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History teacher Samira has struggled to get her GCSE pupils at a boys’ school on the outskirts of London interested in the Tudors.
Instead, they have more pressing questions about the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
“None of my boys care one bit about Henry VIII’s wives,” Samira told The National.
“All of them do want to know how come land was taken away from people.
“Who are the Ottomans? How did Britain just get involved and hand it over to Israel? Why did European Jews end up in the Middle East?”
Samira, who teaches at a Muslim-majority school, is one of the few teachers addressing the conflict’s history, despite growing demand.
“The boys really wanted us to teach it,” she said. “It is part the world they’re living in. Right now, it’s a central part of the news they consume.”
Only 44 schools in the UK taught the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as part of the GCSE curriculum in 2023, despite the UK's historical involvement in Mandatory Palestine and the foundation of Israel.
The history of the conflict from the British withdrawal and creation of Israel in 1948 to the Oslo Accords of 1995 is taught in a GCSE History module by Edexcel, a UK exam body, and is the only one of its kind in the UK.
Yet in 2023, only 1,812 GCSE students registered at exams for the module across 44 schools, Edexcel told The National.
This accounts for 0.5 per cent of GCSE history entries for that year, which were 331,146 according to figures from the Nuffield Foundation.
It also represents less than 2 per cent of state secondary schools (3,061) in the UK excluding Scotland, according to data from the Department of Education.
OCR, another exam board, dropped its GCSE module covering the subject in 2019. It offers it for A-level, to an even smaller pool of history students.
The figures predate the October 7 Hamas attacks, which started the most recent Israel-Gaza war.
But earlier rounds of violence in Gaza, Jerusalem and the West Bank in recent years have led to growing questions from pupils about the conflict and its origins.
Extra-curricular initiatives addressing the conflict and its history have gained traction since October 7, and as the war has raised tension among communities in the UK.
UK educational charity Parallel Histories, which supplies teachers with resources on the conflict that tell the story from the Israeli and Palestinian perspectives, said demand for its material had tripled since that date.
Samira’s school has not taken up the Edexcel GCSE, but it has allowed her to teach the history of the conflict.
Other teachers told The National they had also set up history societies to teach about the hostilities.
Samira feared that not doing so would make children more vulnerable to misinformation on social media. She sensed pupils were giving up on their teachers.
“I had a kid in my class who asked what was happening in Israel and Palestine at the beginning of the conflict,” she said, referring to a different school.
“I told her we’re not talking about this. She said, 'It's OK, I’ll go home and watch it on TikTok.'
“She made me feel so redundant. I was like: my goodness, did you just replace me with TikTok?”
Teaching the conflict in schools is needed to create a safe environment for children to debate, and have any misconceptions or false information corrected, Samira said.
Physics teacher-turned-UK politician Layla Moran said it was difficult for teachers to do so without better resources and support.
“As a former teacher I can understand why this topic could be seen as being trickier to teach than other modules,” Ms Moran told The National.
Ms Moran, an MP with Palestinian heritage, has been campaigning for better understanding between UK communities as tensions have raised during the Israel-Gaza war.
“We have seen increasingly divisive rhetoric around the ongoing conflict in Gaza, with political leaders using events to stoke division amongst our communities at home,” she said.
“But the lack of any knowledge of the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict makes having reasoned conversations more difficult.
“It’s more important than ever that teachers are given sufficient support and training to equip them with the confidence they need to choose the GCSE history module and teach the material.”
Samira's pupils were inclined to empathise with the Palestinian story for family or spiritual reasons. She did not see this as a problem.
“You need to articulate the narrative to make a persuasive case,” she said.
“If they do believe in the Palestinian side rather than the Israeli side, they now have proper arguments, instead of sloganeering, which is so easy to do.”
Edexcel’s textbook on the Middle East has not been without controversy. In 2019, publisher Pearson pulled it off the shelves after complaints of bias from British-Jewish organisations.
Then in 2021, a British organisation supporting Palestinian universities said the revised edition had ignored crucial elements of the Palestinian story.
Parallel Histories' founder Michael Davies was commissioned by Edexcel to conduct independent reviews of its material after the complaints.
Latest from the Israel-Gaza war – in pictures
Another obstacle is the government’s counter-terrorism programme, Prevent, which requires head teachers to report any early signs of radicalisation among pupils.
Comments from pupils might be misconstrued and reported, with critics of the programme saying that Muslim children could unfairly become targets.
“That’s puts teachers in a very difficult position with the community of parents that they’re serving,” said Mr Davies.
“There was enough distrust, particularly from the Muslim community in the UK, that you can see why head teachers would be worried about being put in that position.”
Some Muslim teachers had been warning Muslim children that they risked being reported if they spoke about the conflict, Samira said. This furthered the distrust between pupils and their teachers.
