Secret document reveals: EU will help Arabs take over Area C

A document drafted by the European Commission in Eastern Jerusalem calls for helping the Palestinian Authority actively take control of land in Area C, which is supposed to be under full Israeli control under the Oslo Accords.

A report by Channel 13 News revealed the document from which it appears that the EU will work to map land to prove Palestinian Arab rights there – without leaving traces of its activities. The document appears to point to the EU’s use of left-wing organizations in Israel for this purpose.

The EU also calls for “following and monitoring Israeli archaeological activity in the area” – on the grounds that it is being used as a pretext for settlement building in Judea and Samaria.

The document also states that there is a need for a common European vision and a more coordinated approach between the parties in Europe in order to maximize the ability to expand involvement in Area C.

It was reported that Israeli officials received access the document and are currently studying it.

The European Union responded: “As a general rule, we do not refer to documents. The policy of the Union is created by its 27 member states. Our policy has not changed – we are committed to a two-state solution, with Jerusalem as the future capital of both states. We call on Israel to allow a tangible improvement in the lives of the Palestinians, enable Palestinian construction, and put an end to deteriorating living conditions for Palestinians in the field.”

Chairman of the Religious Zionist Party, MK Bezalel Smotrich, responded, saying that, “the fight against the Arab takeover of open areas in Judea and Samaria is one of the most pressing and important challenges that the next government must address and one of the main reasons for my demand to receive authority for this in the Ministry of Defense.”

“The blatant involvement of the European Union in the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to establish facts on the ground and unilaterally establish a de facto Arab terrorist state in the heart of the Land of Israel is unacceptable, contrary to international law and law, and incompatible with basic rules of diplomacy in relations between states,” he pointed out.

“With God’s help, we will lead a combined effort in the next government – diplomatic, economic, enforcement and settlement – against the hostile activity of the Palestinian Authority and the international actors and we will stop it with determination,” he added.

Gush Etzion Council Head and Chairman of the Yesha Council Shlomo Ne’eman said: “The Arab takeover of Area C is the biggest strategic threat in our region. Its goal is nothing less than changing the borders of the country. Every week the State of Israel loses large areas, every day dozens of illegal homes are erected, roads are broken up and paved at significant points as part of an organized strategic plan.”

According to him, “The document revealed tonight is important proof of what we have been strongly asserting for years: the European Union is working maliciously together with the Palestinian Authority against the State of Israel. The matter is nothing less than preposterous – our allies, European governments, are actively working to revise the borders of our country. In years past, this would be grounds for wars between nations.”

“Tonight we are addressing the incoming government – the fight against the illegal takeover of Area C must be its first task. Leave everything else and preserve the nation’s lands, because there is nothing more important. The Zionist movement began its journey with the liberation of land. The loss of land to the enemy is a serious violation of national values and the bankruptcy of the Zionist dream,” he concluded.

MK Orit Strock of the Religious Zionism Party party called to put an end to the, “massive investment by the European Union in a subversive plan to establish a Palestinian state contrary to existing agreements and the law, and even worse, in cooperation with Israel’s Civil Administration.”

“This dangerous farce must stop, and it will stop: this is exactly what the elections were about, and we do not intend to give up the right and duty to protect all parts of our country against a hostile takeover,” she said.

Regavim also issued a statement following the expose.

“Once again, the façade has been stripped away from the ‘civil society,’ ‘humanitarian aid’ and ‘human rights’ organizations dedicated to undermining Israeli sovereignty.”

“The European Union’s massive involvement in the Palestinian Authority’s strategic annexation of Area C was exposed, once again, on Israeli television this evening – precisely as Regavim has been exposing it since our 2014 report, ‘The Last Colony,’ and in subsequent studies of the War of Attrition taking place on the ground in Judea and Samaria.

“The State of Israel must take decisive action against this brazen meddling, and prevent the establishment of a terrorist state in the heart of the Jewish homeland,” it said in the statement.

We need to work on revealing the truth, make sure younger Arabs are aware of it

Everything has already been said about the World Cup in Qatar and the enormous corruption that surrounded it. All the reasons in the world indicate that holding the World Cup in a terrorist-hideout country was a mistake and it did not deserve to host the football celebration, to begin with.

