ABSTRACT
After the Oslo agreements, a wave of peace education initiatives swept Israeli schools. The ministry of Education declared peace as 1994’s central theme in schools, and every school was obligated to address the subject in various ways. A visitor to any school that year would see white cardboard doves, olive branches, and children’s poems decorating the walls. Cynically, we called it the “Year of the Dove.” Most schools addressed the topic superficially, teaching of Peace as a utopian dream we all strive for, detached from the realistic issues of the conflict, ignoring Palestinian culture, language, human rights, human diversity or social justice. Dealing with the topic of peace did not change any substantial attitude in our education system.
