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This multiple case study examines the attitudes of 14 Islamic education teachers from Israel towards the meaning, causes and consequences of religious extremism among students in their Arab and Muslim-majority middle and high schools. These teachers define religious extremism as belief in absolute religious truth, inflexibility in religious interpretation, or strict adherence to Islamic teachings. In addition, the teachers distinguish the personal (adolescence, family problems and psychosocial needs), religious (unquestioned following of extremist imams or religion scholars; adopting of selective, literal and decontextualised readings of the religious text; influence of partisan teachers) and socio-political factors (students' feelings of fear and anger towards Israel and its unjust and oppressive role in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict) that push students towards religious extremism. Religious extremism, the teachers conclude, may lead to hatred or violence against followers of other religions, antagonism between Muslims and Jews in Israel, increased Islamophobia in Western societies, the rejection of Islam, the oppression of female students and reduced student achievement and diminished future prospects.

In this essay I explain the basic tenets of postcolonial theory and its possible implications for teaching social studies and global issues in American high schools. The use of this theory is becoming increasingly significant, given the growing Islamophobia and Orientalism in the United States, the ongoing uprisings in the Middle East, and the divide between East and West at the political levels. Also, it recognizes the right of the Other for appropriate representation, self-determination, and justice. The essay allows scholars, teachers, and educators to enrich their strategies of critique, and their pedagogical repertoire, and to prepare critically and globally informed citizens.

This qualitative study explores the perceptions of democracy and citizenship among 14 teachers of Islamic religious education in the Israeli Arab and secondary schools in Israel. It expands the knowledge on how religious (Muslim) teachers conceptualize the meaning of democracy and citizenship education. The first theme addresses three critiques of democracy: the ethnopolitical (the failure of democratic regimes, including Israel, to protect the rights of religious minorities); epistemological (the shortcoming of the rule of majority in ensuring a decent and just life for all citizens); and theological (moral). The second theme highlights the cultural obstacles for achieving democracy in Arab society in Israel and the possible contribution of Islamic education to detribalizing and depersonalizing the meaning and practice of democracy in this society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]