Still, the event has taken place, the fans increasingly filled the stands as the decisive moments were reached and the cameras aimed to capture moments of sporting camaraderie. However, Israeli media representatives reported from the field about harassment and unpleasant statements against Israel without the perpetrators having a real discussion on the subject. In the various videos, young Arabs are seen waving PLO flags and shouting “Fee Palestine,” and then disappearing. They do not conduct a dialogue on the matter and are not willing to hear counterarguments. They are not to blame for this reality after years of indoctrination.

Lumen accipe et imperti

This Latin motto of my old college, literally translated as “receive the light and pass it on”, is very relevant as we get ready to celebrate Chanukah, the Festival of Lights.

Michael Kuttner

As rabbis, communal leaders and politicians prepare their annual messages, ranging from the inspirational to the patently banal, I believe that it is time to actually look more closely at what is being preached.

Chanukah is certainly one of our Festivals that provide a myriad of different angles on which to hang a message. It appeals to religious and secular Jews alike, involved and non-involved, Jewish and, in recent times non-Jewish. Therein lays the confusing and often contradictory messages conveyed at this time of the year.

In an effort to understand the rhetoric which will be heading our way and sort out non-politically correct illusions which seem to multiply as the years go by I will try to separate the factual from the hallucinatory.

Chanukah means different things to different groups.

For some, it is a week-long excuse to indulge in showering children and grandchildren with gifts and presents.

Others will revel in the gastronomic delicacies associated with the Festival.

Lighting the Chanukiah is, of course, central to the Chag and this provides extensive opportunities for the introduction of many customs and traditions.

The story of Chanukah, with its Maccabean historical events and today’s relevance, is frequently ignored.

While observances and customs vary widely across the spectrum of Jewish life, certain trends have become obvious, which far too often are ignored because they raise inconvenient questions.

Jews are a diverse people, and therefore, their decisions on how to observe or ignore particular practices mirror this diversity. There is nothing wrong with this kaleidoscope of observances. However, when it starts to distort the original message and is hijacked in the name of whatever woke agenda is currently prevailing, then it is time to address the situation.

First, the commercialisation of Chanukah follows a familiar pattern. In the shtetls of Europe, children used to receive Chanukah gelt as a holiday present. This, later on, evolved in America into chocolate coins which had the advantage of attracting not only children but also adults. Then we had the greeting card industry latching on to the potential of selling imitation Christmas messages which, when one reads them today, makes one grimace. This has nowadays morphed into online electronic greetings, some of which are attuned to the Festival but most, unfortunately, descending into schmaltzy expressions of meaningless banality.

What all these latter-day commercial manifestations have in common is an effort to somehow compete with Xmas. In the far-flung Diaspora, the pressure to divert children’s attention away from the glitz and glamour of the Christian holiday has, in many cases, resulted in a total distortion of what Chanukah is really all about. Explaining, as many parents do, that eight days of receiving gifts is better than one day and thereby hoping that Jewish kids will somehow be insulated against the pervasive yuletide celebrations is a lost cause. Trying to compete against father Xmas, tinsel decorations, carols, Xmas parades and other such attractions promoted by commercial interests is also difficult. Dreidels certainly cannot compete with these attractions.

If children have a solid Jewish education and understanding of Judaism and their home reflects this, then there is no conflict. However, with assimilation and a lack of Jewish knowledge so prevalent today in the Diaspora combined with a growing non-affiliation to anything Jewish, the real message of Chanukah is being submerged by extraneous and conflicting diversions.

Like every Jewish Festival (except Yom Kippur), Chanukah provides an opportunity for culinary delights. However, when latkes and sufganiyot become the sole connection to anything Jewish, then the battle against assimilation is that much harder. When Judaism and Jewish history is reduced to gastronomical experiences alone, the whole ethos of why Chanukah is so important is lost.

