Truth in Textbooks Review

Reviewer: Dr. Sandra Alfonsi

Pearson The Cultural Landscape An Introduction to Human Geography, AP Edition 2017

Problem: Omission of Fact (OF), Half-Truth (HT), Factual Error (FE), Slant (S), Bias (B), ITPage #/Line # Quote Problem Fact & SourceChapter 3 MigrationChanging U.S. Immigration, pp. 84-85Learning OutcomeDescribe the different sources of immigrants during the three main eras of U.S. immigration

p. 84, ll. 1-13 The United States plays a special role in the study of international migration, because it is inhabited overwhelmingly by direct descendants of immigrants. About 80 million people migrated to the United States between 1820 and 2015, including 42 million who were alive in 2015. The United States has had three main eras of immigration: Colonial settlement in the seventeenth and

eighteenth centuries Mass European immigration in the late

nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Asian and Latin American immigration in the

late twentieth and early twentieth centuries

OF, HT, S, B These cited lines are intended to establish the parameters for student understanding of the patterns of immigration to this country. Pearson ascribes most immigration to economic factors. While the search for economic security did indeed foster much immigration to this country, Pearson omits critical information on the number of immigrants who came to the United States fleeing religious persecution. This role of America as providing a haven for the religiously persecuted started in Colonial Days. There is only one very vague reference to it in an equally vague paragraph on the Slave Trade. (p. 84, ll. 37-41)

Chapter 3 MigrationChanging U.S. Immigration, pp. 84-85Learning OutcomeDescribe the different sources of immigrants during the three main eras of U.S. immigration

p. 84, ll. 42-58; p.85, ll. 1-34 U.S. IMMIGRATION MID-NINETEENTH TO EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURIESp. 84 ll. 42-48 Between 1820 and 1920, approximately 32 million people immigrated to the United States. Nearly 90 percent of them emigrated from Europe. For European migrants, the United States offered a great opportunity for economic success. Early migrants extolled the virtues of the country to friends and relatives back in Europe, which encouraged still others to come.

O, B These pages lack information on the number of immigrants who came to the United States fleeing religious persecution. Pearson ascribes most immigration to economic factors. On page 85 The Industrial Revolution is credited for most of the early immigration (mid-19th to early 20th centuries). There are only vague, extremely cryptic references to political and/or religious persecution.

Pearson has chosen to provide numbers over factual information about the reasons for the immigrants to flee to this country. It is a sterile and politically correct Left-leaning presentation.

p. 85, ll. 35-41 Immigration to the United States dropped sharply in OF, B Nowhere in this immigration time-period has Pearson addressed,

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U.S. IMMIGRATION: LATE TWENTIETH TO EARLY TWENTY-FIRST CENTURIES

the 1930s and 1940s, during the Great Depression and World War II. The number steadily increased beginning in the 1950s and then surged to historically high levels during the first decade of the twenty-first century. More than three-fourths of the recent U.S. immigrants have emigrated from two regions:

Latin America Asia

not even numerically, the large number of Jews who fled to this country to escape religious persecution, which also included economic persecution via closing of all trades and other employment.

Pearson has not addressed the Quota System on the admission of Jews to this country.

David Turner, “Foundation of the Holocaust: 1924, Congress decides No More Jews,” The Jerusalem Post, January 25, 2013.

p. 85, ll. 54-59 Officially, Mexico passed Germany in 2006 as the country that has sent to the United States the most immigrants ever. Because of the large number of undocumented immigrants, Mexico probably became the leading source during the 1980s.

IT “Sent” – this is a poorly chosen verb. No country sent their citizens on a trip to a new country.

The Reviewer suggests the following rewrite: Officially, in 2006 Mexico surpassed Germany in the number of immigrants who came to the United States. Because of the large number of undocumented immigrants, Mexico had probably become the leading source during the 1980s.