“I can see where the teachers are coming from, but what happens is they [are] enforcing a silence that’s so uncomfortable,” she said.
“Children then know that schools and classrooms are not a safe place for them to express solidarity with Palestine, because they might be reported.”
Ghanem Nuseibeh, chairman of the UK charity Muslims Against Anti-Semitism, said teachers need better training to deal with topics such as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
“A teacher who wants to take a subject on would need to be extremely sensitive to the students’ responses,” Mr Nuseibeh said.
“I don’t think majority of teachers are trained to deal with such an active conflict, that brings up such high emotions.”
Concerns for a teachers' safety were plausible, he said.
“I fully understand the position of teachers. Particularly now, with social media, there will be an element of concern for their own safety and security from either side.”
But the UK had a “responsibility” to teach about the conflict because of its historical involvement and to prevent misinformation from spreading.
“The UK more than any other nation is morally and historically responsible for what is going on,” Mr Nuseibeh said.
“A lot of disinformation is spreading across communities. If you don’t teach it at schools, people will get their information from other sources. It’s important for facts to be established.”
A representative of the Department for Education said: “It is important that children are taught about global events and schools offer this opportunity in a safe and controlled environment.
“We know navigating the conflict can be challenging for teachers, and this is why the Education Secretary wrote to schools to provide advice on how to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict in the classroom.
“We have also published resources and lesson plans on our Educate Against Hate website to complement existing guidance on impartiality.”
Protest outside UK Parliament calls for Gaza ceasefire – in pictures
Tips for entertaining with ease
· Set the table the night before. It’s a small job but it will make you feel more organised once done.
· As the host, your mood sets the tone. If people arrive to find you red-faced and harried, they’re not going to relax until you do. Take a deep breath and try to exude calm energy.
· Guests tend to turn up thirsty. Fill a big jug with iced water and lemon or lime slices and encourage people to help themselves.
· Have some background music on to help create a bit of ambience and fill any initial lulls in conversations.
· The meal certainly doesn’t need to be ready the moment your guests step through the door, but if there’s a nibble or two that can be passed around it will ward off hunger pangs and buy you a bit more time in the kitchen.
· You absolutely don’t have to make every element of the brunch from scratch. Take inspiration from our ideas for ready-made extras and by all means pick up a store-bought dessert.
Key developments in maritime dispute
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Pari
Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment
Director: Prosit Roy
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani
Three stars
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
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Transmission: 10-speed auto
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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BMW M5 specs
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Power: 727hp
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Transmission: 8-speed auto
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The%20specs
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The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
Alita: Battle Angel
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Stars: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Keean Johnson
Four stars
The five pillars of Islam
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Match info
Manchester City 3 (Jesus 22', 50', Sterling 69')
Everton 1 (Calvert-Lewin 65')
Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
Results
5pm: Al Maha Stables – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Reem Baynounah, Fernando Jara (jockey), Mohamed Daggash (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: AF Afham, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Ghallieah, Sebastien Martino, Jean-Claude Pecout
6.30pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Yas Xmnsor, Saif Al Balushi, Khalifa Al Neyadi
7pm: The President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Somoud, Adrie de Vries, Jean de Roualle
7.30pm: The President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Haqeeqy, Dane O’Neill, John Hyde.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
WandaVision
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany
Directed by: Matt Shakman
Rating: Four stars
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The lowdown
Badla
Rating: 2.5/5
Produced by: Red Chillies, Azure Entertainment
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Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh, Tony Luke
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
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Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
If you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Chicago from Dh5,215 return including taxes.
The hotels
Recommended hotels include the Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, located in an iconic skyscraper complete with a 1929 Olympic-size swimming pool from US$299 (Dh1,100) per night including taxes, and the Omni Chicago Hotel, an excellent value downtown address with elegant art deco furnishings and an excellent in-house restaurant. Rooms from US$239 (Dh877) per night including taxes.
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
'The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey'
Rating: 3/5
Directors: Ramin Bahrani, Debbie Allen, Hanelle Culpepper, Guillermo Navarro
Writers: Walter Mosley
Stars: Samuel L Jackson, Dominique Fishback, Walton Goggins
FINAL RESULT
Sharjah Wanderers 20 Dubai Tigers 25 (After extra-time)
Wanderers
Tries: Gormley, Penalty
cons: Flaherty
Pens: Flaherty 2
Tigers
Tries: O’Donnell, Gibbons, Kelly
Cons: Caldwell 2
Pens: Caldwell, Cross
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Duterte Harry: Fire and Fury in the Philippines
Jonathan Miller, Scribe Publications
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
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Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua Based: Dubai, UAE Number of employees: 28 Sector: Financial services Investment: $9.5m Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors. 'Brazen'
Director: Monika Mitchell
Starring: Alyssa Milano, Sam Page, Colleen Wheeler
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
