A French-Lebanese school has been subjected to heavy criticism on social media after one of its teachers told students that "Israel" borders Lebanon, during a geography lesson.
Earlier this week, the incident went viral on social media after the father of a student, Louay Ghandour, said his daughter and her classmates were forced to write "Israel" instead of Palestine on a map they were handed.
In his post, Ghandour also wrote that when his daughter cut off her teacher, telling her that Palestine is the country that borders Lebanon, the latter ignored the child.
Soon after Ghandour's post went viral on social media, it sparked outrage among hundreds who deemed the educator's actions "unacceptable" and "offensive".
This how it all played out on social media...
First, Ghandour shared this Facebook post:
"This is what my 9-year-old daughter learned in class today. She was told that Israel borders the South of Lebanon. When she tried to cut off her teacher, telling her that the country bordering Lebanon is called Palestine, the French teacher who's name is Aurelie, ignored her. She then forced her students to write Israel on the textbook map. She also handed out a map that had Israel instead of Palestine printed on it.
Which sparked outrage on Lebanese social media
"Lebanon's Ministry of Education prohibits the use of the word... Occupied Palestine is the word that must be used"
Many called on authorities to take action
"The ministry of education should hold the school accountable and not the teacher."
Leading authorities to launch an investigation into the matter
Speaking to Al Jadeed News, Lebanese Minister of Education Marwan Hamade said action has been taken to ensure the incident doesn't recur.
"An investigation into the matter just wrapped up. The manager of private education in the country visited the school early in the morning and took the necessary measures. We also asked the school's administration to take further action against the educator," he said.
"Had we seen this was an intentional mistake, it would have been a different matter. However, we need to view this incident for what it is, a grave mistake, that will be handled so that other schools and educators make sure it doesn't happen again," he added.
School officials have since issued a statement
Soon after the intense online backlash, administrators at Lycée Franco-Libanais Verdun issued a statement on the matter via their official Facebook page.
"The administration of Lycée Franco-Libanais Verdun apologizes over the incident circulating on social media. We strongly condemn it and assert our respect for Lebanon's independence and history. We also stress that we are committed to following the country's accredited curriculum."