Chap. 3, U.S. Quota Laws, pp. 102-103

p. 102, ll. 1-18The era of unrestricted immigration to the United States ended when Congress passed the Quota Act in 1921 and the National Origins Act in 1924. These laws established quotas, or maximum limits on the number of people who could immigrate to the United States during a one-year period.

HT, OF, B In the “key modifications” section that follows the introduction to Quotas, Pearson does not give students any information on the ethnic and/or religious bias that determined the passage of these acts.

Chap. 3, U.S. ImmigrationEurope’s Immigration Crisispp. 106-107

p. 106, ll. 1-8 Of the world’s 16 countries with the highest per capita income, 14 are in Northern and Western Europe. As a result, the region attracts immigrants from poorer regions located to the south and east. These immigrants serve a useful role in Europe, taking low-status jobs that local residents won’t accept. In cities such as Berlin, Brussels, Paris, and Zurich, immigrants provide essential services, such as driving buses, collecting garbage, repairing streets and washing dishes.

ll. 28-39 Prior to 2014, the leading sources of migrants into Europe from elsewhere in the world were countries in close proximity to Europe, such as Turkey and Morocco. The flow of immigrants into Europe escalated rapidly in 2014 and 2015, especially refugees escaping war and persecution in

OF, HT, B Once again Pearson uses economic reasons for the surge in numbers of immigrants. Earlier immigrants did and some still do enter into service roles, taking “low-status jobs that local residents won’t accept.”

Pearson exchanges the word immigrants for refugees and basically the immigration problem in Europe becomes solely that of “refugees escaping war and persecution in Syria”. European countries are portrayed as the enemies of persecuted refugees.

There is no mention of the thousands of individuals pouring into European cities and in the name of Islam inflicting horrific acts of terrorism upon their citizens.

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Syria. European countries have struggled to figure out how to accommodate the flood of refugees. In an unsuccessful effort to limit the number arriving, several European countries have erected fences, imposed border checks and shut down train lines.

p. 107, ll. 4-14 Despite the relatively modest percentage of immigrants, hostility to immigrants has become a central plank in the platform of political parties in the platform of political parties in many European countries. These parties blame immigrants for crime, unemployment, and high welfare costs. Above all, the anti-immigration parties fear that long-standing cultural traditions of the host country are threatened by immigrants who adhere different religions, speak different languages, and prefer different food and other cultural habits. From then stand-point of these parties, immigrants represent a threat to the centuries-old cultural traditions of the host country.

OF, HT, B Pearson has presented horrendous apologetics for Islam in the guise of historical analysis.

There is no mention of the hordes of marauding Muslims who are devastating the countries that they basically have invaded with open acts of terrorism against the populations and against buildings and monuments.

There is one religion adhered to by most of these refugees and that is Islam, unnamed in this entire paragraph. These immigrants speak primarily Arabic or dialects thereof. The countries are not threatened by refugees or immigrants who eat different foods. They are threatened by proponents of Sharia Law, by proponents of the ideological premise that the West and Western Civilizations are the modern Crusaders and that they must be destroyed.

There is no mention of the brazen acts of anti-Semitism perpetrated against the Jews in these countries by these “refugees” or of the rise in Islamist anti-Semitism.

Chap. 4, Folk and Popular Culturepp. 124-125

Folk Clothing: Religious Traditionsp. 124 2 Photographs illustrating similarity “Devout Muslims and Jews wear modest black clothing.”

S Pearson attempts to establish equivalency between Muslims and Jews. Modesty and black clothing are signs of Orthodox Jews. They are not imposed on others. They are not a societal concern nor do they threaten how the majority dresses.

Chap. 4, Folk and Popular Culturepp. 125

p. 125 Debate it! Should Europe accept face covers for women? Ll. 34-36Some European countries, including France and Belgium, prohibit women from wearing garments such as the burqa and niqab that cover the face. These are typically worn by devout Muslim women who have migrated to Europe from Southwest Asia & North Africa.

