McGraw-Hill destroys textbook to placate pro-Israel bloggers

March 12th, 2016

Awake Goy

An image published by Elder of Ziyon from the textbook *Global Politics*, as part of the anti-Palestinian blogger’s successful campaign to pressure McGraw Hill over maps depicting land loss in Palestine.

The publisher McGraw-Hill Education is destroying all copies of a political science textbook after receiving complaints from hardline supporters of Israel that it features a series of “anti-Israel” maps.

The college textbook, titled Global Politics: Engaging a Complex World, was published in 2012. But it wasn’t until early this month that the maps generated criticism from a pro-Israel blogger known as Elder of Ziyon.

Within a week of the initial outcry, McGraw-Hill began destroying all copies of the book, scrubbed the book from its website, promised to reimburse anyone who bought the book and apologized to the offended right-wing bigots behind the manufactured controversy.

According to the publisher’s summary, the book fosters “critical thinking and theory” about global events and “offers students a number of lenses through which to view the world around them.”

The maps, which appear in chronological succession on page 123, show Palestinian land loss from 1946, one year before Zionist militias initiated the displacement of more than 750,000 indigenous Palestinians from historic Palestine, to the year 2000, by which point Palestinian land had been reduced to a handful of tiny non-contiguous enclaves in the occupied West Bank and a sliver of Gaza.

The caption reads, “A mix of diplomatic and military actions and expanded Jewish settlements since the founding of modern Israel has led to a gradual decline in Palestinian-held territory – which explains why the territory remains one of the central sticking points in the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” The image is sourced to the Middle East Political Research Center.

Fear of maps

Such maps present an enormous threat to Zionist ideologues because they have the ability to cut through Israeli propaganda that portrays Palestinian anger and violence as rooted in religious intolerance and irrational hatred rather than a natural reaction to Israel’s colonial expansionism, land theft and ethnic cleansing, all of which continue today.

That is why any time an iteration of these maps breaks into the mainstream, Israel’s advocates rush to censor it.

Just last year, when MSNBC aired a similar series of maps to demonstrate the dramatic theft of Palestinian land since Israel’s foundation, pro-Israel groups pressured the cable news outlet to retract the segment.

MSNBC eventually capitulated, calling the maps “not factually accurate.”

The first criticisms of the textbook came from the virulently anti-Palestinian and pro-settlement blogger Elder of Ziyon.

Elder of Ziyon’s blog post on the textbook, published on 1 March, urged supporters of Israel to flood McGraw-Hill with emails against the maps, denying, against all available evidence, that Palestinians were ever forcibly expelled from their homes in pre-planned acts of dispossession.

Within hours, the post was republished by The Tower, a self-styled Israel and Middle East-focused magazine and website run by The Israel Project.

TIP is a right-wing pro-Israel lobbying outfit that specializes in crafting and supplying anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim propaganda to journalists and policy makers.

TIP receives funding from major bankrollers of the Islamophobia industry and is headed by Josh Block, former spokesperson for the powerful Israel lobby group AIPAC.

Block gained notoriety for secretly coordinating a smear campaign against bloggers who were writing critically about Israeli government policy.

Independent review?

The Blaze, another right-wing media outlet, soon picked up the story and brought it to the attention of McGraw-Hill, which responded by immediately suspending sales of the textbook pending a review.

Elder of Ziyon celebrated and took credit for the outcome, noting that “the book is being or has been used in courses at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, University of Indianapolis, Western Illinois University, George Washington University School of Business and Marshall University.”

Less than a week later, McGraw-Hill announced it would destroy all copies of the book.

“The review determined that the map did not meet our academic standards,” McGraw-Hill spokesperson Catherine Mathis told Inside Higher Ed, adding, “We have informed the authors and we are no longer selling the book. All existing inventory will be destroyed. We apologize and will refund payment to anyone who returns the book.”

Inspired by anti-Muslim hate group leaders like Robert Spencer, Elder of Ziyon is dedicated to demonizing Palestinians and Muslims, and even argued that the paranoid manifesto of Anders Behring Breivik is “not all crazy sounding – it is scary how sane much of the document seems to be.”

“Some of [Breivik’s] political analysis is actually on target,” Elder of Ziyon stated after Breivik massacred 77 people in Norway, supposedly in an attempt to rescue Europe from what he viewed as the dark forces of Islam and Marxism.

Breivik drew inspiration for his violent ideology from the US Islamophobia industry of which Elder of Ziyon is a part.

