The Parliament also linked recent terror attacks by teenagers to the school books that incite violence and hatred
The European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning the Palestinian Authority for continuing to incite violence and hatred through its school textbooks. Although it’s the fourth year in a row, the latest vote linked the incitement to an uptick in terror attacks by teenagers.
The resolution explicitly linked the recent increase in terrorist attacks by teenagers to the incitement to hatred within learning materials. The content development division of the Palestinian Ministry of Education was paid by the European Union, raising concerns in Brussels.
For the first time, the officials also acknowledged the presence of anti-Semitic content in school books and called for their immediate removal. The EU governing body previously only mentioned the incitement to violence found in the textbooks, and made a vague call for content in line with UN values, without directly calling for the removal of problematic passages.
In the latest move, the European Parliament reiterated its threat to freeze the budgets allocated to the Palestinian Authority, and noted that despite repeated promises of action by Ramallah, nothing has been done to change the content.
Two years ago, the European Union suspended its funding to the Palestinian Authority for more than 13 months because its funds were used to write new textbooks inciting violence.
Wednesday’s resolution was passed with 451 votes in favor, 151 against and 5 abstentions, thanks to the support of the center-left parties and despite an extensive lobbying campaign by pro-Palestinian organizations at the European Union.
“This new resolution is a sign of the EU’s growing indignation and frustration that its taxpayers’ money is being used to fund incitement to hatred,” said Marcus Sheff, CEO of the research institute.
Studies and recommendations of the international research institute “IMPACT-se”, which studies and analyzes the content of school textbooks in countries around the world to encourage the teaching of peace and tolerance, formed the basis of the decision of the European parliamentarians.
