Dome of the Rock erased from kindergarten's Haggadah
Al-Aqsa Mosque replaced with trees in picture of Jerusalem's Western Wall in Kiryat Tivon nursery school's Passover booklet. 'This is not the kind of education I would like my children to receive,' says shocked father.
Ofir Spiegler ran across the picture when his daughter brought the Hagaddah home before the Passover vacation. He discovered that the page which says "Next year in a rebuilt Jerusalem" includes a picture of the Western Wall with the Temple Mount and trees behind it. The Dome of the Rock, a Muslim mosque famous for its large golden dome, is nowhere to be seen.
His daughter's kindergarten, Gan Hatzav, is a secular kindergarten supervised by the local council and Education Ministry.
On Saturday, Spiegler posted the picture on his Facebook page. Some people commented that the picture had been taken from an angle in which the Dome of the Rock cannot be seen, while others posted photos indicating that the picture had been digitally altered.
"This isn't the kind of education I would like my children to receive," Spiegler told Ynet. "I turned to the council head, David Ariely, and asked him to check who approved the booklet's distribution and whether it was coordinated with the council or with other bodies."
This isn't the first time that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is erased from publications. In several cases in the past, the Dome of the Rock was erased from pictures of the Western Wall in religious booklets, evoking harsh responses. The shrine, which was initially completed in 691 CE, serves as a symbol of Arab nationality.
The Haggadah was produced for the Kiryat Tivon kindergarten by the Ritram Didact company from Kibbutz Mishmarot, which was unavailable for comment.
The Kiryat Tivon Council offered the following response: "We are unaware of the incident. The matter will be looked into with all due seriousness by all the relevant sources in the local council's education department and the kindergarten teacher."