Lighting the candles from one to eight over the days of the festival is a focal point. Diverse customs have developed over this. Whereas once upon a time, it was only the male head of the family who lit the Chanukiah, today, in an increasing number of families everyone participates. There is opposition in some quarters to women and girls fulfilling this mitzvah, but as they are obligated to light Shabbat and Festival candles, this current trend is not only logical but long overdue. Instead of a lone Menorah, households are now shining forth with a multitude of lights, involving every extended family member in the celebrations. In Israel, there is also an increasing trend to have the Chanukiot outside one’s house suitably enclosed in a glass case to protect it against the elements. Thank goodness we no longer need to hide our observances behind thick curtains and away from Jew-haters’ gaze.

Chabad has turned Chanukah into an annual mass event with huge replicas of the Menorah erected in parks and town squares in Diaspora communities and Israel. Accompanied by bands and other hoopla these are intended to attract affiliated and unaffiliated Jews and as a part of Chabad outreach efforts, it has added something dynamic which was previously missing. One negative side effect, unfortunately, is that in an effort to bring this Festival of Lights to the broader non-Jewish world, politicians and other invited personalities (Jewish and non-Jewish) are honoured to light the candles. As a public relations exercise, this is a great photo opportunity. Unfortunately, it also is a perfect time for those concerned to often spout meaningless slogans.

This brings me to the ultimate crux of where Chanukah observances are, in many cases trending.

What actually is this Festival all about?

After all, it is commemorating the Jewish struggle against pagan rites, the desecration of the Temple, the suppression of Jewish religious freedom and most importantly the restoration of Jewish sovereignty in our own land.

These critical components are increasingly being swept under the carpet in many countries and communities today in the name of the new woke religion of political correctness and resurgence in the very assimilationist phenomena which sparked the whole Maccabean rebellion in the first place.

In an increasing number of households, especially in the USA, Chanukah bushes now prevail with the Chanukiah taking its forlorn place together with an impressive Xmas tree. The emphasis is less on adherence to Jewish observance and learning the lessons of our historical experiences and more on blurring the distinctiveness of our traditions so that they blend in with prevailing and increasingly secular dogmas.

Take note of the rhetoric that will be issued forth as we approach Chanukah. There will be plenty of references to how light overcomes darkness, the few defeating the many and oil lasting for eight days.

How many of those pontificating in our direction will actually connect the dots between the Maccabean struggle for religious and political independence and sovereignty with today’s glaring hypocrisy revolving around Jewish sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, plus the delegitimisation of our connection to Jerusalem?

How many politicians and communal leaders will highlight today’s international campaign to divorce the Jewish connection with those self-same places which revolve around the commemoration of Chanukah?

How many will dare to protest the ban on Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, which after all, should be the core of Chanukah? The Maccabeans cleansed the Temple of its pagan desecration and re-established sovereignty there. Doesn’t that somehow shine a spotlight on today’s scandalous situation?

Without committed and involved Jews, the lessons and lights of Chanukah cannot be passed on to succeeding generations.

At this time when we have been blessed to participate in the restoration of the Jewish People to their ancient homeland, the lessons of Chanukah could not be clearer.

Palestinian Authority texts that appear in UNRWA education, translated and analyzed  by Dr. Arnon Groiss

Palestinian Authority texts that appear in UNRWA education, translated and analyzed  by Dr. Arnon Groiss, Research Director of the Nahum Bedein  Center for Near East Policy Research and posted at The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center

https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/?s=GROISS

Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

This past week a Palestinian carried out a shooting attack near Ofra (northeast of
Ramallah); no casualties were reported. The shooter, a released prisoner, was shot and killed by IDF forces. Palestinians continued throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at Israeli vehicles driving on the roads in Judea and Samaria. The Israeli security forces continued
counterterrorism activities in Judea and Samaria, detaining dozens of wanted terrorists and
confiscating weapons. Five Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli security forces. The Lion’s Den terrorist network held a display of armed force in Nablus, meant to show Israel that its ability to attack had not been damaged.

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Challenges to the new government of Israel ,to be sworn in during Chanukah, next week.

David Bedein, Bureau Chief  

December , 2022

Challenges to the new  government of Israel ,to  be sworn in during Chanukah,  a time which marks the  miracle of Jews who rose up against all odds.  

