Sherman and Colleagues Reintroduce the Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Brad Sherman (CA-32) announced the reintroduction of the bipartisan Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act. This critical legislation would create much needed U.S.-created reporting and oversight on educational materials produced by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in light of their continued inclusion of violence, incitement, and antisemitism. Congressman Sherman is joined in introducing the bill by Congressman Brian Mast (FL-21), Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (NY-21), and Congressman David Trone (MD-6) in reintroducing this important legislation.
"For decades, the United States and the American people have been the top donor to the Palestinian people, including to the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA - but this is not a blank check. American dollars must be spent in a way that reflect American values of tolerance and peacebuilding. Unfortunately, instead of envisioning a Palestinian state alongside Israel, the current Palestinian curriculum erases Israel from maps, refers to Israel only as "the enemy," and asks children to sacrifice their lives to "liberate" all of the land between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea," said Congressman Brad Sherman. "Ending incitement and violence in the curriculum taught to Palestinian schoolchildren isn't only a matter of Israel's security – it's an obligation that the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA owes their beneficiaries, children who deserve quality education that nurtures their future instead of manipulating them to cut that future short by engaging in senseless violence."
"Kids aren't born discriminating against their peers; hate and intolerance are learned behaviors, and there's absolutely no reason that U.S. taxpayers should be funding that type of instruction," said Congressman Brian Mast. "This bill can help break a generational cycle of hatred and move towards a peaceful and secure Israel."
Congressman Josh Gottheimer said: "It's clear that despite UNRWA's attempts to reform their education materials, Palestinian textbooks in schools continue to propagate hate and call for the destruction of the Jewish state. Teaching the youngest members of Palestinian society to hate Jews and Israelis fuels the cycle of violence that plagues the region and endangers the safety and security of our most critical ally, Israel. These children deserve better and it is essential that the United States plays a role in eliminating the incitement of violence and delegitimization of Israel present in UNRWA curricula."
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik said: "The Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act is a critical first step in addressing the abhorrent, disgusting, and completely unacceptable presence of violent anti-Semitism in the curriculum used in United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools across the West Bank and Gaza. UNRWA's incendiary curriculum has violent consequences, and we cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to fund this anti-Semitic education. This legislation will require the U.S. State Department to conduct oversight on this curriculum and ensure taxpayer dollars are not used to spread violent anti-Semitism."
Congressman David Trone said: "With anti-Semitism on the rise around the world, we must ensure that it never starts in the classroom. We should all hope that the students of today – the leaders of tomorrow – are taught the values of peace over hate and intolerance. This bill works to do just that."
The legislation's reintroduction builds on calls from the international community to finally put an end to incitement in Palestinian education, as the EU Parliament earlier this week passed a resolution condemning the hateful content in Palestinian Authority textbooks. The State Department has also raised concerns about the content of such materials, given the use of such materials in educational settings for children as young as primary school age, and has urged the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA to take corrective action. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has documented such content in detail in a report (GAO-18-227C, released to Congress April 26, 2018 and declassified in February 2019) and recommended further legislative action to improve State Department reporting. One horrific example includes a 5th grade textbook which encourages students to emulate Dalal Mughrabi, a convicted terrorist who perpetrated the 1978 Coastal Road massacre which killed 38 Israeli civilians - including 13 children. Accordingly, this bill requires the Secretary of State to submit annual reports reviewing the educational material used by the PA and enumerates certain criteria for such reports to include.
The Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act has passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously in both the 117th and 116th Congress, with support for the bill skyrocketing from 18 bipartisan cosponsors in the 116th Congress to 46 bipartisan cosponsors in the 117th Congress.
ADL CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt said: "There is no excuse for propagating antisemitism and hate in Palestinian textbooks. It is extremely concerning that Congress has again had to raise alarm bells to antisemitic education materials being disseminated to Palestinian youth. The harmful anti-Jewish tropes in these textbooks only seek to inflame tensions and deepen mistrust, when the Palestinian Authority should be proactively taking steps to promote acceptance. This should be the rule at any time, but is particularly urgent at this time of heightened tensions in the region. Thank you to Reps. Brad Sherman, Brian Mast, Josh Gottheimer, Elise Stefanik, and David Trone for introducing this important bill."
Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) CEO Marcus Sheff said: "The reintroduction of the bipartisan Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act, led by Rep. Brad Sherman is a vital measure in finally bringing to an end the teaching of antisemitism and hate to over a million Palestinian children every school day. The Palestinian Authority and UNRWA have resisted repeated calls from policymakers around the world to moderate their textbooks. Their strategy of inciting young Palestinians to acts of violence must finally be brought to a halt. We thank Rep. Sherman and the co-sponsors for their efforts in making this happen."
The report from the State Department will require the following:
-A determination of whether content and passages encouraging violence or intolerance toward other nations or ethnic groups have been removed from such curriculum;
-An assessment of the steps the Palestinian Authority is taking to reform such curriculum at schools to conform with standards of peace and tolerance in the Declaration of Principles on Tolerance by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (adopted November 16, 1995);
-A determination of whether United States foreign assistance is used, directly or indirectly, to fund the dissemination of such curriculum by the Palestinian Authority;
-A detailed report on how US assistance is being used to address curriculum that encourages violence or intolerance toward other nations or ethnic groups;
-A detailed report about United States diplomatic efforts in last 5 years to encourage accountability in Palestinian education;
-If any projects in (5) were stopped by the Secretary of State, why they were stopped.
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