Popular UK Textbook Erases Israel From the Map

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Popular UK Textbook Erases Israel From the Map

A textbook used in colleges across the United Kingdom has been found to have an alarming anti-Israel prejudice.

The textbook—called Skills in English Writing: Level 1—is used to teach students English as a second language, and one of its segments on geography includes a map of the Middle East on which the name “Israel” is nowhere to be found. Instead, the Jewish nation is labeled “Occupied Palestine.”

You can see an image of the map here.

This textbook’s widespread use in the UK is symptomatic of the nation’s embrace of Islamic culture. Garnet Education, the firm that produced the book, is owned by the Lebanese Tahseen Khayat Group, which also owns Ithaca Press—a publisher specializing in Islamic studies. Any question of the group’s political leanings should be obliterated by the fact that Ithaca Press recently published Through Secret Channels—a book written by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

So, why would so many educational institutions in the UK choose to teach from such a book? London bends over backward to demonstrate its hospitality toward Islam’s culture and beliefs, no matter how extreme. Lax immigration policies and liberal social benefit programs combine to make Britain an attractive home to swaths of Islamists.

The textbook is also one of many indications showing that not only is the traditional anti-Semitism of the far right gaining momentum, but it is being joined by a new leftist anti-Semitism in media and academia. Among British liberals especially, Israel has come to be regularly accused of explicit racism. And the disparagement of Israel’s foreign policy often bleeds into resentment of Jews in general.

There is a growing divide under way—propelled by public opinion—between Britain and Israel, two nations which have traditionally been strong allies. The changing British demographic is also creating a similar rift between the UK and the United States. The ever broadening breaches between these three entities leave all three substantially weaker. To understand the significance of the drift of these nations away from each other, read The United States and Britain in Prophecy.