Careful monitoring of Palestinian incitement and hatred - works! A German representative in the European Union Parliament who was recently shown an English translation of Palestinian Authority textbooks said that he intends to act to halt all EU funding of PA educational institutions and authorities “until all the Palestinian textbook passages antagonistic to Israel are removed.” The translation was prepared by Palestinian Media Watch \"www.pmw.org.il\".
As an example of the texts that raised his ire, representative Armin Laschet of the Christian Democratic Party cited a passage from a PA textbook on Islam that calls upon high-school students to beware of the Jews, because they are “deceitful and disloyal,” and another text that blames European anti-Semitism on Jewish greed and fanaticism.
The official PA newspaper Al-Hayat al-Jadida was quick to respond, quoting Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Peter Hansen, as saying last week, “We cannot expect a people under occupation to have textbooks which idealize, praise and express love for their occupiers.” Observers noted that Israeli textbooks do not \"idealize, praise and express love\" for the Palestinians, but neither do they malign them or disseminate hatred towards them.
While PA Deputy Education Minister Na\'im Abu-Humus denied the existence of the offensive texts, PLO leader Yasser Arafat confirmed that they are indeed in use in PA educational institutions - but he explained to Laschet that the textbooks are from the Jordanian school system and that the PA does not have the funds to replace them. Laschet countered by saying that the Palestinians receive 300 million Euros from the European Union, “and they certainly can bear the cost of publishing new textbooks.”
As an example of the texts that raised his ire, representative Armin Laschet of the Christian Democratic Party cited a passage from a PA textbook on Islam that calls upon high-school students to beware of the Jews, because they are “deceitful and disloyal,” and another text that blames European anti-Semitism on Jewish greed and fanaticism.
The official PA newspaper Al-Hayat al-Jadida was quick to respond, quoting Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Peter Hansen, as saying last week, “We cannot expect a people under occupation to have textbooks which idealize, praise and express love for their occupiers.” Observers noted that Israeli textbooks do not \"idealize, praise and express love\" for the Palestinians, but neither do they malign them or disseminate hatred towards them.
While PA Deputy Education Minister Na\'im Abu-Humus denied the existence of the offensive texts, PLO leader Yasser Arafat confirmed that they are indeed in use in PA educational institutions - but he explained to Laschet that the textbooks are from the Jordanian school system and that the PA does not have the funds to replace them. Laschet countered by saying that the Palestinians receive 300 million Euros from the European Union, “and they certainly can bear the cost of publishing new textbooks.”