  1. The Palestinian Security Forces (PSF), trained by the IDF under the direction of the US and Canada to fight Arab terrorists, who now carry out daily attacks through the PSF elite unit known as the Al Aqsa Brigades. Yet the US, Canada and Israel continue full security coordination with the training of the PSF. (1) 
  2. With the knowledge of the governments of Israel, Canada and the US, the Palestinian Authority has enacted and enforced unprecedented legislation to provide a salary-for-life for anyone who murders a Jew. (2)  

While the media has widely reported that the PA simply pays killers, the media plays down the PA law which legislates automatic payments for anyone who murders a Jew. 

While the government of Israel now reduces allocations to the PA according to the amount that the PA pays convicted killers, that mechanism simply allows Saudi Arabia, Qatar and others to fill in the cash flow gap for convicted felons. As a journalist, I asked the outgoing Israeli Foreign Minister Lapid if Israel would demand that the PA repeal the law that provides a salary for life for anyone who murders a Jew, which functions as an incentive to kill.  The answer, in writing was “no comment”  .

 

  1. With full knowledge of the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority Education Ministry has created a new curriculum which indoctrinates children to make war on the Jews. (3)  I asked spokespeople for the outgoing  Israeli governments if they would demand that that the PA revise this curriculum. Asked the government of Israel if it will  ask that the PA remove the PA textbook from 2018 that displays Dalal Al Mugrabi, who murdered 35 Jews, including 12 children, as a role model for the next generation. (4)
  2. UNRWA allocates a $1.6 billion budget to service 6.7 million descendants of Arab refugees in 59 “temporary” refugee camps, while inculcating their “right of return” to villages which existed before 1948…by force of arms. I asked spokespeople for the US and Israeli governments if they favored a change in this UNRWA policy goal (5).  The response: Negative.
  3. Meanwhile, PA texts used by UNRWA now feature 120 new maps that replace any Jewish presence with Arabic names – on both sides of the 1967 line – constituting a new form of Judenrein. (6)  I asked spokespeople for the governments of Israel  if they would ask UNRWA to use standard maps in schools under the auspices of the UN to depict geographic details of each UN member state, including Israel. The answer was negative – 

How to get these issues into the public eye:  Action items

Full disclosure. I run an  agency that will not take no for an answer. 

These are the steps that we will take to place these  issues into the public eye

 

  1. Activate families whose loved ones have been murdered by Arab terrorists  to conduct vigils in front of foreign and Israel TV news bureaus to demand news coverage of the continuing enforcement of the PA Pay for Slay law, which provides an unreported incentive for murder.
  2. Shine the  public spotlight on the unprecedented PA law that provides salaries for life for anyone who murders a Jew.  
  3. Launch an international campaign to force the PA to repeal that law, or lose all aid.
  4. Dispatch a TV crew to film PA/UNRWA schools in session at this time.
  5. Produce a movie: How the US, Canada &  Israel train PSF, now launching attacks on Jews.

Further full disclosure: My favorite professor of community organization social work, Professor Eliezer Jaffe, coined a phrase which has become a life motto

A PROBLEM IS A PROBLEM WHEN SOMEONE MAKES IT INTO A PROBLEM.

This is an uphill fight  to achieve a victory of the few against the mighty, in the spirit of Chanukah.

Support this campaign, in any currency

https://israelbehindthenews.com/donations/

 

  FOOTNOTES

  1. https://israelbehindthenews.com/2011/05/05/dangers-us-aid-palestinian-security-forces-2/
  2. https://israelbehindthenews.com/2017/01/11/incentivizing-terrorism-palestinian-authority-allocations-terrorists-families/
  3. https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/?s=GROISS
  4. https://israelbehindthenews.com/2021/11/30/dalal-al-mughrabi-a-murderous-terrorist-as-a-role-model-in-palestinian-authority-schoolbooks-used-by-unrwa-2/
  5. https://israelbehindthenews.com/2019/04/02/six-policy-challenges-to-guide-unrwa-policy-ref
  6. https://israelbehindthenews.com/2022/09/24/revealing-maps-the-palestinian-vision-as-taught-in-unrwa-schools/

EU envoys boycott Western Wall tour

Ambassadors of four European Union (EU) countries on Friday boycotted a tour to the Western Wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque led by Israeli Envoy to the US Gilad Erdan, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

According to the Western Wall Heritage Fund, the activity was organised for a number of countries: “As part of an informational tour. The ambassadors of several countries toured the new route through the tunnels of the Western Wall.”

