[etni] Mistake to reject disengagement novel

Mistake to reject disengagement novel
The Jerusalem Post - May 25, 2009

A novel detailing the 2005 Gush Katif disengagement will now be included on 
the list of books being vetted for use in an English Literature section of 
the country's matriculation exams, after it was initially rejected out of 
hand by an Education Ministry employee.

Following a query by The Jerusalem Post on Monday, an Education Ministry 
spokeswoman admitted that the exclusion by a ministry employee of Grains of 
Sand: The Fall of Neve Dekalim from an official selection committee list was 
in fact a "mistake" and not in line with the selection process described by 
the ministry itself.

"This was a mistake, and the book will go to the selection committee where 
it will be decided on," the ministry spokeswoman told the Post.

The book, which was published in 2007 and written by then-19-year-old Shifra 
Shomron, describes the life of a teenage girl living in the Gush Katif 
community of Neve Dekalim in the years leading up to the disengagement. 
While the story strongly mirrors Shomron's own experiences, the book is 
considered a work of historical fiction and has been reviewed favorably by a 
wide array of publications both in Israel and the United States.

But when teachers submitted Grains of Sand to the Education Ministry's 
English Inspectorate earlier this month as part of a call for book 
recommendations for the D and F English Literature matriculation exam 
modules - sections of the exam that test reading comprehension skills - they 
received e-mail responses from a lone ministry employee informing them that 
the book was "not appropriate for all sectors of Israeli society" and could 
"not be taught comfortably" to pupils.

They were also informed decisively by the employee that the book would "not 
be included in the final set list" for the matriculation exam.

However, the English Inspectorate's request for book recommendations clearly 
stated that the suggested works were to be reviewed by a committee first, 
and only then would the final decisions be announced.

(To read the whole article, go to -
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1243259517322&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
   
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