House Committee passes Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act

The legislation is a result of a report by IMPACT-se, which monitors values of peace and tolerance in textbooks.

By OMRI NAHMIAS
Palestinians pass by the gate of an UNRWA-run school in Nablus in the West Bank August 13, 2018 (photo credit: ABED OMAR QUSINI/REUTERS)
Palestinians pass by the gate of an UNRWA-run school in Nablus in the West Bank August 13, 2018
(photo credit: ABED OMAR QUSINI/REUTERS)
WASHINGTON - The House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously passed H.R. 2343 on Wednesday, called the Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act.
The bill was introduced by Reps. Brad Sherman (D-CA) and Lee Zeldin (R-NY) and is co-sponsored by four other congressional representatives - two from each party. It requires the Secretary of State to submit annual reports reviewing the educational material used by the Palestinian Authority or the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
In 2016 and 2017, the PA published modified curricula for school-aged children in grades one through 11. "The new Palestinian curriculums fail to meet the international standards of peace and tolerance in educational materials established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization," the bill states. "Textbooks used by the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA encourage war, and teach children that Palestinian statehood can be achieved through violence."
The legislation also includes a sense in Congress that the PA and UNRWA have not eliminated content that encourages violence, antisemitism, hate and intolerance toward other nations or ethnic groups from the curriculums used in their schools.
The resolution is a result of a report by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), which monitors values of peace and tolerance in textbooks across the Middle East from Tunisia to Saudi Arabia, including Israel and the Palestinian territories.
"We are delighted that Rep. Brad Sherman and Rep. Lee Zeldin have taken firm leadership roles on the eradication of hate in Palestinian textbooks, and that the House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously voted for it to be marked up," IMPACT-se CEO, Marcus Sheff said in a statement.
"This bill will effectively determine whether US tax dollars have gone to fund – directly or indirectly – the PA curriculum, and will inform Congress about the state of Palestinian textbooks if the US government plans any future funding of education programs in the Palestinian Authority," he added.
"This was a bipartisan effort between Mr. Sherman and me to maintain oversight over UNRWA's educational activities in the West Bank and Gaza," Zeldin said.
"Last year, Congressman Perry and I secured declassification of a shocking GAO [Government Accountability Office] UNRWA textbook report revealing what we suspected all along: the UNRWA textbook initiative was a sham," he added. "Textbook content in UNRWA schools did not mention Israel or Judaism and included regional maps that excluded Israel and content that incites violence.
"It is unacceptable [that] the textbooks that are used delegitimize Israel and demonize the Jewish people. We must demand transparency over the anti-Israel textbooks in this program that are fueling another generation of hate."
According to a report by IMPACT-se released in September, Palestinian schoolchildren are exposed to a dramatic amount of incitement and intolerance against Jews and Israel. The report comes after the PA restructured its curriculum for the first time since 2000, following the Oslo Accords. Previously, school children in the West Bank and east Jerusalem were taught the Jordanian curriculum, while students in Gaza used Egyptian textbooks.
The study found that all textbooks in social studies, history, Arabic and national education for grades two to 12 contained problematic content, defined by IMPACT-se as “violence or incitement to violence; hatred of the other; and radical, inappropriate or disturbing content.”
An 11th grade history book described the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre by Palestinian terrorists, in which 11 Israeli athletes were murdered, as “a strike at Zionist interests abroad.”  
A 7th grade social studies text claimed that “Zionists” tried to burn down Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969. In fact, an Australian tourist belonging to a Christian fundamentalist sect was responsible for that arson attack.


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