Pearson does its best not to use the words Middle East when identifying the countries of origin. Choosing instead Southwest Asia and North Africa.

The “Prohibit Burqa and Niqab in public” vs.” Permit Burqa and Niqab in Public” Debate it! Sections are little more than apologetics designed to obfuscate the issue of the burqa and niqab as dangerous to society at large by prohibiting recognition. Likewise, it obfuscates the issue of imposing Islamic dress as part of Shar’ia law.

Chap 6 ReligionsEntire chapter

p. 184 line 1 (under “LEARNING OUTCOME 6.1.1) Identify the world’s major religions The world’s religions can be grouped as follows: Four largest religions: Christianity, Islam,

Hinduism, and Buddhism.

OF, HT, B Pearson has restructured, using numerical adherents, the World Religions. Judaism is no longer chronologically the first World Religion, Christianity the second and Islam the third. Judaism now belongs to a category called “Other.”

The sections on the religions themselves further remove much of

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Folk religions: Chinese traditional, primal-indigenous, and African traditional

Other religions: the 4 most numerous Juchte, Judaism, Sikhism, and Spiritism. 6 others with less adherents: Cao Dai, Jainism, Shinto, Tenrikyo, and Zoroastrianism.

Unaffiliated (not affiliated with any of the above)

the eclectic nature of Christianity and certainly of Islam. World Religions have always been defined as those that shaped civilizations and not by the number of their adherents. Pearson has redefined civilization as we know it. It has paved the way for the absolute supremacy of Islam based on its numbers. The Judeo-Christian foundation of the United States has been eliminated. Christianity, while still numerically superior, is presented by Pearson in a secondary position to Islam. (see below)

p. 194, Judaism, ll.30-32; 38-40; 45-47Roughly two-fifths of the world’s 14 million Jews live in the United States and another two-fifths live in Israel.

p. 194, ll. 38-40Judaism plays a more substantial role in Western civilization than its number of adherents would suggest. Judaism is the first recorded religion to espouse monotheism, belief that there is only one God. Fundamental to Judaism in one all-powerful God.

OF, B, S

OF, B, S

By naming only the U.S. and Israel and not teaching students that Jews live in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Latin America, South America, Asia, and in various countries in the Middle East, Pearson indeed removes Judaism as a world religion.

Pearson’s first sentence is condescending at its best and substantiates the anti-Semitism and the anti-Israelism that this publishing house has exhibited in its textbooks over the years.

The first sentence is the extent of Pearson’s acknowledgement of the role of Judaism in the development of civilization. Not even the Ten Commandments make it into this section or any other section of this textbook.

p. 194, ll. 45-47The world’s two most widely practiced religions – Christianity and Islam – find some of their roots in Judaism.

OF, HT, B To state that Christianity and Islam found “some of their roots in Judaism” is religious revisionism.

Christianity developed from Judaism. Jesus was a Jew, a rabbi who preached his enlightened interpretations and he died a Jew. What he preached came from variations upon and interpretations of what he studied and believed. Christianity grew out of Judaism and went forward. It never separated itself from its origins.

With this Pearson has succeeded in eliminating the Judeo-Christian tradition upon which this country’s philosophy and ideology are based. Judeo-Christian, written with the hyphen, means equality of the two religions. This is how the American Founding Fathers understood the ideological relationship shared by these two religions.

Islam was and remains an “eclectic” religion, one whose basic ideology derives from two religions: Judaism and Christianity.

By using only the number of present-day adherents Pearson has done its best to destroy the chronological and thereby historical development of the three leading world religions: Judaism,

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Christianity and Islam. By relegating Judaism to the category of “Other religions” Pearson has set the stage for “pitting” Christianity and Islam against each other and for giving Islam the superiority worldwide. Pearson is using this textbook as the ultimate academic Jihadi weapon.

