Author: Dr. Arnon Groiss May 2024
The original with pictures and Arabic text references can be downloaded as PDF on https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/app/uploads/2024/05/E_114_24.pdf
INTRODUCTION
The schoolbooks issued by the Palestinian Authority (PA) are mandatorily used in all areas of Judea, Samaria, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem (In schools that follow the PA curriculum) – in government, private and UNRWA schools. The books surveyed here are of the latest edition and are used in the current school year. They were mostly published in 2020. Teachers' guides, mostly published in 2018, were examined as well. They shed special light on the PA indoctrination process which is also applied in UNRWA schools.
There are three fundamentals in these books related to the conflict:
De-Legitimization of the State of Israel's existence and of the mere presence of its Jewish citizens in the country, which also includes denial of their history and the very existence of their holy places there.
Demonization of Israel, as well as the Jews – not only in the context of the conflict, but also from a religious point of view, which carries grave implications as far as the Jews' image is concerned in the eyes of Palestinian children who mostly grow up in a traditional society.
Absence of any advocacy for peace with Israel. Instead, the books call for a violent struggle for the liberation of the country in its entirety, including Israel's territory within its pre-1967 boundaries. This struggle is given a religious character, and terror constitutes an integral part thereof – with the accompanying meaning that the killing of Jews is to be encouraged. Following are selected examples of these three fundamentals taken from schoolbooks and teachers' guides in use in UNRWA's school system (grades 1-10).
DE-LEGITIMIZATION
The Palestinian Authority describes itself as "the State of Palestine" and considers itself a full state under foreign occupation the boundaries of which are not restricted to the 1967 lines. The name "the State of Palestine", not "the Palestinian Authority", appears on the cover of all Israel, Jews and Peace in Schoolbooks and Teachers' Guides Used in UNRWA Schools in Judea, Samaria,East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip By: Dr.Arnon Groiss May 2024 2 114-24 schoolbooks.
The example here, taken from the cover of an Arabic language textbook for grade 8, part 1, published in 2020, shows the PA emblem with the inscription underneath saying: "the State of Palestine; Ministry of Education and Higher Education" (marked by a red circle on top right). The schoolbooks in UNRWA use never show the state of Israel on maps. As far as they are concerned, the whole country is Arab Palestine, which replaces Israel as the sovereign state in the region: "[Lesson] 2: Palestine is Arab and Muslim" The lesson presents a map titled "Map of the Arab Homeland" in which the whole country is painted red, with the name "Palestine" appearing next to it and the Palestinian flag is drawn above. (National and Social Upbringing, Grade 4, part 1 (2020) p. 8)
In another example a map titled "Political Map of the Arab Homeland" is shown, in which the Arab states are divided between the Asian Wing (in pink) and the African one (in yellow). The country in its entirety appears there in pink with the name "Palestine" next to it. Israel does not appear on this map. (Social Studies, grade 8, Part 1 (2020) p. 7)
Palestine also replaces Israel as a sovereign state in texts as well. Following is an example: "Palestine is found in the Asian wing of the Arab homeland, within the area known as 'Bilad al-Sham' [the Levant] which includes the states of Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, as Palestine is found in the south-western part of Bilad al-Sham."(Geography and Modern and Contemporary History of Palestine, Grade 10, Part 1 (2020) p. 7)
In the accompanying map, Palestine appears as a state instead of Israel, alongside Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. (Geography and Modern and Contemporary History of Palestine, Grade 10, Part 1 (2020) p. 8)
The Palestinians' exclusive ownership of the whole country is emphasized in a student's assignment: "A. I will color the map of my homeland with the colors of the Palestinian flag." A map of the whole country appears underneath this sentence upon which colored lines signal the borderlines of the colors the student should use. (National and Life Education, Grade 2, Part 1 (2019) p. 8)
And in a more expressed way: "8. [The student] should be versed in the lessons and precepts to be learned, such as:- Each inch of Palestine is ours." (Teacher's Guide, Arabic Language, Grade 6 (2018) p. 87) Palestine has been occupied since 1948, not since 1967. It is thus made clear in a text dealing with the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails: "As regarding the prisoner-of-war, he is the one captured during a war, or in battle, like prisoners-of-war. As for the Palestinians who are found in Israeli jails, they are called 'prisoners-of-war' out of respect for them and because Palestine has been under Israeli occupation since 1948 to this very day." (Teacher's Guide, Geography and Modern and contemporary History of Palestine, Grade 10 (2018) p. 188.)
