Jerusalem, 3 November, 2026 (TPS-IL) — A new report argues that history and politics textbooks in German secondary schools give students a skewed picture of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It says the books underplay Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians and the security concerns that shape Israeli policy.
The report was produced by the Amadeu Antonio Foundation and the Mideast Freedom Forum. It reviewed 16 history and politics textbooks used in secondary schools in Berlin and Brandenburg. The authors found the material inadequate and often one-sided in how it portrays Israel.
According to the report, the Second Intifada is largely ignored in educational material, and Hamas is represented uncritically. It also says the books weigh Palestinian and Israeli victims differently.
The report’s central criticism concerns how the books explain the failure of peace efforts. It says the textbooks often blame Israel for that failure. Settlement building, the security barrier, and Israel’s rejection of a Palestinian right of return are presented as obstacles to peace, but Palestinian terror against Israeli civilians is not. In the authors’ view, that omission leaves students without context for why Israel built the barrier or adopted its security policies.
The report also points to a problem beyond the printed page. Teachers in German schools reportedly tend to avoid discussing Israel in class, fearing debates they cannot manage. If so, students may receive little correction for whatever gaps their textbooks contain.
Similar results were recorded in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2015. That year a joint German-Israeli commission published a larger study. It analyzed 1,200 history, geography and social studies textbooks from five German states, and concluded that the books were biased in favor of the Palestinian perspective. The commission recommended that textbooks avoid a clear partisan view for either party and stress that both Israelis and Palestinians have a claim to the land. Coverage of that study also noted that military responses to Palestinian terrorism were often presented as equally problematic as the terrorism itself.
The findings raise a basic question about how a democracy should teach a highly contested conflict. Few would dispute that textbooks should be accurate and balanced. The harder question is what balance means when the subject involves terrorism, occupation and competing national narratives.
Critics of the report may argue that its authors, a foundation and a think tank focused on the Middle East, bring their own perspective, and that a 16-book sample from two states cannot speak for all of Germany. Educators may also say that textbooks necessarily compress complex history, and that omissions do not always signal bias. Those objections deserve a response, but they do not answer the report’s specific complaint: that serious events, such as the Second Intifada and attacks on Israeli civilians, receive little attention.
For German policymakers, the practical lesson is straightforward. Textbook reviews should be repeated, should cover more of the country, and should be conducted by researchers with differing viewpoints. Teachers also need training and support to handle difficult discussions in class. Without both, students may leave school knowing less than they should about one of the world’s most consequential conflicts.
