Terror in the textbooks: Palestinian Authority teaches kids to "burn Zionist soldiers" 

More than a year and a half after the October 7 massacre, anti-Semitic and terror-glorifying content is part and parcel of students' curriculum. A study conducted in April reveals that the Palestinian Authority (PA), which is often presented as an "alternative" to the Hamas regime in Gaza, makes no effort to instill various content in its students, even in the area under its control.

On the contrary, the current curriculum prepared by the PA, which is supposed to meet UNESCO's standards on promoting peace and tolerance, includes antisemitic content and lessons that encourage them to commit acts of violence while justifying nationalism and religiosity. Everything is done under Israel's nose and without any real attempt to change the situation.

According to the IMPCAT-SE study, as early as fifth grade, students learn a reading comprehension text that glorifies "heroes, which include people identified with war, terrorism, and religious extremism. The text reads that "each of us wants to be like them," and also: "Their memory becomes eternal and people are proud of them. Every nation is proud of its heroes, because if it weren't for them, the nations would be humiliated."

The reading section lists examples such as Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, a Muslim from Syria who established the first terror cells against Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel. The military wing of Hamas is also named after him. Similarly, Khalil al-Sakakini, an educator at the beginning of the last century, who was a pan-Arab nationalist and supporter of Nazi Germany, is also mentioned as a role model.

The authors analyzed 313 booklets and instruction books for teachers of the Authority, of which 217 examples were presented. All of them are categorized into nine topics: antisemitism, encouragement of "martyrdom" and jihad, violence in science and mathematics, glorification of violence and terrorism, conspiracies and slander, hatred and impatience, the absence of Israel on maps, gender inequality, as well as references to the peace agreements and recognition of Israel and the Jews excluded from the curriculum. The research institute emphasizes that all the examples are verified as existing in the curriculum of the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Education.

Literature classes in the Palestinian education system encourage anti-Semitism and hint quite bluntly that the Jews are the devil's collaborators. Thus, for example, in a textbook for seventh-grade students, a poem by a Palestinian poet named Jamil Id Al-Wahidi is taught. Its headline: "Where are the knights?", and it reads: "Where are the knights who will free Al-Aqsa from the grip of the infidels from the devil's helpers?

The material studied repeatedly glorifies violence with graphic descriptions of the acts. In history lessons, eighth-graders receive a reading comprehension lesson that glorifies the 1968 Battle of Karameh, in which Israel, Jordan, and PLO terrorists fought.

Israel, of course, is identified as an enemy, while the Palestinians are described as "carrying explosive belts and turning their bodies into fire that burns the Zionist tank." The exercise includes a drawing of IDF soldiers in a tank being shot to death by a Palestinian terrorist. The text also emphasizes: "We will not forget the picture of the burnt Zionist soldier who was tied to a tank for fear of escaping. The heroes carried tanks to Amman so that the children could play with them as toys and enjoy the victory."

Yisrael Hayom contributed to this article.