For years, the Israeli government, backed by “watchdogs” — such as Palwatch, IMPACT-SE (Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education) and MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) — has accused Palestinians of inciting hatred against Israelis through the content in schoolbooks. This allegation has been perpetuated for so long that it has almost become conventional wisdom that Palestinian children are being taught to hate and instigate violence against Israelis.

Last week, however, "Victims of Our Own Narratives? Portrayal of the 'Other' in Israeli and Palestinian School Books" — the largest report to examine textbooks on either side of the Green Line — formally debunked some of these myths, noting that there is scant evidence of “dehumanizing” and “demonizing” in Palestinian and Israeli textbooks despite the presence of examples of omissions of each other’s points of view and flaws in mapping.

Three years in the making at a cost of $500,000, the U.S. State Department–funded report explores textbooks issued by the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority (PA), and religious bodies. The research, overseen by Sami Adwan from Bethlehem University and Daniel Bar-Tal from Tel Aviv University and designed by Yale psychiatry professor Bruce Wexler, examined 94 Palestinian and 74 Israeli schoolbooks published between 2009 and 2011.

The study was carried out under the auspices of the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land, a Jerusalem-based body representing Christian, Jewish and Islamic leaders. A team of Palestinians and Israelis trained by Adwan and Bar-Tal conducted the research, which involved going through books used in West Bank and Gaza Strip schools run by the PA, UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) and religious bodies. On the Israeli side, the research examined books used in secular and religious schools run by the state and others catering to the needs of ultra-Orthodox students.