BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – Israel's Ministry of Education has suspended a literature program for fifth graders because a Palestinian novel was on its syllabus, Israeli media reported Wednesday.

The ministry suspended the program after parents complained that pupils were asked to read and summarize "The little lamp," a book by renowned Palestinian novelist Ghassan Kanafani, Maariv newspaper reported.

The literature program is funded by the Jerusalem-based Abraham Fund Initiative, an NGO to advance coexistence.

The ministry says the problem is with the author rather than his novel. Kanafani, who was assassinated in 1972, was a spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. 

As a result, the ministry decided to suspend the program to study it very deeply and decide whether to resume it or cancel it.