Accordingly, the phrase "the territories occupied in 1948" replaces the term "Israel's [pre1967] territory" in the schoolbooks: "The following chart clarifies the numbers of Palestinians in the year 2015, according to the Palestinian Statistics Center: Region Number of Inhabitants The West Bank and the Gaza Strip 4,750,000 Inside the territories occupied in 1948 1,470,000 In the Arab states 5,460,000 In the foreign states 685,000 I will organize the areas where Palestinians are found in a descending order according to the numbers of their inhabitants: [4 empty squares]" (Mathematics, Grade 4, Part 1 (2020) p. 22.)
In accordance with this notion, the term "the Zionist occupation" appears many times instead "the State of Israel": "…The Arab armies withdrew from Palestine and the Rhodes Armistice was signed in 1949 separately between the Zionist occupation and each of Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon…" (Geography and Modern and Contemporary History of Palestine, Grade 10, Part 2 (2020) p. 7)
Israel and its inhabitants are considered a foreign colonialist entity: "We will think and discuss: I will compare the tragedy of the Indians, America's original inhabitants, to the tragedy of the Palestinian people." (Social Studies, Grade 8, Part 2 (2020) p. 34)
The schoolbooks in UNRWA use are devoid of any recognition of the Jews' historical ties to the land. They are presented as ones who falsely inventing such ties: "…[The occupier] has built for himself an artificial entity that derives its identity and the legitimacy of its existence from fairy tales, legends and phantasies and tried in various methods and ways to create living material evidence for these legends, or archaeological [and] architectural proofs that would attest to their correctness and authenticity, but in vain."(Arabic Language – the Academic Track, Grade 10, Part 2 (2020) p. 68)
In another example the student is required "to explain [the phenomenon] that the Zionist occupation gives its settlements Canaanite names." (Teacher's Guide, Social Studies, Grade 6 (2018) p. 75) Beside the denial of the country's Jewish history, the schoolbooks in UNRWA use also deny the existence of Jewish holy places in there, including the Western Wall (please note that the photograph appearing in the book has been cut in a way that would "hide" the Jews who pray there): "Al-Buraq Wall Illumination: The Al-Buraq Wall is thus named after Al-Buraq [the divine beast] that carried the Messenger [Muhammad] in the Nocturnal Journey [from the mosque in Mecca to Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem according to Islamic belief]. AlBuraq Wall is part of the western wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Al-Aqsa Mosque, including the wall, is a Palestinian land and the Muslims’ exclusive right."”(Islamic Education, Grade 5, Part 1 (2020)
The Jews’ historical and religious ties to Jerusalem are completely ignored: "Jerusalem is an Arab city built by our Arab ancestors thousands of years ago. Jerusalem is a holy city among Muslims and Christians." (National and Social Upbringing, Grade 3, Part 1 (2020) p. 29)
A brief discussion of Jerusalem’s names includes a huge 1,000 year-gap between the Jebusites and the Romans, thus erasing the Jewish historical period. The name “Jerusalem” itself, so common worldwide, is also ignored: "The city of Al-Quds was known by the name Jebus, after the Arab Jebusites who built it 5,000 years ago. When the Romans occupied it, they called it by the name Aelia. Later, it came to be known as Al-Quds and Bayt al-Maqdis, after the Muslims conquered it at the hands of [Caliph] Umar Bin al-Khattab in the year 637…” (Geography and Modern and Contemporary History of Palestine, Grade 10, Part 1 (2020) p. 43)
Hebrew – the language of the Jews in the country – is erased, literally, from a British Mandate coin reproduced in a mathematics textbook: (Mathematics, Grade 6, Part 2 (2020) p. 65, and see the original coin below) Having been considered foreign settlers, the Jews in the country are not counted among its inhabitants, and the cities they built, including Tel Aviv, are absent from the maps featured in textbooks that are used in UNRWA schools. The map shown here, titled "Map of Palestine", does not show these cities at all, except for Eilat, which appears under the Arabic name of the desolate place where it was later built – "Umm al-Rashrash". (Social Studies, Grade 6, Part 1 (2020) p. 6)
