Israel's Zionist-Orthodox-controlled Education Ministry has banned a novel written by an Israeli Jew over fears of miscegenation, race mixing and intermarriage.
Above: Right-wing protesters outside a Jewish-Arab wedding in Rishon LeTzion in August 2014
Israel’s Zionist Orthodox Education Ministry Bans Award-Winning Novel Over Race Mixing Fears
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Israel's Zionist-Orthodox-controlled Education Ministry has banned a novel written by an Israeli Jew over fears of miscegenation, race mixing and intermarriage, Ha’aretz reported.
The novel, Gader Haya (Borderlife), about a love story between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man, was written by Dorit Rabinyan and won Israel’s coveted Bernstein prize for young writers. The two lovers meet in New York and eventually move back to the Middle East, her to Israel proper and him to the West Bank, and their relationship ends.
The Education Ministry official responsible for overseeing the teaching of literature in state secular state schools recommended Gader Haya. So did a professional committee of academics and educators.
But top Zionist-Orthodox-controlled Education Ministry officials Eliraz Kraus and Dalia Fenig banned the book, reportedly citing the need to respect "the identity and the heritage of students in every sector" and the belief that "intimate relations between Jews and non-Jews threatens the separate identity [of both sectors].…Young people of adolescent age don't have the systemic view that includes considerations involving maintaining the identity of the people and the significance of assimilation,” the Education Ministry officials said.
That decision was appealed by lower level Education Ministry officials but their appeal was denied, and the book remains banned.