Ministry for Diaspora Affairs | October 2024

Chapter 1: Antisemitism and Indoctrination Promoting the Destruction of Israel in Textbooks and Teacher Manuals

1 The Palestinian Authority’s textbooks are used in Judea and Samaria (including East Jerusalem in schools that follow the Palestinian curriculum), in Gaza, and in UNRWA schools. 2 During the 25 years of military administration, Jordanian and Egyptian textbooks were used after being edited so that antisemitic content and sections calling for the destruction of Israel were removed. 3 When the Palestinian Authority (PA) took over the educational System in 1994, it reintroduced the unedited Egyptian and Jordanian textbooks. Starting in 2000, it began printing its books, and in 2016, it started releasing new books with changes and omissions. The latest textbooks were released in 2020, and the latest teacher guides in 2018. 4 Over the years, textbooks have been monitored, but inciting and antisemitic content has rarely been removed or altered. 4 5 In April 2024, the European Union stressed the link between the content of the PA and UNRWA textbooks and the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. 5 Before the massacre, in July 2023, the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning the Palestinian Authority for its continued glorification of terrorism and hatred in its textbooks, marking the fourth consecutive year of such condemnation. 6 The decision this year is unique because of its critical wording. For the first time, the decision explicitly links the incitement in the textbooks with the increase in Palestinian terror attacks by school students and youth. It also recognizes the presence of antisemitism and explicitly demands its removal

from the textbooks. Additionally, the decision reiterated the threat of withholding funding from the PA, which the parliament passed in December 2022, if the textbooks are not changed. 6 In recent years, there has been a shift towards more radicalized language in the text books including the use of the term “Zionist occupation” as a substitute for the State of Israel.

7 The two main attitudes towards Israel and Jews are increasingly evident in the textbooks and teacher guides: a. Delegitimization of the very existence of the State of Israel and the presence of its Jewish residents in any part of the land; denial of Jewish history in the land and of their holy sites. Demonization of Israel and Jews. Image from the Facebook page of the “Amin al-Husseini” Elementary and Middle School for Boys in Ramallah, drawing of a terrorist on a drone with the inscription “Al-Aqsa Flood”

4 A special thanks to the Nahum Bedein Center for Middle East Policy Research and the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center for their contribution to this chapter. 5 TA (europa.eu), pp. 61-62 6 EU Parliament calls for funding freeze to Palestinians for second time in two months; condemns PA for incitement in textbooks (mailchi.mp). For the full text of the resolution, see TA MEF (europa.eu). Also, see the 2021 study of EU financial assistance to Palestine* (europa.eu).

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