IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 511 
Commending efforts to teach the history of both Israelis and Palestinians 
to students in Israel and the West Bank in order to foster mutual 
understanding, respect, and tolerance. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 4, 2009 
Mr. MORAN of Virginia (for himself, Mr. BAIRD, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. COHEN, 
Mr. ELLISON, Mr. FARR, Mr. FILNER, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. HONDA, Mr. 
KUCINICH, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. OLVER, Mr. RA-
HALL, and Mr. STARK) submitted the following resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Commending efforts to teach the history of both Israelis 
and Palestinians to students in Israel and the West 
Bank in order to foster mutual understanding, respect, 
and tolerance. 
Whereas the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict illustrates 
the need for both sides of the conflict to understand the 
perspective of the ‘‘other’’, and so requires teachers with 
the motivation, knowledge, and compassion to teach 
Israeli and Palestinian students the historical perspective 
of those they may fear; 
Whereas Stephen Lassiter and Brian Phelps, graduates of 
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill teaching 
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•HRES 511 IH 
at the Ramallah Friends School in the West Bank, took 
the initiative to teach Jewish history to Palestinian stu-
dents by introducing them to ‘‘The Diary of Anne 
Frank’’, encouraging them to understand the experience 
of the Jewish people during the Holocaust; 
Whereas Yiftah Ron, an Israeli-Jewish teacher, took it upon 
himself to teach both Israeli and Palestinian perspectives 
of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Jewish and Arab stu-
dents at the Hand-in-Hand school in Israel, including 
teaching Israeli-Jewish students the Palestinian perspec-
tive of the 1948 war; 
Whereas during her term as Israeli Minister of Education, 
Yuli Tamir, approved a program to familiarize Jewish 
and Arab Israeli students from nursery school through 
12th grade with ‘‘the culture of their counterparts, their 
narrative, and its legitimacy’’; 
Whereas these individuals and these schools exemplify the 
kind of small steps that must be taken on the long road 
to peace; and 
Whereas real peace between Palestinians and Israelis will re-
quire Israelis and Palestinians to understand the histor-
ical experience and narrative of the other: Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) applauds the efforts of those who attempt 
to build tolerance and mutual understanding among 
Israelis and Palestinians through education; 
(2) commends the Ramallah Friends School in 
the West Bank and the Hand-in-Hand School in 
Israel for providing their students the opportunity to 
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•HRES 511 IH 
expand their horizons beyond their day-to-day life, 
and applauds other schools and teachers who have 
undertaken similar initiatives; 
(3) encourages the Department of State to con-
tinue supporting programs that promote under-
standing between Israelis and Palestinians and 
Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs; and 
(4) applauds the teaching of the history of both 
Israelis and Palestinians in the region so that mu-
tual understanding, appreciation, and tolerance can 
flourish between two people destined to share the 
Holy Land. 
Æ 
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