Report: Incitement in PA Schools ‘Worse Than Thought’

An in-depth study by Israel Radio of the curriculum taught and textbooks used in Palestinian Authority schools indicates that the “incitement problem” often cited by Israeli politicians and security officials is more serious, has deeper roots, and is more full of hate than most people imagine. Despite promises by the PA that it would tone down its anti-Israel vitriol, there is more anti-Israel propaganda in PA textbooks and classroom programs than ever, according to the results of research by Reshet Bet’s Gal Brenner broadcast Tuesday.

The investigation included a wide-ranging review of over 70 textbooks in areas such as civics, history, geography, literature, even math and physics. Each of the books examined had significant numbers of incorrect facts, lies, and anti-Israel comments and statements. One textbook used to teach the history of Islam, for example, extols the value of terror attacks, saying that the “martyrs” who carry them out “will have all their sins forgiven and immediately enter paradise,” followed by a detailed description of the Sunni Islamic view of that destination. A first-grade reader bases reading comprehension questions on the “anger” of the “martyrs” and why it is justified, and asks “who is All-h angry at; what can he do about it?”

History books, meanwhile, make no mention of ancient Jewish life in the Land of Israel, and modern history textbooks that discuss World War II make no mention of the Holocaust. Israel itself is almost totally ignored, including on maps, with the entire area between the Jordan and Mediterranean termed “Palestine.”

Tiberias, Haifa, Caesarea, Ashkelon, Ashdod and other principal cities are Arab cities; Tel Aviv is not mentioned, and that city is called “Jaffa.” Settlements, meanwhile are not the Jewish towns located in Yehudah and Shomron, but those in “Israel proper,” with many of them “over 100 years old,” according to the materials.