Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
An Egyptian official has responded to an Israeli media report criticizing the absence of Israel’s name from a map used in Egyptian educational materials, saying that Palestine remains a fixed feature of the country’s school curriculum.
The official, said no changes had been made to the maps used in Egyptian textbooks. Military experts also defended the inclusion of Palestine, describing the material taught in schools as a representation of established historical facts rather than a reflection of later political agreements, including the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.
The Israeli Channel 14 report focused on an image published by the Egyptian news website Cairo 24. The image showed what was described as a political map of Egypt, with Palestine depicted to the east across the territory of historic Palestine. Israel’s name did not appear on the map.
The Israeli outlet said the map raised questions in light of the peace treaty and mutual recognition between Egypt and Israel. It called on the Israeli Foreign Ministry to intervene and urge Egypt to correct what it described as an error.
The Egyptian official said the images circulated by Israeli media were taken from educational materials for the second year of secondary school, which had been uploaded to the Education Ministry’s website several days earlier.
“Palestine has always been represented in Egyptian school curricula, and this has not changed,” the official said, adding that the same approach had been maintained in the new educational programs being introduced for students enrolled in Egypt’s baccalaureate system.
Egypt introduced the baccalaureate system on an optional basis for secondary-school students this year, alongside the traditional general secondary education system.
Channel 14 said the map was particularly significant because Egypt has maintained diplomatic and peace relations with Israel since 1979. It argued that the issue should concern the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and called on Israel to make clear its opposition.
The report questioned how political realities in the region are presented to Egyptian students. At the same time, it acknowledged that the publication of the map alone could not legally establish a clear violation of the Camp David Accords.
Egypt and Israel signed a US-brokered peace treaty in March 1979. Although bilateral relations remain largely confined to official diplomatic and security channels, economic ties have expanded over the past two decades. In 2004, the United States encouraged greater economic cooperation through the establishment of Qualified Industrial Zones in Egypt.
Mohsen Farag, a professor of curriculum studies at Ain Shams University, said the map carried a symbolic significance. He noted that Egyptian history textbooks address the Arab-Israeli conflict and discuss the establishment of Israel.
“Egyptian collective consciousness is rooted in the understanding that Palestinians are the original owners of the land,” Farag told Asharq Al-Awsat. He said the curriculum seeks to familiarize students with the geography of historic Palestine and the occupation of large parts of its territory.
The second-year secondary-school history curriculum, recently made available on the Education Ministry’s official website, includes a detailed account of historic Palestine. It examines the historical factors behind the emergence of the Zionist movement, the 1947 partition plan and the declaration of the establishment of Israel in 1948.
Major General Adel Al-Omda, an adviser at the Military Academy for Postgraduate and Strategic Studies, said Egyptian curricula presented historical constants rather than political developments that occurred later.
“The territory of historic Palestine is considered a historical constant for the Egyptian state, and this is reflected in the school curriculum,” Al-Omda said. He accused Israeli media of creating controversy over what he described as an obvious issue, particularly amid growing Israeli opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state and repeated calls for the displacement of Palestinians.
Major General Mohamed Al-Ghabari, former director of Egypt’s National Defense College, said it was natural for a map to identify the territory as Palestine.
“There is an Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, a reality also reflected in United Nations resolutions,” Al-Ghabari said. He added that the dispute remained unresolved and that Israel continued to pursue expansionist policies.
During an official ceremony in July, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi ruled out the possibility of popular normalization with Israel in the absence of a Palestinian state and amid continued Israeli violations. He said the only solution was the achievement of a just and comprehensive peace.