Elder of Ziyon conceals his real identity, even when speaking in public.

The textbook’s authors – Mark Boyer, Natalie Hudson and Michael Butler – did not respond to requests for comment.

Asked who carried out the review of the book, Mathis told The Electronic Intifada that it “was conducted by independent academics who determined that the maps were not accurate.”

Mathis did not respond to a follow-up query seeking more details about who carried out the review and how they reached such a conclusion.

As for who pressured McGraw-Hill about the maps, Mathis would only say, “We heard about this from multiple sources.”

Given the highly politicized nature of all discussion related to Palestine in the United States, the definition of who is an “independent academic” would vary widely depending on the perspective of who is making the assessment. And if the “experts” are indeed independent, they should be willing to provide an explanation of how and why they deemed the maps to be inaccurate.

The only way that McGraw-Hill’s credibility can be assessed is with some transparency about the groups or “experts” who made this recommendation.

Otherwise, we are left to assume that McGraw-Hill is effectively burning books to placate the censorship demands of right-wing anti-Palestinian bigots.

Comments

book burning

Permalink eric replied on Fri, 03/11/2016 – 14:16

The book is available from Amazon, but you might have to sell your car to pay for it.

Destroying books

Permalink Guy replied on Fri, 03/11/2016 – 15:06

A clear indication of the power of the zionist state of Israel.Publishers like McGrw-Hill quiver in their boots when someone complains about so-called inaccuracies in educational books which are indeed factual ,given the stealing of Palestinian land on a daily basis. Facts that the Israeli government proudly announces to the world.
McGraw-Hill ,if there was any justice in this world ,should be boycotted .

Protests?

Permalink mary replied on Fri, 03/11/2016 – 15:27

Is there any way we can protest this decision? It drives me crazy that accurate maps are being called “inaccurate”, and that information presented without comment is being called antisemitism.

book burning

Permalink eric replied on Fri, 03/11/2016 – 22:08

Simple, write to McGraw Hill’s PR department and tell them it’s an outrage. I hope all commentators here will do that. hep_customer-service@mheducati…
The CEO is David Levin.

anti-Semitic maps

Permalink tom hall replied on Fri, 03/11/2016 – 15:40

I don’t know whether the situation still prevails, but for years American textbooks were submitted for review by the state of Texas in what amounted to a nation-wide act of censorship. If Texas rejected a book, the publishers would be unable to sustain their printing and distribution costs. One state in effect exercised a veto over the entire industry output, merely due to the size of the potential purchase order. And of course, other like-minded state school systems would follow suit, refusing to buy texts from the offending publisher.

Today, we’re seeing a similar process. But this time it’s in the interests of a foreign nation that American students are explicitly denied vital information on an issue central to their studies. McGraw Hill’s haste in pulping a book they had committed to, and the company’s public admission of their capitulation before an organised campaign of this type, speak volumes ( pun intended) regarding the corrupt power exerted by Zionism in American life.

pro-Israel?

Permalink Bill Michtom replied on Fri, 03/11/2016 – 16:16

“the maps generated criticism from a pro-Israel blogger known as Elder of Ziyon.”
“Just last year, when MSNBC aired a similar series of maps to demonstrate the dramatic theft of Palestinian land since Israel’s foundation, pro-Israel groups pressured the cable news outlet to retract the segment.”
“TIP is a right-wing pro-Israel lobbying outfit “

I wouldn’t call these pro-Israel, but Zionist. Or are you saying this in the sense that being in favor of the continued existence of Israel in any sense is pro-Israel?

you raise an interesting question

Permalink tom hall replied on Fri, 03/11/2016 – 18:21

Given that Israel defines itself in law as Jewish, and that Zionism is commended to its followers for being an exclusively Jewish movement dedicated to the establishment and upholding of the Jewish state (Israel), what’s the nature of the distinction you’re drawing? If you’re saying that there are Jews still remaining in Israel who don’t want to live in a state ruled under such precepts, you’re right. But their number continues to dwindle. Most have already fallen silent or fled.

How can one be pro-Israel while rejecting the fundamental assumptions and political structures of that state (ie Zionism)? And if you don’t reject them, yet consider yourself to be pro-Israel, then that affiliation necessarily attaches itself to doctrinal Zionism. What other form of identification produces the stance?

