Holocaust teaching controversy of 2007

Holocaust teaching controversy of 2007

The Holocaust teaching controversy of 2007 was a controversy sparked by sensationalist claims mainly circulated in e-mails which stated that teaching of the Holocaust had been banned in British schools because of fears that this could offend Muslim pupils. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6563429.stm BBC NEWS | Education | Holocaust 'ban' e-mail confusion ] ] The claims contained in the e-mails were false but inspired by real events.

The e-mails alleged that the ban had been put in place because of fears that such teaching could "offend" Muslim pupils, claiming that "the Moslem (sic) population" denied the Holocaust. The "Daily Mail" started their story on the subject with "Schools [plural, contrary to the findings of the report] are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons to avoid offending Muslim pupils, a Government backed study has revealed." [ [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=445979&in_page_id=1770 Teachers drop the Holocaust to avoid offending Muslims | the Daily Mail ] ] Following this, the tabloid New York Post ran an article headlined "U.K. SCHOOLS' SICKENING SILENCE" in which the writer asserted that sentence "may be the scariest sentence I ever read". [ [http://www.nypost.com/seven/04082007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/u_k__schools_sickening_silence_opedcolumnists_barry_rubin.htm?page=0 U.K. Schools' Sickening Silence - New York Post ] ] The main medium for the claims, however, was a chain e-mail. The e-mails led some to e-mail the BBC enquiring as to whether the facts contained in the e-mail were true. In fact teaching of the Holocaust is mandatory in English schools and has not been banned elsewhere in the United Kingdom.

After e-mail messages continued to circulate into 2008 the British government Schools Secretary Ed Balls was forced to write to every Embassy in the country to refute the allegation that schools had banned or were reluctant to teach about the Holocaust. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7226778.stm BBC NEWS | Education | UK government acts on hoax e-mail ] ]

Report

The e-mails were based upon a wide-ranging report which the Department for Education and Skills commissioned from the Historical Association, a group which promotes the study of history. This report suggested that teachers may avoid emotive and controversial periods of history, but did not recommend that they do. The report went on to give an example of “a northern city" in which a history department had "recently avoided selecting the Holocaust as a topic for GCSE coursework for fear of confronting anti-Semitic sentiment and Holocaust denial among some Muslim pupils". [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6563429.stm BBC NEWS | Education | Holocaust 'ban' e-mail confusion ] ] It was also noted that in another school, the Holocaust had been taught in spite of "anti-Semitic sentiment among some pupils" but that study of the Crusades had been avoided due to the contrast with the stories with which Muslim pupils were raised. In no case was it suggested that avoiding causing offence to Holocaust deniers should be an aim.

References

ee also

* Artificial controversy
* Holocaust Educational Trust
* Holocaust denial

External links

*cite web
url = http://www.history.org.uk/pdfs/Teach%20report.pdf
title = The T.E.A.C.H. report: Teaching Emotive and Controversial History 3-19
author =
format = pdf
date = 2007
publisher = The Historical Association
accessdate = 2008-02-27

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6563429.stm BBC news article on the story]
* [http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/holocaust.asp An example of the content of the e-mail]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Holocaust Educational Trust — The Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) is a British charity, founded by Greville Janner and Merlyn ReesRp|2 in 1988, whose aim is to educate young people of every background about the Holocaust and the important lessons to be learned for today.… …   Wikipedia

  • Holocaust denial — Antisemitism Part of Jewish history …   Wikipedia

  • Artificial controversy — An artificial controversy, or variously a contrived controversy, engineered controversy, fabricated controversy, manufactured controversy, or manufactroversy is a controversy that does not stem from genuine difference of opinion. The controversy… …   Wikipedia

  • List of World War II topics (H) — # H 8 bomber # H hour (D day) # H. A. Sinclair de Rochemont# H. Emory Widener, Jr. # H. H. Kung # H. Keith Thompson # H. L. N. Salmon # H. Montgomery Hyde # H. Ryan Price # H. Stuart Hughes # H. W. Whillock # Höcker Album # Höfle Telegram # Hôtel …   Wikipedia

  • List of hoaxes — The following are lists of hoaxes: Proven hoaxes These are some claims that have been revealed to be deliberate public hoaxes. This list does not include hoax articles published on or around April 1, a long list of which can be found in the April …   Wikipedia

  • Palestinian textbook controversy — Palestinian textbooks have been accused of instilling anti Semitic attitudes or inciting Palestinian children to commit violence or terrorism. As a result of these accusations, analyses of Palestinian textbooks have been performed by various… …   Wikipedia

  • Bibliography —   INTRODUCTION   The imposing number of books and articles that have been published in recent years about the Holocaust has made it necessary to prioritize the literature in regard to significance. As a consequence, a bibliography of the… …   Historical dictionary of the Holocaust

  • Chronology —   1879 Wilhelm Marr, a member of the German Reichstag, coins the term “anti Semitism” and subsequently organizes the League of AntiSemitism.   1881 German composer Richard Wagner, in an essay titled “Know Thyself,” attacks Jews as the “demon… …   Historical dictionary of the Holocaust

  • religion — religionless, adj. /ri lij euhn/, n. 1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and… …   Universalium

  • Anti-Defamation League — For other uses, see Anti Defamation League (disambiguation). Anti Defamation League Logo of the Anti Defamation League Motto To stop the defamation of the Jewish people…to secure justice and fair treatment to all. Formatio …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”