Teacher Accused of Sympathizing with Israel

(Ajaltoun, Lebanon) An essay written by an Israeli boy has been branded as propaganda.

A newspaper affiliated with Hezbollah accused a sixth-grade English teacher Wednesday of sympathizing with Israel because of an essay she used to teach her class.

The teacher, who works in the Christian Lebanese town of Ajaltoun, searched online for an essay on Earth Day, marked on April 22, and lit upon a paragraph written by an Israeli student.

"My name is David Tagor," the essay says. "I am from Israel. My country is small but very beautiful. I live in Ashdod. I am proud to live in Ashdod. It is a big and modern city. About 200,000 people live here.

"Ashdod is near the sea. There is a big port in Ashdod. It is very important. There are many green parks and playgrounds for children. My favorite place is the beach. I am a pupil in the 6th grade. The name of my school is 'Hazon Yaacov'."

The essay appears an innocent display of affection by a student for his home city, but the Lebanese Al-Akhbar was not sympathetic. Wednesday's report accused the teacher of presenting Ashdod as a legitimate city to her students by giving them a text that borders on propaganda.

It appears that exposing Lebanese students to the fact that an Israeli city is a generally normal place with generally normal people leading generally normal lives is considered propaganda.