(Jerusalem Post) Marcus Sheff - In the new Palestinian Authority school curriculum, completed by the PA Education Ministry in August 2017, radicalization is pervasive, even more so than its predecessor. Young Palestinians are taught that martyrdom for boys and girls is a life goal, that dying is better than living, and that jihad is the pinnacle of ambition. Those who risk their lives by taking up arms are praised and those who choose the path of non-violence are denigrated as cowards. In science lessons, gravity is taught through the image of a boy with a slingshot targeting soldiers. Math exercises instruct students to calculate number of martyrs in Palestinian uprisings. The new PA curriculum is packed with wording, imagery and ideology likely to create prejudices, misconceptions, stereotypes, misunderstandings, mistrust, racial and national hatred, and religious bigotry. As for gender equality, women are not equal in life, only in their value as martyrs in death. The PA curriculum rejects negotiations with Israel to achieve Palestinian statehood. According to the textbooks, the only solution is victory via resistance and defeating Israel once and for all. The writer is CEO of IMPACT-se, which monitors compliance with international standards on peace and tolerance in education. (Jerusalem Post)
2018-02-23 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive