Follow Steve Postal: @HebraicMosaic
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The Palestinian Authority (PA) has refused to rein in its hate against Israel and the Jews in its textbooks, and has recently even doubled down.
According to a new report, the PA had made a pledge to the European Union in July 2024 to reform its educational content, and the EU has provided the PA with over 380 million Euros since then. And what has the PA done with those funds?
You guessed it. Continued its promotion of terrorism and martyrdom, and hatred towards Jews and Israel.
The so-called “abridged curriculum” meant to revitalize remote education for Gazan students in the aftermath of the Hamas-Israel war is merely typical Hamas (and PA) defamation and incitement to violence.
The report highlights the following examples:
Endorsement of Terrorism
• A 12th grade textbook calls jihad “…the best deed in the eyes of God Almighty,” “…the peak of Islam,” and “…a profitable deal with God Almighty, which entails salvation from Hellfire and the attainment of forgiveness and Paradise.”
• A 5th grade textbook calls arch-terrorist Dalal al-Mughrabi, who orchestrated a terror attack that killed 38 civilians in 1978, a “martyr…who drew a portrait of defiance and heroism with her struggle, making her memory immortal in our hearts and minds.” After a long section on al-Mughrabi, the textbook then asks students multiple questions about her, including: “4. Let’s state the objective for which Dalal and her squad carried out the operation. 5. What was the outcome of the confrontation which took place between the Occupation forces and the fedayeen squad?”
• Another 5th grade textbook includes a grammar lesson to identify proper names including Dalal al-Mughrabi and Yasser Arafat.
Endorsement of Martyrdom
• A 1st grade textbook includes a reading exercise with the word “martyr,” thus promoting martyrdom to young students.
• A 12th grade textbook contains an excerpt stating that “In the eyes of God, praised be He, martyrdom holds an elevated standing and esteemed status.”
• An 11th grade textbook re-publishes a poem titled “Martyrs of the Intifada” glorifying the First Intifada. Under “Discussion and Analysis” section associated with the poem, the textbook instructs the students: “The poet shows that martyrs live forever: A. Let’s cite the part which indicates this message. B. Let’s find a verse from the Noble Qur’an which affirms this message.”
• Another 11th grade textbook states that martyrdom is “…the fuel that fed the [First] Intifada and gave it the power to go on…”
Promoting Anti-Semitism
• A 12th grade textbooks portrays Jews of early Islamic history as promoting “…lies and falsification of Truth,” and who “tempt[ed]” Mohammed “to abandon his faith.”Additionally, the textbook claims that God told Mohammedthat “…the Jews are deprived of guidance because of their sins and transgressions.”
Rejection of Jewish Roots to Israel
• An 11th grade history textbook, under a chapter entitled “Zionist settler colonialism in Palestine,” highlights that conventional wisdom that the Jewish people are a “national group” is a “false claim” that is justified through “continued colonization in Palestine.”
Demonization of Israel
• A 9th grade textbook contains a reading comprehension lesson that tells the story of how a Palestinian boy was maimed by an IDF sniper, including losing an eye after taking a bullet in the head.
• A 9th grade textbook contains a reading comprehension lesson that features a Palestinian fisherman murdered by the IDF.
• An 8th grade textbook contains a reading comprehension lesson featuring the IDF violently abusing Palestinian children.
• A 12th grade textbook claims that the Palestinians face the highest rate of disability in the world, and that this is due to “the Israeli occupation and its oppressive activity.”
• A 2nd grade textbook calls on Palestinian children in a poem to “carr[y] the flame of the Revolution to Haifa, to Jaffa / to Al-Aqsa, to [the Dome of] the Rock.”
• A 3rd grade textbook calls Jaffa “a Palestinian city.”
Erasure of Israel
• An 11th grade textbook has a map with no demarcation of Israel, just “Palestine.”
• A 2nd grade textbook asks the reader to connect the dots to form “Palestine,” which as marked is all the land west of the Jordan River (and Israel is not marked).
• An 11th grade textbook contains a map that shows the year “Palestine” got its independence as 1988 (i.e., when the PLO declared independence), and lists the years that Arab states got their independence, yet does not mention or indicate Israel.
As Israel, the US and the world struggles to formulate a durable peace in Gaza post-Hamas, one thing is certain: the Palestinian Authority is not a viable peace partner. As these new textbooks show, the PA continues to parrot old hatreds at the expense of peace.
