Latest Developments
EU Funding Used to Produce Antisemitic Textbooks: A new curriculum developed by the Palestinian Authority (PA) for students in Gaza continues to expose children to antisemitic incitement, according to a new report from the international education watchdog group IMPACT-se. The PA committed to the removal of such content in July 2024 as a condition for receiving 380 million euros in funding from the European Union. Instead, the PA used the funding to develop a curriculum “promoting violence, glorifying terrorism, promoting jihad and martyrdom, spreading antisemitic rhetoric, vilifying Israel, and denying its existence.”
Jews Depicted as ‘Liars and Manipulators’: Students are informed that Jews do not constitute a legitimate nation and that Israel is a colonial entity. An Islamic religious textbook depicts “the Jews” as “liars and manipulators” through a story recounting the Prophet Muhammed’s encounter with Jews in the Arabian city of Medina, while an Arabic-language textbook accuses Israel of “Judaizing” the city of Jerusalem. Other sections lionize terrorists, depicting “jihad,” or “holy war,” as one of the “gates to paradise.”
Glorifying October 7 Atrocities: At some schools that have resumed in-person instruction, students are encouraged to celebrate acts of violence. One video from January shows young female students performing a nationalistic dance, chanting, “We ignited the Intifada, with a stone and a knife” while making rock-throwing and throat-slitting gestures. In a Gaza City elementary school, students recited a poem that glorified Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel.
FDD Expert Response
“The textbooks issued by the Palestinian Authority fuse the theological antisemitism found in Islamic holy texts with its modern, ‘anti-Zionist’ variant. The fundamental message is that, whether inside or outside Israel, Jews are deceitful, dangerous, and untrustworthy. No democratic country worthy of the name should be funding textbooks like these.” —Ben Cohen, Senior Analyst and Rapid Response Director
“Replacing Hamas with the Palestinian Authority in Gaza would just be exchanging one antisemitic poison for another. After decades of indoctrination to hate Jews and Israelis and to kill them or die trying, Palestinian society needs a thorough deradicalization program, much like what Germany underwent after World War II. The Palestinian Authority is already instituting renazification, not the denazification that is needed.” —David May, Research Manager and Senior Research Analyst
FDD Background and Analysis
“Teen Terrorist Injures Israeli in Jerusalem,” FDD Flash Brief
“Teenaged perpetrators of terror,” by Enia Krivine and Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus
“Hamas defends its military summer camps for children and teenagers,” by Joe Truzman
“Palestinian Terrorist Attack Near Jerusalem Kills One,” FDD Flash Brief
Issues:
Israel Palestinian Politics