(Jewish Group) NY Jewish lawmakers call for investigation of 'biased' questions in state exam

[Behind the Aegis]

NY Jewish lawmakers call for investigation of ‘biased’ Israel-related questions in state exam

A group of New York Jewish state lawmakers are criticizing the state’s education department for defending a set of questions in the latest statewide global history and geography Regents exam administered to 10th-grade students. They claim the test deliberately promotes a “revisionist narrative” about the history of Israel and its borders.

Students who took the test on Jan. 26 were asked, “Which historical event most directly influenced the development of the 1947 plan shown on map A (1947 UN Partition Plan)?” The answer deemed correct on the test attributes the establishment of Israel to the horrors of the Holocaust. This is inaccurate, the lawmakers say, because the modern Zionist movement began in the mid-19th century based on the belief that Jews should have the right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland.

Another question about the changes in territorial control from 1947 through 2017 suggested that the various territorial compromises in the Arab-Israeli conflict, including the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, have primarily benefited “Zionists and Jewish immigrants.”

The education department told the New York Post that the two questions were “designed to test students’ knowledge of geography as it relates to historical events” in the Middle East.

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