Chap. 6, Learning OutcomeDescribe the origins of Christianity and Islam, pp. 196-197

p. 196, ll. 13-32Christianity was founded upon the teachings of Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem between 8 and 4 B.C. and died on a cross in Jerusalem about A.D. 30. Raised as a Jew, Jesus gathered a small band of disciples and preached the coming of the Kingdom of God. The four Gospels of the Christian Bible – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – document miracles and extraordinary deeds that the writers believed Jesus performed. He was referred to as Christ, from the Greek word for the Hebrew word messiah, which means “anointed.” According to the Gospels, in the third year of his mission, Jesus was betrayed to the authorities by one of his companions, Judas Iscariot. After sharing the Last Supper (the Jewish Passover Seder) with his disciples in Jerusalem, Jesus was arrested and put to death as an agitator. On the third day after his death, his tomb was found empty. Christians believe that Jesus died to atone for human sins, that he was raised from the dead by God, and that his Resurrection from the dead provides people with hope for salvation.

OF, FE, S, B This material denigrates Christianity as a world religion. It is story-telling, written in a language that does not deal with and teach a world religion.

The disciples were not a band. They were a group of disciples. Robin Hood had a band of merry men. Jesus had a small group of disciples as well as a large group of followers.

The Reviewer suggests the following rewrite: Jesus gathered a small group of disciples as well as a large group of followers and preached the coming of the Kingdom of God.

“…the writers believed Jesus performed”. In writing about the Gospels, Christianity’s holy books, these words deliberately denigrate the holiness of the Books and turn them into books of fiction.

The Reviewer suggests the following rewrite: The four Gospels of the Christian Bible – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, document the miracles and extraordinary deeds that Jesus is believed to have performed.

“…was referred to as Christ, from the Greek word for the Hebrew word messiah, which means “anointed.”

There is no word “messiah” in Hebrew. The word is Moshiach. Jesus was not merely “referred to as Christ”. OT Israel anticipated a coming deliverer “anointed” by God to initiate God’s rule of righteousness and peace The descriptive adjective Christ was added to his name by Early Christians who saw Jesus as fulfilling this hope [as a deliverer from death] and designated him “Christ” Mark 8: 29; Acts 5: 42; Rom. 5: 6.1

The Reviewer suggests the following rewrite: “The NT names Jesus as Jesus Christ. Christ comes from the Greek word Christos, the translation of the Hebrew word Moshiach, meaning “anointed”. OT Israel anticipates a coming deliverer “anointed” by God to initiate God’s rule of righteousness and peace. The descriptive adjective Christ was added to the name of Jesus by Early Christians who saw Jesus as fulfilling this hope [as a deliverer from death] and designated him “Christ”. Mark 8: 29; Acts 5: 42; Rom. 5: 6.1

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Judas Iscariot was NOT merely a companion of Jesus. He was one of the 12 Disciples. Judas Iscariot, known as the traitor, was the son of Simon who lived in Judah. He betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver and afterwards hanged himself (Matthew 26:14,16). The Reviewer suggests the following rewrite: According to the Gospels, in the third year of his mission, Jesus was betrayed to the authorities by Judas Iscariot, one of the 12 Disciples.

Chap. 6, Learning OutcomeDescribe the origins of Christianity and Islam, pp. 196-197

p. 197, Origin of Islam, ll. 4-6; 7-21; 22-37;ll. 4-6 Like other universalizing religions, Islam arose from the teachings of a historical founder. The core of Islamic belief involves performing five acts, known as the five pillars of faith.

ll. 7-21 presentation of the five pillars of faith22-37 Islam traces its origin to the same narrative as Judaism and Christianity. All three religions consider Adam to have been the first man and Abraham to have been one of his descendants. According to the Jewish Torah and Christian Old Testament narrative, Abraham married Sarah, who did not bear children. As polygamy was a custom of the culture, Abraham then married Hagar, who bore a son, Ishmael. Sarah’s fortunes changed, and she bore a son Isaac. Jews and Christians trace their story through Abraham’s original wife Sarah and her son Isaac. Muslims trace their story through his second wife, Hagar, and her son, Ishmael. The Islamic tradition tells that Abraham brought Hagar and Ishmael to Makkah (spelled Mecca on many English-language maps), in present-day Saudi Arabia. Centuries later, according to the Muslim narrative, one of Ishmael’s descendants, Muhammad, became the Prophet of Islam.

