ISRAEL - Palestinian School Curriculum
Rejection of Peace: In contrast to previous Palestinian curricula, this new curriculum methodically omits discussion of peace education in the context of the conflict with Israel. Peaceful resolution as the ultimate goal is not taught to students. Peace agreements, summits and proposals with Israel previously seen in PA schoolbooks have been removed.
Jews and Israel are vilified to a greater extent than in previous curricula and antisemitism is more prevalent throughout. The State of Israel is mostly described as the “Zionist Occupation” throughout the entire corpus of the new curriculum. When the name “Israel” does appear, it is often with quotation marks—further delegitimizing the same State of Israel.
Textbooks systematically demonize Israel and the Jewish-Israeli Other is portrayed in a solely negative fashion. Jews are maligned and presented as a rival of the Prophet of Islam. No objective information is provided about Israel and Jews that would serve to counterbalance these portrayals. In short, there is no encouragement towards coexistence throughout the entire curriculum.
-www.impact-se.org
Arno's Commentary
We publish these few lines, translated from the original Arabic, from the 101-page report, “The 2020–21 Palestinian School Curriculum Grades 1–12” (impact-se.org). It clearly reveals the impetus behind the hatred Arab Palestinians feel toward Israel.
If Israel were to do likewise, it would immediately be censored as hate speech. Yet, hardly anyone utters a word when Arab Palestinians commit such crimes against humanity.
Example: Almost 80 years ago, the aggressor Germany was defeated by the Red Army (USSR). Wikipedia reports that, from East Prussia alone, 1.8 million people were forced to leave their home—in some cases, a 500–800 year history was uprooted. If someone were to stand up and proclaim a PLO (Prussian Liberation Organization), he would be laughed out of the room or declared mentally incompetent. Not so where Arab Palestinians are concerned.
The recent war was initiated by Arab Palestinian, cold-blooded murderers (Hamas). Yet: “On October 27, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) failed to pass a resolution that would have unequivocally rejected and condemned the terrorist attacks by Hamas. Instead, the assembly approved a resolution expressing concern over all violence since October 7—without mentioning Hamas or explaining that Hamas had initiated the violence” (www.fdd.org).
The United Kingdom stated at the time: “We are deeply disappointed with the draft’s omission of an unequivocal condemnation of Hamas’ terrorist attacks that killed over [1,200] people and took over 200 hostages. This should not be controversial.”
The Alliance for the Peace of Jerusalem points to the promises God made to the Jewish people: “God made many promises to the Jewish people. He promised to send the Messiah, and He sent Jesus. He promised to regather the Jewish people to their land after being scattered because of disobedience (Ezekiel 22:15–16; 36:22, 24), and He has begun the process of regathering them back to their ancient homeland in Israel. He has also promised the Jewish people that homeland as ‘an everlasting possession,’ one in which they will dwell peacefully and securely when the Messiah returns (Genesis 17:8; see also Zechariah 12:9–11; Luke 21:20, 24; Acts 1:6).”
There will be peace, but only when the Prince of Peace arrives in Jerusalem.
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
