Talking about the Palestinians to pupils at Jewish schools "cannot be taboo", according to a specialist on teaching children about Israel.
Dr Sivan Zakai, of the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, has found that young Jewish schoolchildren in the city are unaware of the Palestinians, instead believing Israel to be in conflict with some "unclear other team".
The keynote speaker at the UJIA's education research conference in London last week said that many adults underestimated the capacity of children to grapple with complexities.
While some educators thought their role was to be only "cheerleaders" for Israel, she said that "young children do not need to be inoculated against the messy realities".