HT, OF, S, B Neither the section on Judaism nor the section on Christianity contains the teachings of either religion or of the founders of the religion. In the case of Judaism at least the Ten Commandments should appear. In the case of Christianity, the basic teachings of Jesus should appear.

They are called the Five Pillars of Islam, not the five pillars of faith.

The definition of each Pillar is stylized and enlarged to make it palatable and understood by the students.

(ll. 22-37) After separating Judaism from the world religions and minimalizing Christianity, Pearson now creates the equivalency it needs to elevate Islam in the eyes of the students and give it supremacy.

(ll.33-35) Neither the Torah nor the OT as found in the New Testament has Abraham bringing Hagar and Ishmael to Mecca or in fact to Saudi Arabia. This fact should be included.

Chap. 6, Learning OutcomeDescribe the origins of

p. 197, ll. 38-58 PROPHET MUHAMMAD ll. 47-50 Islam teaches that as he began to preach the truth that God had revealed to him, Muhammad and his followers suffered persecution, and in 622

OF, HT, B Pearson has devoted two paragraphs on the life of Muhammad, his activities and the cities of his activities.

Neither the section on Judaism nor the section on Christianity has the life of its “Founder” or information on the place, time and culture of its Founder. Judaism should have a developed, accurate

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Christianity and Islam, pp. 196-197

he was commanded by God to emigrate. segment on Abraham. Christianity should have a developed, accurate segment on Jesus.

The material on Muhammad’s activities are skewed and slanted. No information is given for the students to understand why Muhammad’s life was threatened and he and his followers were forced to flee.

Prior to Muhammad, Mecca was one of six cities in Arabia with a Kaaba, the cube-like building that housed hundreds of idols and religious artifacts.  The Meccans were mostly polytheists, who worshipped their preferred gods, yet respected everyone else's.  Mecca was also the site of an annual religious pilgrimage, in which people from across the region would visit the city over a four-month period.  The commerce and income generated from this annual event was extremely important to the local economy.

People from foreign lands were allowed to store their idols at the Kaaba, including Hindus.  Room was even made for Jews and Christians, who worshipped there alongside the others.  Meccans allowed conversions between faiths and there was no record of persecution against those who practiced any religion, as long as they did not insult others. According to Muslim historical sources, the people of Mecca did not mind Muhammad preaching a new religion, as he began to do in 610 at the age of 40.  They simply asked that he be as tolerant of them as they were of him. 

Instead, he openly insulted the local religions as well as the ancestors of the people who practiced it. This not only caused great offense, but it was a direct threat to the primary source of livelihood for many residents.

https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/muhammad/mecca-more-tolerant.aspx

Chap. 6, Historical Diffusion of Religions, pp. 200-201

p. 200, ll. 58-73 DIIFUSION OF ISLAMMuhammad’s successors organized followers who extended the region of Muslim control over an extensive area of Africa, Asia, and Europe. Within a century of Muhammad’s death, Muslims controlled Palestine, the Persian Empire, and much of India, resulting in the conversion of many non-Muslims to Islam, often through intermarriage. To the west, Muslims diffused across North Africa, crossed the Straits of Gibraltar, and retained

OF, HT, B, Diffusion is a clever choice of vocabulary because it gives the impression of a slow, peaceful flow.

The “followers who extended the region” did so by warfare, namely jihad as commanded of them in the Quran. Conversion, missionaries, and trade were secondary to the jihad.

