[ Last October, Israel Resource News Agency staff met with staffers of the Intelligence and Information Center, www.intelligence.org.il, in Herzelia, Israel, after their center staff been quoted as saying that there had been an “improvement” in the Palestinian Authority school books.
IRNA challenged that statement, based on translations of new Palestinian Authority school books that had been conducted by the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace, www.edume.org
The Intelligence and Information Center then conducted its own “examination of Palestinian fifth and tenth-grade textbooks for the 2004-2005 school year” and concluded that the “Palestinian fifth and tenth-grade textbooks for the 2004-2005 school year shows a continuing denial of the State of Israel’s right to exist and a continuing cultivation of the values of armed struggle against Israel. The books contain incitement against the State of Israel and the Zionist movement, one of them even employing anti-Semitism”.]

Questions put by Israel Resource News Agency to the office of the Prime Minister of Israel as to whether Israel would demand the removal of these books from the head of the Palestinian Authority have only been answered in generalities, that “there should be a reduction in incitement”.

Questions placed by Israel Resource News Agency to the Municipality of Jerusalem as to whether these books should be removed from Arab schools in the public school system in Jerusalem have gone unanswered. -DB]

Here are ten trends that the Intelligence and Information Center discerned in the new Palestinian Authority school system:

1. Israel does not appear on any new maps of the world, while new maps of Israel replace the name Israel with Palestine.

(p. 4) Tarikh al-Hadarat al-Qadima (History of Ancient Civilizations), 5th grade textbook, p. 53. Al-Iqstisad al-Manzili (Home Economy), 10th grade textbook, p. 42, Tarikh al-‘Alam al-Hadith Wal-Mu’asir (History of the New Modern World) 10th grade textbook, p. 86.

2. “Annexing” sites in Israel to Palestine:

“Haifa is a Palestinian seaport”, (p. 7) (Lughatuna al-Jamila (Our Beautiful Language) Vol. 2, 5th grade textbook, p. 86). “Galilee, Nazareth and Beit She’an are regions in Palestine” (p. 7) (Al-Iqtisad al-Manzili (Home Economy), 10th grade textbook, pp. 36-37).

3. Israel only mentioned in a pejorative terms or in reference to “occupation”.

Excerpt: “there is no doubt that the Israeli occupation has a negative impact on [Palestinian] agriculture and its export” (p. 8) (Lughatuna al-Jamila (Our Beautiful Language) Vol. 1, 10th grade textbook, p. 102).

4. Zionism is presented only in perjorative terms.

a. “the Palestinian people are under an oppressive siege, limiting their movement and way of life” ( p. 9) (Al-Tarbiyah al-Islamiyyah (Islamic Education), Vol. 1, 5th grade textbook, p. 49).

b. Accusation against settlements of damaging water sources “the influence of settlement on sources of water in Palestine” (p. 9) (Ulum al-Sihha wal-B’ia (Health and Environmental Sciences), 10th grade textbook, p. 122)

c. “the Palestinian family has problems… stemming from the occupation… it loses father, mother or son to death or imprisonment… endures the difficulties of life… (p. 11) (Al-Tarbiyah al-Wataniyya (National Education), 5th grade textbook, p. 23)

5. False claim that an extremist Zionist set fire to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969 (p. 12) (Tarikh al’Alam al-Hadith wal-Mu’asir (History of the new Modern World), 10th grade textbook, p. 106) when it was really a mentally unstable fundamentalist Christian Australian

6. 1st Zionist Congress at Basel passed secret decisions which became known as the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”. (p. 13) (Tarikh al-‘Alam al-Hadith wal Mu-‘asir (History of the News Modern World), 10th grade textbook, pp. 60-64).

7. Ancient inhabitants of Israel were Arabs, ignoring the ancient Jewish presence. “Concentrated… in the land of Al-Sham {Greater Syria}… was the culture of the Canaanite and Aramaic peoples who migrated there from the Arab peninsula” (p.14-15) (Tarikh al-Hadarat al-Qadima (History of Ancient Civilizations), 5th grade textbook, Foreward).

8. War and violence for Palestinians are glorfied to accomplish their goals, even martyrdom. (p.18) the heroic mother, “who incessantly presents one sacrifice [fida’] after another” (Lughatuna al-Jamila (Our Beautiful Language), Vol 2, 5th grade textbook, p. 31).

“The warrior goes to war faced with one of the good options: victory or martyrdom in battle for the sake of Allah”. (Ibid. Vol. 1, 5th grade textbook, p. 70).

(p.19) “Allah designated the people of this land (Al-Sham and Palestine) to an important task: they must stand on the forefront of the Muslim campaign against their enemies, and only if they fulfill their duy to their religion, nation, and land will they be rewarded as stated in the scriptures.” (Al-Tarbiya al-Islamiyyah (Islamic Education), Vol 2, 10th grade textbook, p. 50).

9. Glorifying children in school books with names such as Jihad (holy war) and Nidal (struggle). (p.22) (Tarikh al-Hadarat al-Qadima (History of Ancient Civilizations), 5th grade textbook, p.6).

10. Requirement of “return” of refugees to Palestine (p. 22) “the wrong must be made right by returning them to their homes: we returned to the homeland after a long absence”. (Lughatuna al-Jamila (Our Beautiful Language), Vol 2, 5th grade textbook, p. 43). “Returning to the homes, the plains and the mountains of 1948, under the banners of glory, jihad [holy war] and struggle” (Lughatuna al-Jamila (Our Beautiful Language), Vol 1, 5th grade textbook, p.88).

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