a day ago
Fears British foreign aid used to teach Gaza children to wage jihad
David Lammy is facing calls to withhold foreign aid from the Palestinian Authority over fears it is being used to teach children to wage jihad against Israel.
The Foreign Secretary has been urged to use Britain's 'financial and diplomatic muscle' to demand the withdrawal of extremist textbooks from schools in Gaza.
It comes as a new report by an Israeli-founded non-profit organisation reveals that materials being taught to pupils feature anti-Semitic tropes and violent imagery.
The dossier identifies one volume in which 'the liberation of Palestine' is presented to children as a 'personal obligation for every Muslim'.
Others present martyrdom in a positive light and depict suicide bombings in graphic detail, talking about killing soldiers and wearing explosive belts.
Some of the textbooks glorify terrorists as heroes, prompting MPs to express concern about the Palestinian Authority's suitability to run a Palestinian state.
The Government insisted that no foreign aid went directly towards textbooks in Gaza and said it condemned the use of materials that incited violence.
In April, ministers signed off on a £101 million aid package and accompanying agreement, which included commitments to cooperate on education.
Labour also restored UK funding to UNRWA, the UN agency which funds its own schools in Gaza, including teacher salaries.
Andrew Mitchell, a former Tory international aid secretary, said 'widespread concern about the contents of Palestinian textbooks must be fully addressed as swiftly as possible'.
'The importance of education in promoting tolerance and empathy and breaking the cycle of inter-generational violence is an essential requirement for the peace essential to a two-state solution,' he said.
Last month, the EU parliament voted for a motion to freeze funding to the Palestinian Authority (PA) until it reforms the curriculum taught in Gaza.
MEPs said it was 'our responsibility to ensure that European taxpayer money promotes coexistence, respect for human rights and mutual understanding'.
Luke Akehurst, a Labour MP, said the latest revelations represented a 'persistent pattern in the Palestinian Authority's education curriculum'.
'Textbooks which teach children to celebrate terrorists as 'heroes', promote violence and 'martyrdom', and preach hate against Jews make a mockery of the principles of Unesco standards of peace and tolerance to which the PA is supposed to be committed,' he said.
'If we are ever to see an end to the tragic conflict between the Palestinians and Israel, fundamental shifts in attitude are required on both sides.
'These revelations bring into question the PA's preparedness at the very moment they need to step up to leadership for a more peaceful future free from Hamas.'
The report on Palestinian textbooks was compiled by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se).
It is a non-profit organisation which has offices in London and Israel.
IMPACT-se said it had analysed 313 textbooks and teacher guides used across all age grades in Gaza as part of its research.
The materials are used in schools run by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority in both Gaza, which is Hamas-run, and the West Bank, it said.
Marcus Sheff, the chief executive at IMPACT-se, warned that 'for far too long, UK taxpayers' money has been used to teach Palestinian children to despise Jews, encourage violent jihad and breed the next generation of martyrs'.
He added: 'If the UK Government is serious about helping forge a lasting peace, then continuing to finance Palestinian hate education is possibly the worst course of action imaginable.
'Foreign Secretary David Lammy must deploy the UK's financial and diplomatic muscle to ensure that the Palestinian Authority halts this curriculum of hate, which is also being openly taught in UN-run schools.
'Failure to do so would condemn Palestinian children to a future of hatred and violence, while also laying the foundations for the next horrific act of terror.'
A spokesman for the Foreign Office, which oversees the foreign aid budget, said: 'No UK funding goes to textbooks in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and we completely condemn the use of education materials which incite hatred, violence, or antisemitism.'
