Just today, Wednesday, 10 Kislev Minister Silvan Shalom spoke to the media following the fatal stabbing attack that claimed the life of an IDF soldier, Edan Atias HY”D. Part of the minister’s remarks addressed “the ongoing incitement against Israel by the PA (Palestinian Authority)”, and while the latter is unacceptable, it does not come as a surprise. The PA is not exactly subtle, referring to Jews as “pigs and monkeys”, and perhaps, just perhaps it is better this way for one can recognize one’s enemy. However, when it comes to the largest publisher of children’s books in the world, Scholastic Inc., the message is no less alarming, but by far, more subtle.
The book, Thea Stilton and the Blue Scarab Hunt, is number 11 in the Geronimo Stilton series. It is a story of a treasure hunt in Egypt. The book is in English, translated from the original Italian, the Times of Israel reports.
This adventure book is enjoyable and perhaps educational, as its subliminal message to the world is that the State of Israel does not exist. In the map of Egypt and the region we see many countries including Saudi Arabia, Sudan and other Arab nations but the State of Israel has been eliminated entirely. We are not speaking about the frequently used pre-1967 map that does not include liberated areas such as Yehuda and Shomron, but in this case, Scholastic has removed the entire country and replaced it with Jordan. Scholastic did not forget Israel entirely, for there is a demarcation between Sinai and Israel showing a border, but no country.
The report adds that Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications for Scholastic Kyle Good communicated in an email, stating her company was looking into the possibility of amending the map in future editions of the book.
“The Geronimo Stilton series is published in Italy and Scholastic translates the books for the US audience. I’m awaiting a response from the editorial team regarding the timing of reprints and whether this will be corrected. I will get back to you as soon as I have their response,” Good wrote.
That the PA (Palestinian Authority) and Hamas have eradicated Israel is not a chiddush but when one sees the Scholastic has joined the anti-Israel community, this is somewhat shocking and alarming.
(Photo of map from Times Of Israel)
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
11 Responses
This is why American’s are soo stupid.
Bah – it could be overblown. The map is very simple, and only list a few large locations. Israel is pretty small and might just not appear due to tiny details. Also, in the context of the story, these places might be the only ones listed because they are relevant to the story. It is a children’s book, and the map is just for the children to reference during the story.
Let me see them foget an Arab country and tell me it’s not relivant to the story, O I’m sorry next time I’ll put you in the map yes good idea
Maybe Jewish schools should stop using Scholastic. That should get the message clearly across.
Yitzy
This was deliberate. The game the antiSemites are playing now is to be subliminal, sneaking as much under the radar as they can. They know that once they can poison America, they own the media. Look at the coverage of Israel in Al Jazeera America. and rt.com. Vicious. When is the last time a general news outlet called a Hamasnik a terrorist? The Arabs saw they could’t beat Israel on the battlefield, so they are systematically isolating it. Israel hasn’t made a dent in combatting it.
We need rachmei shomayim.
The map included in this article also wipes Palestine off the map: it includes the portion of Palestine on the map in Jordan, which reaches to the Mediterranean Sea.
YITZy,,this is overt and deliberate. The anti-Israel/anti-Jewish society is increasing in numbers and strength.
I will be writing to SCHOLASTIC editor’s address and have my students add their names to the note. I would advise others to do so too!
#6 Palestine known as Jordan is right there on the map of this article.
No. 8: Arabs who lived in Palestine before 1948 did not consider themselves Jordanians, and their descendants do not consider themselves Jordanians, either. My point in my comment no. 6 is that the map ignores the claim of Arabs descended from the Arabs who lived in Palestine prior to 1948 that they are a distinct national group known as Palestinians, who are not subjects of the Jordanian king or citizens of the Jordanian government.
Put down the pitch forks. Scholastic already apologized and explained that the drawing came from the original publisher, not them. They apologized for missing it before printing and are correcting future copies. The map also wipes out Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. It’s a crude drawing for a children’s book. If we cry “wolf” one too many times…
Ditto what commenter #10 The Rashbak said. There is a lot of REAL anti-Semitism out there. Fight it; and don’t waste your time fighting incompetence such as this.