1 Teaching and Learning about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Israel Ayman K. Agbaria and Aline Muff Introduction By nature, education is political and has always been a site for political struggle. This is particularly pronounced in conflict-ridden societies such as Israel, where education can act as either a facilitator or a barrier for peacebuilding efforts (Bush and Saltarelli, 2000). According to Bush and Saltarelli (2000), at its best, when given appropriate and sustainable support, education has the potential to challenge structures of violence but at its worst, education can be manipulated to preserve ethnic privilege, to promote violence and intolerance and become a tool of cultural repression. The literature is rife with examples of ways in which the state harnesses the education system to socio- politically engineer a hegemonic collective memory in service of nation state-building processes, longstanding hierarchies, and political interests of the dominant groups (Zajda, 2005, 2007; Quaynor, 2012). In their review of history education in 14 case studies from different parts of the world, Nakou and Barca (2010) found as a common thread that the subject is seen as important as it usually conveys an “approved story”, binding people together through a particular national, political, ethnic or religious story that justifies the status quo and the dominance of a privileged group. However, on the other hand, they argue that history education is important precisely because it cannot tell a single approved story but partial truths and can accommodate ethnic diversity, reflect rival narratives, and serve competing political interests. Similarly, the literature is full of examples that outline how the education field has indeed been a central arena for disadvantaged groups such as indigenous and ethnic minorities, to demand cultural recognition and group-based rights (May, Modood, & Squires 2004; Zajda 2009), to oppose educational policies that imposed on them cultural domination and stereotypical representations (Fraser, 2000).