According to the PA schoolbooks in UNRWA use, Jews have no rights whatsoever in their ancestral homeland. Rather, they have greedy ambitions (atma' in Arabic) there. The teacher should remind the student to think about that: "The student should find for himself spare time for reflection about the dangers of the Jews' greedy ambitions in Palestine." (Teacher's Guide, Arabic Language, Grade 9 (2018) p. 30)
Obviously, there is no recognition of the Jews' right to a national home in the country. That is expressed in an answer given to a question whether one should accept the UN 194 resolution of 1948 regarding the refugees' return to their homes on the condition of living in peace with their neighbors (on which the current argumentation of the so-called "right of return" is based): "As for [my] opinion: 'I do not accept, because it affirms the existence of a homeland for the Jews in Palestine through [the demand of] living in peace with their neighbors. How will it be possible [then] to compensate for the properties, casualties, persons and the motherland'." (Teacher's Guide, Geography and Modern and Contemporary History of Palestine, Grade 10 (2018) p. 226)
DEMONIZATION
The schoolbooks in UNRWA use do not contain any positive information about Israel and the Jews. They are all presented as absolute evil. Throughout the research period, over forty accusations against both have been found in various fields, beginning in the usurpation of the country, massacre of its inhabitants, killing of children and ending in responsibility for cancer cases in Hebron due to the Israeli nuclear reactor in the Negev. Following is an example given to the teacher in the lower grades how to present the conflict to the students: "The teacher will tell a short story about our homeland Palestine: 'My grandfather was living in a beautiful village in [the vicinity of] Haifa. He worked in agriculture, loved the land and guarded it. On [one] sad day, foreign faces came to expel my grandfather from his land, burn the seeds and make him emigrate to distant lands'." (Teacher's Guide, Our Beautiful Language, Grade 2 (2018) p. 124)
Zionists are demonized and accused of genocidal intentions towards Palestinians: "1. The Zionists based their entity on terror, extermination [ibadah] and colonialism. We will explain that." (Arabic Language – the Academic Track, Grade 10, Part 2 (2020) p. 28)
Jews are demonized in the context of the conflict: "The Jews have committed war crimes against our people relentlessly." (Teacher's Guide, Arabic Language, Grade 9 (2018) p. 150)
And with some more detail, utilizing history studies by making a comparison with the Romans' attitude to Carthage: "Q[uestion] 6 – We will conclude the points of similarity between the policy of the Roman occupation vis-à-vis Carthage and the policy of the Zionist occupation vis-à-vis the Palestinian people. [The answer:] Destruction of villages and cities, perpetrating massacres, causing the inhabitants' emigration, capture [of people] and forceful plunder of what is not their own property."(Teacher's Guide, Social Studies, Grade 6 (2018) p. 101)
And a comparison with the Mongols: "Q[uestion] 1: Write in detail the similarity aspect between the Mongols' policy in the Muslim east and the Zionists' policy in Palestine. - Racist and expansionist policy, seizure of lands and pillage of their yields, destruction of mosques and houses and uprooting of trees." (Teacher's Guide, Social Studies, Grade 7 (2018) p. 151) That is being done out of racism: "…The inhabitants of Palestine and the rest of the [world's] communities and races are suffering presently from the abuses of the Zionist occupation and [their] racial discrimination, as they claim to be God's chosen people…" (Teacher's Guide, Social Studies, Grade 9 (2018) p. 223)
A more concrete accusation is directed at the Israeli soldiers in a language exercise: "4. The soldiers attack the children out of fear of their dreams." (Arabic Language, Grade 9, Part 2 (2020) p. 60)
