue has even permeated congress with Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) writing the New York State Board of Regents Chancellor a letter expressing his concerns. He claims that the questions constitute "miseducation" and are "ahistorical and offensive."

Maybe he can draft some legislation about it with Brad Sherman.