It claimed that the tour aimed to explain the alleged: “Connection of the Jewish people to their country and get to know the history and the present.”

Itamar Eichner, the diplomatic correspondent for Yedioth Ahronoth, reported that the EU had ordered the ambassadors of its member states not to take part in the tour led by Erdan: “The EU ordered at the last minute the ambassadors of three European countries to the United Nations – Italy, Slovenia and Romania – to boycott the tour of the Western Wall. The ambassador of Moldova also joined the boycott.”

Commenting on this, Erdan responded: “The visit of the ambassadors that I lead to Israel is part of my war at the UN to expose the lies of the Palestinians and their attempt to erase the thousand-year-old connection between us and Jerusalem.”

He added: “Unfortunately, four European countries made a cowardly decision motivated by political considerations. This shameful decision only strengthens the struggle to reveal our truth.”

Haaretz reported that the ambassadors of Romania, Italy, Slovenia and Moldova did not join the tour due to European concerns regarding the status of Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem’s Old City.

Behind the scene with David Bedein || December 7, 2022

Behind the scene with David Bedein – December 7, 2022

Time to be resolute

A wide view of the General Assembly Hall at the start of the Assembly’s seventy-first annual general debate.

Viktor Frankl, the renowned Austrian psychiatrist who was a Shoah survivor, wrote: “to suffer unnecessarily is masochistic rather than heroic.”

Surveying the putrid and poisonous swamp called the United Nations and its associated groups, plus assorted Israel bashers, Jewish and non-Jewish, it is not hard to conclude that every day is “a bash a Zionist” occasion.

Just when you might think that the hypocrites gathered in New York at the UN cannot sink any lower, they manage to surprise and fool us all as they pontificate and pass resolutions that are so far removed from reality that they fall into the realm of fake fiction. The UN is only one of a myriad of groups that find it necessary to obsess about Israel. The inevitable fallout these days is the collateral radioactive cloud of Jew hate that radiates forth from every quarter.

The time has come and, in fact, is long overdue when we must pose the question as to what we do about it.

Do we, as in the past, put our heads in the ground and pray that the winds of incitement will harmlessly blow over? We have tried that tactic, and it failed miserably.

Do we, as one progressive rabbi in California suggested recently, embrace the haters with love and thereby hope that they will reciprocate and leave us alone? Unfortunately, this turning the other cheek has also been a spectacular failure and merely spurs the bullies to greater acts of violence.

Do we try to ban the inciters? This will merely drive them underground, where dealing with them is much more difficult.

Do we endeavour to debate the haters by showering them with facts rather than the conspiracy lies they usually tout? The trouble with this is that the spreaders of fables never want to be confused by the truth.

As the nations gathered at the UN and elsewhere continue to propagate the lies fabricated by those lauded as peace partners, it seems to me that something stronger than an impassioned speech by the Israeli Ambassador and his collection of props is needed.

The USA representative’s protestations that Israel is being unfairly targeted fall like a lead balloon as soon as the State Department or White House issues insulting expressions of opposition to the very idea that Jews have the right to live and develop territory, which is theirs by international legal and historical rights.

The US Ambassador’s recent assertion that he “will work for the interests of the Palestinians” makes one wonder where his priorities lie. Is he the US Ambassador to Israel, or in reality, does he support the PA kleptocracy, which pays pensions and stipends to murderers of Israelis? He should be told in no uncertain language to relocate himself to either Ramallah or Gaza if pandering to Palestinian interests is his top priority.

Does the question remain as to how long we must put up with insults, threats, fallacious narratives and resolutions?