Following are excerpts from a piece titled "A Letter by a Palestinian Girl to the Children the World" that demonizes Israel by self-victimization: "Since I was born, they have murdered my childhood. They tore my doll into pieces and I have hidden it in my heart. Since I was born, the bullets’ whistle has pierced my ears, and blackness has covered everything around me… …Why did they slaughter my childhood in front of me and murder the roses in the fields? Why did they kill the butterflies in our gardens and scare the birds away? Why did they hide the sun, spread darkness and block the roads?" (Arabic Language, Grade 8, Part 1 (2020) pp. 47, 48, respectively)
Demonization of Israel is also found in schoolbooks that are usually not expected to deal with issues related to the conflict, unlike language, history, geography and social studies textbooks. Following are two examples taken from mathematics textbooks: "1. The number of martyrs during the first Intifadah (the stone Intifadah) is about 1,392. The number of the Al-Aqsa Intifadah reached 4,673. The number of martyrs in both Intifadahs is _____________." (Mathematics, Grade 4, Part 1 (2020) p. 27)
The second example shows a broken palm tree and poses a question in geometrics in this context: "Activity 1: Growing date palms is widespread in Palestine, like in the region of Jericho and the Jordan Valley, the Gaza Strip and Beisan [Beit She'an]. As a result of Israeli abuses in sweeping trees, some of them are being broken. If one of the palm trees is broken, like in this picture, and the length of the tree part that inclines towards the ground is 13 meters, while the total length of the tree before it fell down had been 20 meters – is it possible to know the measure of the angle created by the fallen part with the ground?" (Mathematics, Grade 9, Part 2 (2019) p. 8)
Among the various accusations against "Zionist occupation" is the following imaginary one: "…setting loose hordes of boars that caused damage to the inhabitants and their yields…" (Social Studies, Grade 9, Part 1 (2020) p. 15)
The religious aspect is present too: "Q[uestion] 1 – What are the reasons for digging tunnels under Al-Aqsa Mosque by the Zionist occupation? We all know the Zionists' extent of cunning and malice towards Al-Aqsa Mosque and their effort to eliminate and destroy it by various means. At times they embark upon burning it, and at other times they try to convince the whole world that the area named the Dome of the Rock Mosque – which is part of Al-Aqsa Mosque – is actually Al-Aqsa Mosque, so that our attention would focus on its defense, rather than on the Mosque's other parts. Nowadays they continue their digging under Al-Aqsa Mosque, claiming that they look for their alleged temple." (Teacher's Guide, Geography and Modern and Contemporary History of Palestine. Grade 10 (2018) p. 103)
In this context, Jews are demonized as infidels and as the devil's aides. Following is a verse taken from a poem taught in class: "Where are the horsemen [who will ride] to Al-Aqsa [Mosque] to liberate it From the fist of infidelity, from the Devil's aides?" (Arabic Language, Grade 7, Part 1 (2020) p. 67)
Yet, Jews are demonized as well outside the context of the conflict. They are denounced as enemies of Prophet Muhammad and Islam in its early years. Negative traits, such as treachery and hostility are attributed to them, which makes them eternal enemies of Muslims today: "But the Jews [in the city of Medina] did not respect the treaty [they had signed with Muhammad] and resorted to all kinds of betrayal, treachery and hostility, which forced the Muslims to fight them." (Islamic Education, Grade 7, Part 1 (2020) p. 52)
Furthermore, the Jews are presented as enemies of God's prophets and, implicitly, as enemies of God Himself, with the enormously grave implications on their image in the eyes of school students who mostly come from a traditional environment. Following is the first lesson, out of several ones, to be learned from the chapter about Jesus Christ (who is considered one of God's prophets in Islam): "1. Exposing the Children of Israel's nature and their hostility to the prophets." (Islamic Education, Grade 9, Part 2 (2020) p. 21) An important part of the demonization campaign in the PA schoolbooks in UNRWA use is the stress on massacres said to have been perpetrated by Jews in 1948. Following is an assignment the teacher should give the students: "Activity 2 – Drawing a picture that would describe the massacre [in a story about the village of Dawaimah in 1948]: The students will be divided into non-homogenous groups [in terms of personal level of achievements?]. Every group will be required to imagine the events of the massacre, draw them and paint them with the appropriate colors. The pictures will be hanged in a visible place in class and some of the pictures will be selected for discussion." (Teacher's Guide, Arabic Language, Grade 7 (2018) p. 153)
