EU to review Palestinian textbooks for hate, incitement to violence

The European Union – the largest single donor to the Palestinian Education Ministry – is finally going to review whether textbooks used in schools promote hatred and violence particularly against Israel.

Federica Mogherini made the announcement in a statement last month saying the EU will seek to identify “possible incitement to hatred and violence and any possible lack of compliance” with peace and tolerance standards laid out by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

“Incitement to violence is fundamentally incompatible with advancing a peaceful two-state solution and is greatly exacerbating mistrust between the communities,” Mogherini said.

The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), a Jerusalem-based organization, has been monitoring Palestinian Authority textbooks and has long lobbied European lawmakers to check for themselves.

The group reported last year that first through twelfth grade PA textbooks describe Israel as the “Zionist Occupation,” refer to Israeli territory as Palestinian and praise acts of Palestinian violence against civilians.

“The [EU] is by far the largest donor to the Palestinian Ministry of Education,” IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff said. “But EU taxpayer money and goodwill have been abused for years while whole generations of young Palestinians are systematically radicalized.”

“The PA takes hundreds of millions of Euros and in return, teaches violence, hate and the sacrificing of young lives,” Sheff added. “We hope this study will help put an end to the abuse and finally allow young Palestinians to receive meaningful peace education.”