Palestinian textbook bill gains bipartisan support in Congress

"A bipartisan bill requiring the US secretary of state to submit annual reports on inciteful and antisemitic Palestinian educational material has been introduced to Congress and unanimously passed in the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The bill was announced as the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA continue to print textbooks for Palestinian schools that include antisemitism and incitement against Israel and Jews, an issue that the EU passed a resolution condemning last week.

The goal of the bill is for the State Department to inform Congress if any US foreign aid is utilized in the creation of textbooks used by Palestinian schools that include inciteful and antisemitic content.

‘For decades, the United States and the American people have been the top donor to the Palestinian people, including to the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA – but this is not a blank check,’ said Congressman Brad Sherman who reintroduced the bill. ‘American dollars must be spent in a way that reflects American values of tolerance and peacebuilding.

Unfortunately, instead of envisioning a Palestinian state alongside Israel, the current Palestinian curriculum erases Israel from maps, refers to Israel only as ‘the enemy,’ and asks children to sacrifice their lives to ‘liberate’ all of the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

‘Ending incitement and violence in the curriculum taught to Palestinian schoolchildren isn’t only a matter of Israel’s security – it’s an obligation that the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA owe their beneficiaries, children who deserve quality education that nurtures their future instead of manipulating them to cut that future short by engaging in senseless violence.’

‘Kids aren’t born discriminating against their peers,’ said Congressman Brian Mast. ‘Hate and intolerance are learned behaviors, and there’s absolutely no reason that US taxpayers should be funding that type of instruction. This bill can help break a generational cycle of hatred, and move toward a peaceful and secure Israel.’..."