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much of present day Spain, until 1492. During the same century in which the Christians regained all of Western Europe, Muslims took control of much of southeastern Europe and Turkey. (p.201).p.201 ll. 3-11As was the case with Christianity, Islam, as a universalizing religion, diffused well beyond its hearth in Southwest Asia through relocation diffusion of missionaries to portions of sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Although it is spatially isolated in Southeast Asia from the Islamic core region, Indonesia is predominantly Muslim. The world’s fourth-most-populous country is home to more Muslims than any other country because Arab traders took the religion there in the thirteenth century.

OF, HT, B Islam “diffused” by warfare, namely jihad as commanded of them in the Quran. Conversion, missionaries, and trade were secondary to the jihad.

There is also no mention of warfare in the diffusion of Christianity.

Chap. 6 Geographic Perspectives in the Middle EastLEARNING OUTCOME 6.4.3Understand reasons for conflict in the Middle Eastpp. 222-225

pp. 222-225

p. 222, ll. 7-14WARS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND NEIGHBORSThe United Nations voted in 1947 to partition the United Kingdom’s Palestine Mandate into two independent states, one Jewish, one Arab. Jerusalem was to be an international city, open to all religions, and run by the U.N. When the British withdrew in 1948, Jews declared an independent State of Israel within the boundaries prescribed by the U.N. resolution. Over the next quarter-century, Israel fought four wars with its neighbors.

p. 222, ll. 32-371967 Six-Day WarIsrael’s neighbors massed a quarter-million troops along the borders and again blocked Israeli ships from using international waterways. In retaliation, Israel launched a surprise attack, destroying the coalition’s air forces. Israel captured territory…

HT, OF, S, B These pages are skewed, but dangerously so. They look “correct” on the surface and to the historically untaught eye, they are. But they are not accurate. They are continuing examples of Pearson’s anti-Israelism which prove in themselves that anti-Israelism and anti-Semitism are the same.

P. 222 Pearson states that the Jews “declared an independent State of Israel within the boundaries prescribed by the U.N.” Pearson should have included the following sentence: Israel was then attacked by five Arab States, who also represented the Palestinians as well as their own countries. It is NOT adequate for that critical information to follow under a bullet point on the 1948-1949 Independence War.

The Reviewer suggests that the following information be added: After each war, Israel tried to return land as part of the Armistice Agreements. Following the Six-Day War, Israel offered to return the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. The result of Israel’s attempt for peace was met by what is known as the 3 Nos. “no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel and no negotiations with Israel.

http://sixdaywar.org/content/khartoum.asp The Khartoum Resolutions September 1, 1967 Eight Arab heads of state attended an Arab summit conference in

Khartoum during August 29 - September 1, 1967. It formulated

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the Arab consensus that underlay the policies of most Arab states participating in the conflict until the early 1970's. The resolution adopted called for the continued struggle against Israel, the creation of a fund to assist the economics of Egypt and Jordan, the lifting of an Arab oil boycott against the West and a new agreement to end the war in Yemen. By adopting the dictum of no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel and no negotiations with Israel, the Arab states appeared to have slammed the door on any progress towards peace

Chap. 6 Jerusalem’s Challenging GeographyLEARNING OUTCOMEExplain the importance of Jerusalem to Jews and Muslimspp. 224-225

p. 224 ll. 1-6At the heart of the conflicts among religious groups in Southwest Asia lies the city of Jerusalem, an important place for all three religions. The challenge is that the most sacred space in Jerusalem for Muslims was literally built on top of the most sacred space for Jews.JUDAISM’S JERUSALEM ll. 8-9 Jerusalem is especially holy to Jews as the location of the Temple, their center of worship in ancient times.

