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This article is made in collaboration with Koen Strijk
Antisemitic educational content in the Palestinian Authority has been a problem for years. Palestinian pupils learn to hate Jews
and emulate terrorists. While voices of concern were expressed, the European
Commission has been passive and failed to take effective action to counter the
schoolbook problem. Inaction on the problem does not only lead to Palestinian
children being educated to hate Israelis. It also means the continuation of the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict for the future generations.
Textbook Studies, Dangerous Findings
Textbooks used in the Palestinian schools have been investigated for
years. Time and again, research presents a problematic picture of the schoolbooks’ content: promotion of
antisemitism, rejection of peace, absence of tolerance and coexistence,
encouragement of martyrdom and Jihad, violence, terror glorification and
justification, dangerous libel, erasure from Israel on the maps, dehumanization
and demonization of Israelis and the delegitimization of Jewish history and
self-determination. An EU-commissioned report conducted by the Georg Eckert Institute (GEI) pointed out that, although there have been ameliorations, violent and hateful schoolbooks are present and fail to meet UNESCO Standards of peace, tolerance,
coexistence and non-violence.
Earlier Pledges without Changes
Since the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on textbooks is not new, calls
for EU attention and action have been advocated by MEPs several times. Last summer, a letter was sent to
President Von der Leyen by a group of MEPs on this issue containing a similar message as the recent letter. Despite pledges to
alter the content of textbooks by the Palestinian Authority, no significant
changes have been made. This was also confirmed by an IMPACT-se (an Israeli non-profit
organization that monitors the content of school textbooks) report that confirmed this. PA authorities reacted to the report by stating that the textbooks express a national narrative and
national identity. In last summer's letter, MEPs are
concerned with the inaction of the PA authorities underlining that “years of
negotiations with the PA and repeated Commission pledges of “zero tolerance”
for antisemitism have unfortunately failed to bring about the desired change”
and remind President Von der Leyen that “asking the PA to revise these books
is not an imposition but a self-evident and non-negotiable duty”. Last April,
during a meeting of the Committee on
Budgetary Control the issue was heatedly debated. Among
others, MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen (ECR/ECPM, the Netherlands) and IAF European Parliament Chairman repeated
the message of latest letter to President Von der Leyen.
Funding? Fine, but with Conditionality
Palestinian educators are paid by European Union funds. As they teach from books with the abovementioned content, the funding is incompatible with and contradictory to EU values and the common goal of working toward peace.. Consequently, the latest letter asks the EC President to include a conditionality to the educational funding to the Palestinian Authority. Without the PA adjusting the educational materials, the possibility to reduce funding must be available. The letter does not call for a complete stop of funding to the PA. On the contrary, the MEPs express they “wholeheartedly support EU funding for the PA”, though they do not want EU taxpayers’ money to be spend on incitement.
European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi,
who earlier considered the
conditionality of financial support, allegedly made a proposal to withhold 10 million
euros of financial aid if reforms of the curriculum are not conducted. Moreover, several media outlets report that over 200 million euros of aid to the Palestinian Authority is frozen. Palestinian Foreign
Minister Al-Maliki made clear that he does not accept the conditionality
proposed by the Commissioner . However, Mr Varhelyi recently visited the disputed areas where he reiterated the EU support of the
Palestinian people and the PA. The annual aid is to be continued. Since 2017, the EU’s bilateral
assistance to the disputed areas focused on governance reform; rule of law; access to
water and energy services and to sustainable economic development. In
2020, the EU gave 204 million directly to the Palestinian authority.
EU Strategy on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life
The EU Strategy on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life provides clear statements applicable to the current case of the textbooks' antisemitic passages. In the Strategy, the EU declares to promote full compliance of educational material with UNESCO standards. It continues by stating that “any material that goes against them [UNESCO standards] risks undermining peace and co-existence and has no place in textbooks or classrooms”. Moreover, the Strategy also emphasizes that the EU external funds may not be misallocated to activities that incite hatred and violence, including against Jewish people. This is mentioned as one of the key actions of the European Commission and the High Representative. Clearly, by sponsoring antisemitic textbooks and failure to act, the EU does the opposite of what it portrays to do in its policy and proves itself unreliable.