The apex of the demonization process is the connection made between massacres and Jewish religious thinking. A teacher's guide presents an example of a student evaluation sheet covering three items, of which the last one (marked in red) deals with the reasons for massacres perpetrated by Jews against Arabs in 1948. The highest grade (3 points) is given to the student who connected the massacres to the Jewish religious thought. A lesser grade (2 points) was given to the student who connected the massacres to the Zionist thought. The “unsatisfactory” grade (1 point) was given to the student who defined the reasons for the massacres correctly, but did not connect them to the Jewish or Zionist thought: "Chart 2: Matrix of Accomplishment Levels [please read from the right item leftwards] 17 114-24 Accomplishment Levels/Tested Subjects Unsatisfactory (1) Satisfactory (2) Good (3) --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Clarification of the Zionist gangs' goal of perpetrating massacres [The student] connected accurately the perpetration of Zionist massacres to Jewish religious thought [The student] connected correctly the Zionist gangs' thought to their perpetration of massacres [The student] defined correctly the Zionist gangs' goal of perpetrating massacres (Teacher's Guide, Geography and Modern and Contemporary History of Palestine, Grade 10 (2018) p. 164)
PEACE?
The only adoption of the notion of peace with Israel appears in a letter by Yasser Arafat to Yitzhak Rabin prior to the signing of the Oslo Accord in 1993, provided in one of the schoolbooks, with no recurrence of this issue elsewhere in the curriculum: "…The Palestine Liberation Organization recognizes the State of Israel’s right to live in peace and security. The Organization accepts the UN Security Council’s resolutions Nos. 242 and 338. The Organization commits itself to the peace process in the Middle East and to the peaceful resolution of the conflict between the two parties and declares that all the political issues related to the permanent situation will be solved through negotiations. Accordingly, the Organization denounces the use of terror and other violent actions…" (Geography and Modern and Contemporary History of Palestine, Grade 10, Part 2 (2020) p. 77)
Instead of peace, the PA schoolbooks in UNRWA use advocate a violent struggle for liberation. The following is the PA national anthem as taught in school, which includes violent expressions (emphasized): Activity 1: We will listen and repeat: Fidai*, fidai, fidai, O my land, O land of the forefathers Fidai, fidai, fidai, O my people, O people of eternity With my determination, my fire and the volcano of my revenge And my blood's yearning to my land and my home I have climbed mountains and embarked on a struggle I defeated the impossible and shattered the shackles Fidai, fidai, fidai, O my land, O land of the forefathers Fidai, fidai, fidai, O my people, O people of eternity In the winds' storm and the weapon's fire And my people's determination to carry on the struggle Palestine is my home and the road to my victory Palestine is my revenge and the land of steadfastness Fidai, fidai, fidai, O my land, O land of the forefathers Fidai, fidai, fidai, O my people, O people of eternity By the oath under the flag's shadow By my people's determination, and by the pain's fire I shall live as a fidai and I shall continue as a fidai And I shall die as a fidai until I return Fidai, fidai, fidai, O my land, O land of the forefathers Fidai, fidai, fidai, O my people, O people of eternity" (National and Social Upbringing, Grade 3, Part 1 (2020) pp. 16-17)
