Halt UK funding to Palestinian Authority, say MPs after report shows curricula promote violence

“The importance of maintaining the commitments that the Palestinian Authority has made to curriculum reform must be central in both the West Bank and in Gaza,” Cooper said.

Her remarks came in response to Conservative member of Parliament for Romford, Andrew Rosindell, who called for a “moment of reckoning for the curricula in the Occupied Palestinian Territories - that is vital if we are to build a sustainable peace”.

Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer recently confirmed that Abbas had “committed [to] the development of a school curriculum that is free from incitement”.

The UK Government has called for the PA to “ensure that an independent audit is conducted to verify that these reforms have been completed”.

But the April 2025 memorandum of understanding with the PA, signed by the UK, featured no explicit conditionality on curriculum reform.

This week, a report by the research outfit and education watchdog, the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), alleged that PA textbooks and resources continue to praise acts of violence.

One example cited in the 396-page report shows a reading comprehension lesson for 14-year-old pupils which teaches vocabulary through passages referencing suicide bombers with “explosive belts” and the slashing of Israelis’ throats.

Another example portrays America as an imperialistic power with a history lesson on “global hegemony” illustrated with a cartoon image of an American flag gripping the earth, its red stripes wrapped around the planet.

MPs from across the house condemned the findings.

Leaders of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on UK-Israel, Bob Blackman, Damien Egan, Lord Austin and Lord Palmer said: “This report shows in great detail and proves beyond doubt that children in Palestine are being indoctrinated from a very young age in school. The Palestinian Authority curriculum continues to systematically violate UNESCO principles and education standards, inciting antisemitism, violence, promoting jihad, martyrdom, glorifying terrorism and rejects peacemaking and a two-state solution. This cannot be allowed to continue.”

Labour MP, Damien Egan, added: “The Palestinian Authority has been using school textbooks to peddle hatred of Jews to children for years. We see violence and terror glorified, with children taught to see Jews as an enemy from an early age.”

“This report shows that despite the PA’s warm words, saying they support peaceful coexistence, a two-state solution and a commitment to reform - the sad reality is that in schools nothing has changed. It’s obviously wrong, the international community can’t continue to turn a blind eye,” Egan, the vice chair of Labour Friends of Israel, went on.

The vice chair of Conservative Friends of Israel, Greg Smith, added: “The findings in this latest report by IMPACT-se are deeply troubling. The Palestinian school curriculum continues to be riddled with incitement and glorification of violence towards Jews. International donors, including the UK, have been taken for a ride by the Palestinian Authority which has done little to make good on its many promises to clean up its school system.

“At a time when everyone in the region should be uniting around a clear agenda for peace, Palestinian children are being fed a diet of hate and extremism - all with the help of funding from the UK taxpayer,” Smith said.