ISLAM’S JERUSALEMll. 34-46The most important Muslim structure in Jerusalem is the Dome of the Rock, built in A.D. 691. Muslims believe that the large rock beneath the building’s dome is the place from which Muhammad ascended to heaven, as well as the altar on which Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac (according to Jews and Christians) or his son Ishmael (according to Muslims). Immediately south of the Dome of the Rock is the al-Aqsa Mosque. The challenge facing Jews and Muslims is that al-Aqsa is built on the site of the ruins of the Jewish Second Temple. Thus, the surviving Western Wall of the Jewish Temple is situated immediately beneath holy Muslim structures,

HT, OF, S, B This entire section is biased, skewed, revisionist history designed by Pearson to remove the Jewish people historically from its homeland and to complete its elevation of Islam as the primary World Religion. It needs to be completely rewritten. The Reviewer has included brief examples of the problems.

(ll. 8-9) The holiness of Jerusalem for the Jews is not based just on the remnants (The Wailing Wall) of the Second Temple. Jerusalem has been the Capital of Israel since it was built by King David, over 3,000 years ago.

Correction of the names used in this textbook. They are part of revisionist history, whose purpose is to eliminate the Jewish presence from all of Jerusalem as they would eliminate Israel from existence.

Abraham was supposed to sacrifice Isaac on Har Moriah, Mt. Moriah. The correct name for where this was to take place is the Temple Mount.

The Dome of the Rock stands on the Temple Mount as does al-Aqsa, another mosque.

(ll. 34-46) The Dome of the Rock is a mosque. It is a mosque, built in 691-692. As is Islamic practice, Muslims build over Jewish and Christian religious sites to eliminate traces of these religions. In the days of Mohammed, who died in 632 of the Common Era, Jerusalem was a Christian city within the Byzantine Empire. There were no mosques at that time, only synagogues and churches. Jerusalem was captured by Khalif Omar in 638, six years after Mohammed's death. A church stood on the Temple Mount, called the Church of Saint Mary of Justinian, built in the Byzantine architectural style.

The Aksa Mosque was built 20 years after the Dome of the Rock, which was built in 691-692 by Khalif Abd El Malik. The name "Omar Mosque" is therefore false. In or around 711, or about 80

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years after Mohammed died, Malik's son, Abd El-Wahd - who ruled from 705-715 - reconstructed the Christian- Byzantine Church of St. Mary and converted it into a mosque. He left the structure as it was, a typical Byzantine "basilica" structure with a row of pillars on either side of the rectangular "ship" in the center. All he added was an onion-like dome on top of the building to make it look like a mosque. He then named it El-Aksa, so it would sound like the one mentioned in the Koran.

There is NO mention of Jerusalem in the Quran. Jerusalem is mentioned more than 630 times in the Torah. Therefore, it is crystal clear that Mohammed could never have had this mosque in mind when he compiled the Koran, since it did not exist for another three generations after his death. The famous “Night Voyage” could not have taken place from this mosque since it had not yet been built. Rather, as many scholars long ago established, it is logical that Mohammed intended the mosque in Mecca as the "Sacred Mosque," and the mosque in Medina as the "Furthest Mosque." So much for the Moslem claim based on the al-Aksa Mosque.

With this understood, it is no wonder that Mohammed issued a strict prohibition against facing Jerusalem in prayer, a practice that had been tolerated only for some months in order to lure Jews to convert to Islam. When that effort failed, Mohammed put an abrupt stop to it on February 12, 624. Jerusalem simply never held any sanctity for the Moslems themselves, but only for the Jews in their domain.

Jerusalem's role as "The Third Holiest Site in Islam" in mainstream Islamic writings does not precede the 1930s. It was created by the Grand Mufti Haj Amin al Husseini

Most of the problems surrounding Jerusalem can be traced to two areas of dispute. One is the political area that asks Jerusalem to be the capital of both Israel and the nascent Palestine. The other and most contentious problem is the holiness of Temple Mount to both Judaism and Islam.

The role Jerusalem has in the Hebrew holy works is well known and not open to debate; however, there are varying opinions on the holiness of Jerusalem, specifically Temple Mount to Islam.

