A recent report by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) has revealed alarming examples of anti-Israel incitement and glorification of violent jihad in textbooks used in schools run by the UN Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, in Gaza.

Examples include a map of the Middle East that erases Israel’s existence, replacing it with “Palestine”; a history book that extols the courage of Palestinian fedayeen who wore explosive belts and praises the image of a burnt Israeli soldier; and an Islamic studies book that describes the goals of jihad as “terrorizing the enemy” and “achieving martyrdom”.

IMPACT-se has been monitoring school curricula in the Middle East for years and has sounded the alarm over the systematic erasure of Israel’s existence and the glorification of violent jihad and martyrdom in Palestinian textbooks. The organization’s CEO, Marcus Sheff, stated that UNRWA’s cooperation with Hamas is “undeniable” and that the agency’s curriculum teaches children about jihad and martyrdom being the most important meanings of life, and that Jews are liars and frauds.

Israel has evidence that UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7 massacres and have active ties to terror groups. Sheff noted that it is statistically probable that the majority of those who committed acts of murder and abduction on October 7 went to UNRWA’s schools, where they were radicalized by the curriculum.

The report also revealed that PA teaching materials do not promote education towards a peaceful solution to the conflict and deny the existence of the Jewish state. UNRWA has adopted the PA’s curriculum without changes, despite not meeting UN standards on neutrality.

Individual UNRWA schools in Gaza have produced supplementary materials that are just as problematic, including self-evaluation exercises that promote weapons and violence and violate UNRWA’s principle of religious neutrality in education.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)