By Tribune Staff
Following calls by concerned parents and educators to the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada’s Anti-Hate Hotline, a complaint was filed by the League with the Toronto District School Board regarding a book by Deborah Ellis entitled, "Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israel Children Speak Out". The book, which is aimed at elementary school children, attempts to deal with the complex Middle East crisis through first hand accounts of Israeli and Palestinian children living in the region.
In addition to B’nai Brith, individual parents and the Canadian Jewish Congress have also registered their concern.
York Regional District School Board, after conducting its own review, had pulled the book from the Silver Birch reading program series of the Ontario Library Association, while the book continues to be made available in Toronto District School Board libraries.
In a letter to the Director of Eduction, the League noted that:
“The book, from its opening narrative onwards, gives a negative and distorted image of Israel. The account set out in the book simply fails to provide the young reader with the proper context of the complicated realities in the Middle East. It is most disturbing that the book also introduces young students to Palestinian children who glorify violence by expressing their desire to be suicide bombers and kill Israelis, without further comment or explanation -- actions that surely breach core policies of the Board.”
The League went on to request that “all copies of the books be pulled from school library shelves immediately, pending a full review by the board of the content and use of the book”.
While there is some indication that the School Board is prepared to review its position, copies of the books meanwhile remain readily available to children in participating schools in the Toronto area.
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