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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/world/middleeast/gaza-schools-peace-curriculum.html
Private School Network in Gaza Adopts a Peace Curriculum
(New York Times) David M. Halbfinger - A network of free private schools in Gaza called Academies of Hope are the brainchild of Palestinian American neurosurgeon Dr. David Hasan. Some 9,000 pupils in grades one through nine are attending classes in five campuses in southern Gaza built with money raised largely from Jewish donors in the U.S. and Israel. Dr. Hasan has worked to keep Hamas from endangering his schools, verifying that none of his staff have ties to militant groups. He has revamped the Palestinian Authority's curriculum without permission, prompting threats of reprisal from its education ministry. There are no lessons demonizing Jews or glorifying perpetrators of violence against Israel. Illustrating the changes, a math problem comparing the number of "martyrs" killed in the first and second intifadas has been replaced with one involving attendance at a West Bank soccer match. A reading comprehension selection praising Dalal Mughrabi - a woman who led a 1978 massacre that killed 38 Israelis, 13 of them children - has been replaced with one about Hind al-Husseini, a pioneering Palestinian educator. An Islamic studies reading about an attempt by Jews to kill the Prophet Muhammad has been replaced with one about the prophet's expressions of respect for Jews. There are new weekly lessons on "peace building" that teach ideals like tolerance and respect for differences, the golden rule and conflict resolution. In a video of a recent lesson, a boy draws pictures of the Palestinian and Israeli flags side by side. "I wish there will be no more wars so that we can live," he says. Dr. Hasan said he had not returned to Gaza since April 2024 because he had aroused suspicion. When he wasn't operating, he said, he was poking into hospital storerooms and asking questions, trying to learn if Israeli hostages might be on the premises. He fled, he said, when he was alerted that armed militants were looking for him.