Here is more detail on this story from The Electronic Intufada.
McGraw-Hill destroys textbook to placate pro-Israel bloggers
Rania Khalek Lobby Watch 11 March 2016
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.
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McGraw-Hill destroys textbook to placate pro-Israel bloggers
Rania Khalek Lobby Watch 11 March 2016
&
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.