A Counter Letter from the Left
Leaders of the S&D, Greens/EFA, and The Left also
wrote a letter to Ursula von der Leyen in response to the alleged proposal by Commissioner Varhelyi. The left-wing
politicians reject the conditionality of the financial assistance of the PA. They argue that the reduction of financial assets by which educators are paid would negatively
affect the right to education of Palestinian pupils and students, and
potentially be counterproductive as it opens opportunities for extremists which
will have negative consequences on the prospect of peace.
Furthermore, the letter calls the proposal stigmatising to the Palestinian
educational system at large, and a confirmation of the prejudice that
Palestinian hate of Israel is due to education and schooling instead of Israeli
occupation of Palestinian lands.
They make it clear in their letter that they side with the Palestinians and do not see the textbooks as problematic. Additionally, they fail to recognize that raising the younger generation with the idea that the other is to be fought and the use of violence is justified or even a duty exacerbates conflicts and is not conducive to de-escalation. It may be appealing to side with the weakest, however, leaving the opportunity to feed the younger generation with hate will not lead to peace.
EP Condemns Palestinian Textbooks
On May 4th, the European
Parliament finallj adopted a report in which it officially
condemns the antisemitism in Palestinian textbooks and study cards. The EP calls for all EU funded
study materials and educational personnel to maintain the UNESCO standards
of peace, tolerance, co-existence, and
nonviolence. The report asks the Commission to closely scrutinize the PA and
the modification of the curriculum. Moreover, the report calls the EC to “fully
introduce the principle of conditionality” and to “ensure a legal framework
that provides for these support instruments” hereby following the suggestion
made in the letter to Von der Leyen by the 32 MEPs. The adopted report is a
boost for all those who fight antisemitism in Europe.
No EU Rejection of the Amnesty Report
MEPs who support Israel, expressed also in their letter to Commission their
disappointment with the European Commission who has not rejected the
controversial report on Israel recently published by Amnesty International. The
report calls Israel an apartheid state. The document has been controversial
since its publication. Governments of the USA, UK, Canada, Germany and other EU
members states have rejected the report. Tellingly, Israel’s Regional Cooperation
Minister Esawi Frej, himself an Arab member of the
left-wing Meretz Party, responded to the Amnesty report by stating that “Israel
has many problems that must be solved … but Israel is not an apartheid state.”
The writers of the letter to Von der Leyen ask for an EU that is distancing
from the odious report.
Conclusion
After new studies on the antisemitic, hateful, and violent content in
Palestinian schoolbooks, MEPs call on the Commission to act. For years the
Commission negotiated with the Palestinian Authorities to alter the content of
its textbook, however, time and again it appears no result was achieved. A
conditionality should be included in the financial aid mechanism: the
possibility to reduce funding on educational matters if alterations in
textbooks are not made. It cannot be that future generations of Palestinians
are educated to hate the other. This only worsens the conflict and makes the
prospect of peace in the region impossible. The parties on the left should face
the problem of the incitement, antisemitism, and hatred in Palestinian
schoolbooks, and stop with looking the other side or blaming the Israel as
left-wing MEPs have done in their counter letter and in the debate in the
Committee on Budgetary Control. Closing the eyes and inaction will not increase
the prospect of peace in the region and a stable and peaceful solution. The EU
must take further action on the textbook problem and ensure antisemitism
disappears from educational materials in the disputed areas
Click here to read the letter to EC President Ursula von der Leyen on behalf of 32
MEPs.
Click here to read the IMPACT-se reports on antisemitic educational materials in the disputed areas.
Click here to watch the debate in the Committee on Budgetary Control.
Click here to read the report in which the EP condemns the Palestinian textbooks.
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