Jordanians demand books ouster

Officials in Jordan are demanding the removal of two school books that list Israel as a country but fail to mention Jordan and Palestine. The information booklets distributed to public school students this week have illustrations and maps in which the country of Israel is mentioned, but not Jordan and Palestine. Only the names of some cities and towns in the latter are mentioned, The Jordan Times said. "We have received a copy of the booklets and were surprised to find that Israel was shown on the maps without any reference to Jordan and Palestine," Mahmoud Abu Ghaneimeh, head of the Professional Association Council in Jordan told the Times. "We are positive that these pamphlets were not handed out by the Ministry of Education on purpose, but we demand that these materials be withdrawn as soon as possible." Jordan Teachers Association Vice President Hussam Masheh said the organization rejects the content of the booklets and urged the Ministry of Education to withdraw them. "This mistake is not acceptable regardless of who stands behind it .... We requested an urgent meeting with ministers to discuss this ...," he said. Masheh said all the country's teachers are against normalizing ties with Israel. Education Minister Wajih Owais has set up a committee to investigate the books, a source told the newspaper. Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1994, making Jordan the second Arab country to normalize ties with Israel after Egypt.