*Fidai – a self-sacrificing person; this term is used nowadays to denote the members of the Palestinian terrorist organizations. The struggle for liberation as presented to first-graders: (Our Beautiful Language, Grade 1, Part 2 (2020) p. 83) This struggle is given a religious color by use of the traditional Islamic terms "Jihad" and "Martyrdom" (Shahadah). Following is a text stressing the importance of Jihad in the life of a Muslim person: "God urges the believers to Jihad and its financing and warns them against their being occupied with worldly life, instead of Jihad and its financing, because worldly life deceives the ones who are occupied with that and the believer should obey the orders of God and His Messenger [Muhammad] regarding that and refrain from disobeying Him, so that he would achieve the reward and credit on the Day of Resurrection. (Islamic Education, Grade 9, Part 1 (2020) p. 27)
And, more concretely, in an assignment: "Activity 2: How, in your opinion, will we be able to work together for the liberation of our homeland Palestine from the occupying Zionists?" (Islamic Education, Grade 5, Part 1 (2020) p. 106) The answer is found in teachers' guides for higher grades: 21 114-24 "Jihad in God's cause for the liberation of the homelands from the occupation's contamination." (Teacher's Guide, Arabic Language, Grade 8 (2018) p. 235)
"Praising the Jihad for the liberation of Palestine." (Teacher's Guide, Arabic Language, Grade 10 (2018) P. 248 – the marked sentence) The martyr gains, according to Islamic belief, tremendous rewards in the afterworld, including his marriage with 72 virgins. In the following example, taken from a teacher's guide in the subject of arts, this specific issue appears (marked in red) as an optional topic for drawing by the students: "Optional suggestions": … 3. Drawing a scene of a martyr's wedding.…"(Teacher's Guide, Arts Education, Grade 6 (2017) p. 54)
The liberation of Palestine does not end in the 1967 lines. Haifa and Jaffa are also included: “Let us sing: Children of Palestine I am a lion cub*; I am a flower** We have given the soul to the Revolution*** Our forefathers built houses For us in our free country We have carried the ember of the Revolution To Haifa, to Jaffa to Al-Aqsa [Mosque], to the [Dome of the] Rock” (Our Beautiful Language, Grade 2, Part 1 (2020) p. 44)
*Lion cub – Male member of the Fatah youth movement **Flower – Female member of that movement ***Revolution – Fatah terrorist activity that began on 1.1.1965, that is, prior to the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the war of 1967. Jaffa is regarded as an occupied Palestinian city that should be liberated, as said in a language exercise: "It is appropriate for Jaffa to return to our bosom." (Arabic Language, grade 8, Part 2 (2019) p. 102)
And Acre also: "4. We will explain the ways that would guarantee the liberation of Acre from the occupation." (Teacher's Guide, Arabic Language, Grade 10 (2018) p. 168)
In Free Palestine there is no room for Israel, as is made clear in an artifact sold to tourists in Bethlehem and other PA cities: "FREE PALESTINE" (Sciences and Life, Grade 3, Part 1 (2020) p. 65) The so-called "right of return" is also part and parcel of the perceived violent liberation, rather than part of an agreement by which the returning refugees will undertake to live in peace with their neighbors, as stated in the UN resolution No. 194 (1948). One of the texts appearing in the schoolbooks says: "We shall return; we shall return with the soaring eagles; we shall return with the fiercely blowing wind; we shall return to the vineyard and the olive trees; we shall return in order to hoist the flag of Palestine next to the anemone flower on our green hills." (Arabic Language, Grade 5, Part 1 (2020) p. 84)
A similar message appears in a poem titled "A Refugee's Cry": "I am the owner of the great right and the one who makes the morrow out of it I shall retrieve it; I shall retrieve it as a precious and sovereign homeland I shall shake the world tomorrow and shall march as one army I have an appointment in my homeland and it is impossible that I forget the appointment" (Arabic Language, Grade 5, Part 1 (2020) p. 86, and see among the accompanying questions: "The poet has determined the form of the return. Let us clarify it, as it appears in the poem.")