Many if not most opinions that counter Islam's claim point out the Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Quran and did not occupy any special role in Islam until recent political exigencies transformed

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Jerusalem into Islam's third holy site. Jerusalem's role as "The Third Holiest Site in Islam" in

mainstream Islamic writings does not precede the 1930s. It was created by the Grand Mufti, Haj Amin al Husseini. The

Mufti knew that nationalist slogans alone would not succeed in uniting the masses against arriving Jewish refugees.  He therefore turned the struggle into a religious conflict.  He addressed the masses clearly, calling for a holy war.  His battle cry was simple and comprehensive:  "Down with the Infidels!"  From the time Herbert Samuel appointed him to the position of Mufti, Haj Amin worked vigorously to raise Jerusalem's status as an Islamic holy center.  He renovated the mosques on the Temple Mount, while conducting an unceasing campaign regarding the imminent Jewish "threat" to Moslem holy sites.

Dr. Manfred R. Lehmann, The Islamic claim to the Temple Mount is very recent, Algemeiner Journal, 1994.

http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~jkatz/templemount.html Chap. 6 Jerusalem’s Challenging GeographyLEARNING OUTCOMEExplain the importance of Jerusalem to Jews and Muslimspp. 224-225

DEBATE IT! How do perspectives on the separation barrier differ?p. 225KEEP THE SECURITY FENCE VS. REMOVE THE SEGRATION WALL

HT, B The choices given to the students for debate are skewed. The three bullets that support maintaining the Security Fence are factual and accurate. They are unemotional and reflect what Israel has done and why it needs the Security Fence.

Two of the three bullets that support removing the Segregation Wall are false; one is accurate. The one which is accurate has nothing to do with Israel’s’ actions but how the Palestinians feel about Israel.

Students are not prepared to debate this subject based on the skewed and inaccurate material which they have been given. The entire chapter has prepared students to be anti-Israel and basically anti-Judaism.

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Evaluation of Social Studies Skills and other important issuesAn evaluation of the teaching & learning devices and/or materials provided to the student.

Number Questions Yes No1 Is the appropriate vocabulary relevant to the subject matter presented to students?

For example, on comparative government are terms such as monarchy, oligarchy, democracy, socialism, fascism, and communism presented?

X

2 Are the captions under pictures factual? X

3 Are the charts and graphs relevant to the topic being presented? X

4 Are the maps accurate and relevant to the topic? X

5Are questions thought provoking? Is adequate accurate material provided so that the students can formulate appropriate answers? X

6Are primary and secondary sources presented for students to examine (for bias, propaganda, point of view, and frame of reference)? X

7 Does the text present a lesson on how to evaluate the validity of a source based on language, corroboration with other sources, and information about the author? * X

8 Does the textbook have a Glossary? Are key terms and personalities included and defined? X

9Does the textbook have accurate timelines to help the student understand chronological historical developments? X

10Does the textbook have an Index which includes all of the key words, historical time periods and individuals? X

11Does the textbook devote a similar number of pages to each of the world religions, philosophies, political and religious leaders? ABSOLUTELY NOT

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Commendations:

This textbook is grammatically excellent. It is academically pitched and so misleads from the beginning.

Concerns:

This is an extremely dangerous textbook. It is flawed. It contains egregious errors. It is a politically charged geography book with an agenda. It pursues the Left-wing agenda. It carefully eliminates Judaism as a world religion, thereby destroying the Judeo-Christian background of our country. It lowers the stature of Christianity, thereby elevating Islam to the apex. It blurs the lines on immigration, sanitizing and therefore supporting the rights of illegal aliens in this country. It supports Islam, Sharia and therefore jihad. And it therefore promotes anti-Israelism and anti-Semitism.

Evaluations based on template

Choices Explanations Yes No

1 This text has minor changes that need to be made

2 This text has a moderate number of changes

3 This text has substantial changes that need to be made

4 This book is so flawed that it is not recommended for adoption. UNACCEPTABLE

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