Egypt removes “Israel” from map in textbook, sparks outrage in “Tel Aviv”
CAIRO, Aug. 22 (YPA) – A new high school textbook map showing Palestine along Egypt’s eastern border has sparked Israeli outrage over the omission of “Israel.” The image circulated widely online, prompting diplomatic concerns.
“Israel” has been angered by a map in a new Egyptian high school textbook for the baccalaureate program, which shows the State of Palestine along Egypt’s eastern border and makes no mention of the Jewish state.
The map appears in a new Egyptian high school textbook for the baccalaureate program and shows Palestine along Egypt’s eastern border, with no mention of Israel.
In the image published by Cairo 24, one page of the textbook displays a map showing Egypt alongside Palestine, which occupies the entire geographic extent of historic Palestine, adjacent to Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Israel is not shown or mentioned anywhere on the map.
Israel’s Channel 14 reported on the map, saying it “raises questions in light of the peace agreement and mutual recognition between the two countries.” The channel urged the Israeli Foreign Ministry to act “to correct this mistake.”
The baccalaureate is a new secondary education program introduced in Egypt this year to replace the traditional General Secondary Education certificate and prepare students for university.
Channel 14 said the map “holds particular significance” given that Egypt has maintained peace and diplomatic relations with Israel since 1979. It added that the issue “should concern the Foreign Ministry” and that Israel should clearly express its firm rejection of the depiction.
The channel also said that the appearance of a map omitting Israel raises questions about how the political reality of the region is presented to students. However, it acknowledged that the map’s publication alone does not establish a clear legal violation of the Camp David Accords.
It added that reaching such a conclusion would require examining the map’s official status, the entity that produced it, the body that approved it, and the relevant provisions of the agreements. It also noted that the claim that Israel was deliberately removed cannot be established solely on the basis of the map’s publication.
The channel stressed that further investigation is needed before concluding that the Egyptian government deliberately omitted Israel from educational maps.
@E.Y.M