Incidentally, your final question references the existence of Israel without acknowledging an unpleasant truth. Uniquely among nations, Israel is the embodiment of its state ideology, Zionism. It has no other incarnation. All countries admit the transitory nature of guiding political systems. They’ve seen many. But only Israel as a historical state is directly the product of an ideological creed. If it sheds that creed, it will in a real sense cease to exist. So yes, those who oppose the belief system which supplies the entire basis of the state do expect that whatever successor state occupies the present (rather indeterminate) territory of Israel will not be Israel. You could overthrow Nazism and still have Germany. The same was true of regimes imposed on various countries- the countries themselves continued to exist because they were not simply created as an ideological project. The opposite is the case with Israel.

Put simply, subtract Zionism and you have no Israel.

McGraw-Hill censorship

Permalink M Murqus replied on Fri, 03/11/2016 – 16:17

Of course this is censorship and capitulation to the zionist/jewish influence. Shouldn’t people who value the truth, and those who support Palestinians against the fascist jewish occupation of Palestine, contact McGraw-Hill and tell them their censorship is a bad idea and it proves them to be hypocrites who cannot be taken seriously? Contact them at https://www.mheducation.com/co…

I worked in text book

Permalink Diane Fite replied on Fri, 03/11/2016 – 16:44

I worked in text book publishing and for over 30 years saw how frequently publishers had to remove or rewrite stories or articles or pull books to appease local prejudices on such subjects as race, equality, science and history enough to be able to sell in that state or jurisdiction, especially in the primary grades. Erasing or changing actual facts at high school and college levels where learning critical thinking is the hallmark of an advanced education seems beyond the pale and should not be tolerated.

This report should be

Permalink James Canning replied on Fri, 03/11/2016 – 19:01

This report should be shocking. How utterly pathetic, on the part of McGraw-Hill!

Mc Graw.Hill

Permalink carlos trotta replied on Fri, 03/11/2016 – 19:41

i am a physician and i swear not to buy any books of such coward editors……

Zionist liars against history and verified UN maps

Permalink Abdul-Rahman replied on Fri, 03/11/2016 – 20:08

The fact that right-wing Zionist propagandists are able to ‘successfully’ bully, threaten, and intimidate people who are SUPPOSE to be academics that should stand up for the truth against such underhanded tactics of suppression, is truly disturbing. Truth and facts are clearly enemy #1 of Zionist colonialism today; just like Steven Salaita and countless others.

Official UN maps and data: https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR…

Palestine does not exist on Google maps

Permalink Zak Martin replied on Fri, 03/11/2016 – 20:30

On a related issue, Palestine does not appear on Google maps. Israel, established on Palestinian land, is clearly designated. But there is no mention of Palestine. According to Google, Palestine does not exist.

The omission of Palestine is a grievous insult to the people of Palestine and undermines the efforts of the millions of people who are involved in the campaign to secure Palestinian independence and freedom from Israeli occupation and oppression.

This is an important issue, as Google Maps are now regarded as definitive by people around the world, including journalists, students and others carrying out research into the Israel-Palestine situation.

Whether intentionally or otherwise, Google is making itself complicit in the Israeli government’s ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

Both Google’s founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, are Jewish, and both have strong links with Israel, and with the Israeli government. Larry Page’s frandfather was an early settler in Israel, and Sergey Brin is a friend of former Israeli President and war criminal, Shimon Peres.

A petition has been set up at Change.org calling on Google to recognize Palestine in Google Maps, and to clearly designate and identify the Palestinian territories illegally occupied by Israel. Please sign and share.

Thank you.

http://tinyurl.com/hag375j

link

Permalink tom hall replied on Fri, 03/11/2016 – 23:29

Just signed. Thanks for the link.

Destroying textbooks

Permalink Zoltan Grossman replied on Sat, 03/12/2016 – 00:36

I am a geography professor who used to be a professional cartographer, and compiled maps for McGraw-Hill history textbooks in the 1990s. I have made maps of Palestinian ‘land loss,’ just as I have made maps of of the theft of Native American ‘land loss.’ In short, MSNBC was dead wrong to pull these maps and textbooks. The map legend clearly says “Palestinian land,” not “Palestinian state,” so shows the green land as under Palestinian families’ ownership. Similarly, Native American lands may have been claimed by Spanish or British or American colonial powers, but had not yet been dispossessed by settlers, so could still be shown as Native until a treaty or armed conquest took them away. The processes of settler colonization in Palestine and North America are very similar, and the two maps of land loss were compared in artwork by Native artist Gail Tremblay on the Olympia-Rafah Solidarity Mural honoring Rachel Corrie.