Nobody is going to take any serious notice of our discomfort and pain until and unless we actually stop being masochists. I recently read the comments of an American Jewish man who grew up pre-war in the toughest neighbourhoods. He recounts how bullies from other ethnic groups would pick on Jewish high school kids knowing that they were easy targets. This man however, knew how to fight back, and he tells of the day when these tormenters finally decided to leave him alone because “they didn’t know that Jews fought back so effectively.”

In other words, there needs to be consequences that will drive home the futility of Jew bashing.

Imagine if the beleaguered Jews in 1948 had thrown themselves at the mercy of the UN instead of fighting back and thwarting the genocidal agenda of the Arab countries trying to strangle the new country at its very birth. Fancy that, Jews actually fighting back. It came as a great shock to the Arab aggressors and an even bigger shock to an international community conditioned to believe that Jews could be targeted and murdered at will.

This brings me to the latest UN farce which must take the prize for the most brazen piece of hypocrisy of the millennium.

The UN General Assembly, by a vote of 90 in favour and 30 against, has decided to commemorate next year the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, which according to the Arab rejectionists, is the “catastrophe and crime” of Israel’s re-establishment. In the Alice in Wonderland fantasy world inhabited by the immoral majority, the fact that the UN voted in 1947 to create a Jewish and Arab State and that the Jews accepted this while the Arabs rejected it is totally irrelevant.

Each and every disaster which subsequently afflicted the Arab rejectionists was self-inflicted and a direct result of their desire to not only wipe the Jewish State off the face of the map but also to murder every Jew. The fact that they failed was no thanks to the UN. Now, 75 years later, the latter-day Arabs reborn as Palestinians have managed to successfully peddle the lie that their original rejectionist agenda is the fault of Israel. Having failed to thwart Jewish sovereignty, they have finally succeeded in convincing the UN that it is our entire fault and that seven decades later, they deserve to be given territory they never wanted in the first place.

Shamefully but not surprisingly, the UNGA has gone along with this castration of the truth. Australia at least voted against this travesty of a resolution while New Zealand abstained, no doubt hoping that this would keep both sides happy.

This resolution was, of course, only one in a further series of assaults on Israel, which occurs every time the UN meets. Worthy of mention is the resolution passed 150 to 9 calling for an international conference in Moscow “to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict.”  Apart from the fact that Moscow is hardly the perfect place to hold such a meeting, the purported reason is even more specious. This so-called conflict could have been resolved in 1947, but everyone except the brain-dead nations represented at the UN have yet to acknowledge that simple fact of history. Like lemmings hurtling towards their doom, the nations represented in New York prefer to pass endless resolutions, each one more detached from reality than the previous ones.

This particular unhinged call for a gathering in Moscow galvanised Australia to abstain instead of voting against. The Australian spokesperson tried to put a positive spin on this retreat from reality, but all it managed to achieve was a sense that Canberra may be edging gradually away from previous voting patterns.

Abbas, in another one of his memorable accusations, declared that “the colonial settlement (i.e. Israel) is spreading like cancer in our land”. This Sermon on the Mount uttered by the internationally anointed apostle of peace came after the Biden Administration appointed a well-known Palestinian Arab cheerleader as a special envoy to the terror-supporting PA in Ramallah. What better “hechsher” (certificate of perfection) do the terrorists need?

What should Israel do in the face of this non-stop assault?

The first step should be the cessation of payment of all UN budget dues. Why should Israel be paying an organisation that amounts to protection money so that it can continually target and condemn it?

The next step should be declaring all UN officials in Israel persona non grata. They can decamp to Ramallah or Gaza, where they will find conditions so much more conducive to Israel bashing.

Next, Israel must take control of all UN real estate, some of it on prime Jerusalem land and for which the UN refuses to pay rates to the Jerusalem City Council.

As a final resort, Israel needs to walk out of the UN and tell them to go and meddle in someone else’s affairs.

Of course, all the politically correct politicians and the entire media and left-wing breast beaters will react in horror at these suggestions.

However, as I mentioned earlier, it is only when Jews fight back that bullies take notice. After seventy-five years, surely it is time to act.