Terror is part and parcel of the liberation struggle. Following is the first page of a 4-page lesson that exalts the female commander of the terrorist attack on a civilian bus on Israel’s Coastal Highway in 1978 in which more than thirty Israelis – men, women and children were murdered: "Dalal Al-Mughrabi in front of the text: Our Palestinian history is replete with many names of martyrs who have given their soul in sacrifice for the homeland. Among them is the martyr Dalal Al-Mughrabi who has illustrated with her struggle a picture of challenging and bravery that have made her memory eternal in our hearts and minds. The text in front of us speaks of one aspect of her struggle path." (Arabic Language, Grade 5, Part 2 (2020) p. 51) Dalal Al-Mughrabi appears as a role model in other schoolbooks and teachers' guides as well. In one of the teachers' guides, for example, the student is required "to write a report about the Palestinian female-fighter Dalal Al-Mughrabi." (Teacher's Guide, Social Studies, Grade 9 (2018) p.48)
The ultimate goal of the liberation struggle is hinted in one of the teachers' guides: "Zionists are the terrorists of the modern era. Their fate is to become extinct." (Teacher's Guide, Arabic Language. Grade 6 (2018) p. 207) A more explicit reference to the question – what should be done with the Jews in the country after the perceived victory – is provided in another book: "We will sing and learn by heart: The Land of the Noble Ones I swear! I shall sacrifice my blood In order to water the land of the noble ones And remove the usurper [Israel] from my country And exterminate the defeated remnants of the foreigners O, land of Al-Aqsa and the holy site [haram], O, cradle of pride and nobility Patience, patience, for victory is ours And dawn is peeping out of darkness" (Our Beautiful Language, Grade 3, Part 2 (2019) p. 66) This poem has been given a melody and is sung in and outside class. Following is a link to one example – a YouTube clip by "the Group of Palestine teachers": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yan7tf3E6UU In case it does not open, here is another one: https://vimeo.com/390503872
The writing on the picture says: "The song of 'The Land of the Noble Ones', Grade 3 Elementary, Music by Rabi' Abu Bakr" Note: This poem has been replaced in the 2020 edition of this textbook by another one with no expressions of extermination, probably as a result of our criticism. But it is not clear whether the students stopped singing it.
CONCLUSION
The Palestinian Authority textbooks used by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for the Palestine refugees (UNRWA) in its schools de-legitimize the existence of the State of Israel, a full member-state of the United Nations Organization, and the very presence in the country of its 7 million Jewish citizens, whose history and holy places there are denied. The PA schoolbooks used by UNRWA demonize both Israel and the Jews, to the point of sheer anti-Semitism. These very books never advocate a peaceful solution to the present Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Instead, they call for a violent struggle for liberation which is given a religious character, is not limited by the 1967 lines and in which terror plays a central part.
Being a UN agency, UNRWA is committed to neutrality and peace, but its use of such schoolbooks sharply contradicts that commitment and makes UNRWA a full accomplice in the PA bellicose and anti-Semitic indoctrination, to the point of murderousness. Moreover, UNRWA betrays its sacred obligation towards the wellbeing of the Palestinian children and youths under its care, by preparing them for war against their Israeli counterparts. This kind of “education” should stop immediately and the donor states should have a say in this matter, the sooner the better.