In his recent article, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/23/AR2010082304204.html, David Makovsky writes:

“The PA has begun reshaping the curriculum of Palestinian institutions that accredit imans, and screening is also being conducted to weed out school teachers who support Hamas radicalism.”

Dr. Arnon Groiss, Director of Research for IMPACT-SE – which monitors and translates all Arab educational materials – says that he wishes it were so that the curriculum for imams were being revised. Instead, The PA Ministry of Religious Affairs oversees ten schools that train imams. These schools use 25 texts in different religious subjects that are either published by or for the PA, in Jordan. Bearing the PA logo, they were all originally Jordanian.

As to “weeding out” Hamas-oriented teachers, you miss the point, as if the “radicals” of Hamas will be gone and “moderate” Fatah teachers will remain. Yet it is the PA which has produced these very textbooks used in their schools which themselves promote jihad and praise “martyrs.” They completely deny the legitimacy of Israel and reject Jewish roots in the land. There is absolutely no movement in the PA towards revising these books. The PA Minister of Education has repeated her firm commitment not to change the PA school books. Removing Hamas teachers will do very little to change the distorted anti-Israel message received by the students.

Any real movement towards peace requires a re-vamping of these texts wich can be viewed at:..

http://www.impact-se.org/research/pa/index.html

.Arlene Kushner is:

Senior Policy Analyst

Center for Near East Policy Research Ltd

Beit Agron International Press Centre

37 Hillel Street

Jerusalem 94581 Israel

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