The European Parliament has passed a series of resolutions which condemn the Palestinian Authority for continuing to teach hatred in school text books.
The resolutions, passed in Brussels on Thursday with a 60 per cent majority, also opposed European Union aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) being used to ‘’incite religious radicalisation, intolerance, ethnic violence and martyrdom among children.’’
The legislation noted that problematic material in Palestinian school textbooks had still not been removed despite pledges by the PA to act.
It also demanded that salaries of teachers and education sector civil servants financed by the EU are used to teach curricula that reflect UNESCO standards of peace, tolerance, coexistence and non-violence.
Resolution 302 noted that ‘’problematic material’’ in Palestinian school textbooks had ‘’still not been removed’’ and it also said there was a ‘’continued failure to act’’ by the PA.
Charlie Weimer MEP of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party said:’’Terrorism, extremism and hate can never be the answer and should under no circumstances ever be funded by EU taxpayers.
‘’I fully welcome that the European Parliament voted in favour of keeping the strong language stating that incitement and support for terrorism in Palestinian schoolbooks is unacceptable. Peace needs to be promoted in the Palestinian curricula as to achieve a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.’’
The resolutions were adopted as amendments by the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control by MEPs across the EU political spectrum including members of the three largest political groups, the Center-Right European People’s Party (EPP), the left leaning Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and the liberal Renew Europe (RE) party
Under the discharge procedure of the 2018 annual budget by the European Commission the European Parliament is able to check how public funds have been spent and EU projects carried out.
The budgetary control committee scrutinizes how the Commission and other EU institutions and agencies are implementing the EU budget and prepares the Parliament's discharge decision for each budgetary year.
Marcus Sheff , from the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education group (IMPACT-se) organisation, told the JC:’’This parliament, which oversees the spending of the European Commission, is clearly exasperated by the continued payment of massive grants to the Palestinian educational sector, which is then promptly turned into one of the most hate-filled, violent and extreme curricula worldwide.
''We are proud to have worked with members to pass these resolutions. There now must be a moment of truth for the European Union.
‘’Will it continue to ignore the parliament that oversees its spending? Will the Commission now publicly release the freshly- minted report on the Palestinian Authority’s textbooks? Governments, legislators and over a million Palestinian children know what’s in the textbooks. Classifying the report is senseless and frankly, seems highly suspicious.’’
An IMPAC-se report into the Palestinian school curriculum released earlier this year noted:’’There is a systematic insertion of violence, martyrdom and jihad across all grades and subjects in a more extensive and sophisticated manner, embracing a full spectrum of extreme nationalist ideas and Islamist ideologies that extend even into the teaching of mathematics and science, including: physics, chemistry and biology.
‘’The possibility of peace with Israel is rejected. Legitimacy of any historical Jewish presence in what is today Israel and the Palestinian Authority or of the current Jewish presence in Israel, is entirely absent from the curriculum.’’
