Control of the Curriculum in East Jerusalem: The Struggle Between Authorities Over the Educational Content

• In Event: Educational Battles and Bridges: Media, Curriculum, and Civic Engagement Across Contexts

Abstract

This study offers a comparative analysis of 24 Palestinian Authority history textbooks used in the West Bank and East Jerusalem from 2000 to the present. It explores how textbooks construct Palestinian national identity and collective memory, while reflecting ongoing political tensions. Drawing on Apple’s theory of curriculum as a site of power, the study reveals how educational content is shaped by struggles over legitimacy and historical narrative. While the Palestinian Authority formally oversees East Jerusalem’s curriculum since the Oslo Accords, Israeli authorities impose censorship to limit national content. Through document analysis and interviews with policymakers, the study demonstrates how both Israeli and Palestinian Ministries of Education use textbooks as tools to assert control, influence identity, and promote competing national narratives.

Author

• Samira Alayan, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and David Yellin College of Education