Forget "Settlements"; We're Back to "Colonies"

Haaretz carries a story about a project in which Israeli and Pal. (although I think I would call them Israeli Arabs) teachers have written jointly a book of history.

Please read the story as it is remarkable - I would even say hilarious - in its attempt to create parallel narratives.

Anyway, here is one excerpt to illustrate the problem that exists in which Israeli cities and kibbutzim in the north are termed "colonies":-

In another case, involving Operation Litani in 1978, the initial Palestinian version stated that "the Palestinian presence in Lebanon was a source of concern for the colonies in northern Palestine." After a harsh confrontation, in which the Israeli teachers insisted on differentiating between communities inside and outside the Green Line, the words "colonies in northern Palestine" were replaced by "population concentrations in northern Israel." In parentheses, however, the Palestinians wrote that these were "communities/settlements built on the ruins of Palestinian homes from 1948."

Do you think the project initiators and directors as well as the particpating teachers have learned anything?

I doubt it.