Michael Kuttner is a Jewish New Zealander who for many years was actively involved with various communal organisations connected to Judaism and Israel. He now lives in Israel and is J-Wire’s correspondent in the region.

Both UN & The PA: No Support For Any 2 State Solution

This week, The United Nations declared support for a two-state solution.

However, our news and research agency, which has reviewed more than 1,000 official textbooks of the PA, used by UNRWA, The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, finds that both UNRWA and the PA reject the two-state solution because UNRWA and PA education are based on three fundamentals:

1. De-legitimization of Israel’s existence and the Jews’ very presence in the country, which includes denial of their history and the existence of any Jewish holy places there.

2. Demonization of both Israel and Jews, also religiously – with implications regarding the Jews’ image in the eyes of children who hail from a traditional society.

3. The absence of a call for peace with Israel. Instead, there is a call for a violent struggle for the liberation of the whole country, including pre-1967 Israel. This struggle is given a religious color and terror is made an integral part thereof, encouraging the murder of Jews.

De-Legitimization

1. Israel’s Jewish citizens are considered foreign colonialists: “We will think and discuss: I will compare the tragedy of the Indians, America’s original inhabitants, to the tragedy of the Palestinian people.”

(Social Studies, Grade 8, Part 2 (2020) p. 34)

2. The country’s Jewish history is denied, including the existence of archaeological items proving that:  “…[The conqueror has built for himself an artificial entity that derives its identity and the legitimacy of its existence from tales, legends and phantasies and has tried in various ways and means to create live material evidence for these legends, or archaeological architectural proofs that would determine their truth and authenticity, but in vain.”]

(Arabic Language – Academic Path, Grade 10, Part 2 (2020) p. 68)

3. Existence of Jewish holy places in the country is denied, including the Western Wall in Jerusalem. A photograph has been cropped in a way that would “hide” the Jews who pray there:​

​“Al-Buraq Wall”​

“The Al-Buraq Wall has been named after Al-Buraq [the divine beast] that carried the Messenger [of God, i.e., Muhammad] during the Nocturnal Journey [from Mecca to Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, according to Islamic belief] and the Ascension [to Heaven]. The Al-Buraq Wall is part of the western wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Al-Aqsa Mosque, including the wall, is Palestinian land and an exclusive right of the Muslims.” ​

​(Islamic Education, Grade 5, Part 1 (2020) p. 63)

4. Having been considered foreign settlers, Jews in the country are not counted as legitimate inhabitants and the cities they built there, including Tel Aviv, are absent from maps in the texts used in PA schools. The PA school map here, titled “Map of Palestine”, does not show any Jewish city, except the southern city of Eilat that appears under its Arabic name, desolate place where it was later built – “Umm al-Rashrash”.

​(Social Studies, Grade 6, Part 1 (2020) p. 6)

A “Map of Palestine” that erases all Jewish presence. (Image: UNRWA)

5. The Jews’ historical and religious ties to Jerusalem are ignored. According to the PA textbooks, Jerusalem was built by the Palestinians’ Arab ancestors (i.e., the “Arabized” Canaanites and Jebusites) and is holy to Muslims and Christians alone. Jews are not mentioned in this context: “Jerusalem is an Arab city built by our Arab ancestors thousands of years ago. Jerusalem is holy only to Muslims and Christians.”​

​(National and Social Upbringing, Grade 3, Part 1 (2020) p. 29)

6. A short historical description of the city’s names features a huge gap of 1000 years between the Jebusites and the Romans, that is, the Jewish historical period. The name “Jerusalem” with its various forms that is used in hundreds of languages around the world is completely absent:

“The city of Jerusalem was known as ‘Jebus’ after the Arab Jebusites who built it 5000 years ago. When the Romans occupied it they named it ‘Aelia’. Later on it came to be known as ‘Al-Quds’ or ‘Bayt al-Maqdis’, after the Muslims had conquered it at the hands of Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab in 637 CE…”​

(Geography and Modern and Contemporary History of Palestine, Grade 10, Part 1 (2020) p. 43)

MORE NEXT WEEK on the ‘fundamentals’ of anti-Israel education under the PA