This week, in International Development Oral Questions, Conservative MP Matt Vickers urged the UK Government to confirm that the findings of the long-anticipated EU interim report into the Palestinian Authority school curriculum will “be made public and acted on swiftly”.
The newly elected MP for Stockton South underlined that “children have a basic human right to education, yet there is huge concern that Palestinian children use textbooks that promote and encourage violence”. Mr Vickers welcomed the Government’s work “pushing for an international review of the curriculum ahead of the new academic year” and asked for an update on the progress of the interim report.
Middle East Minister Rt. Hon. James Cleverly MP emphasised the UK Government’s “disquiet” over allegations of incitement, adding that “the first call that my Right Hon. Friend the Secretary of State made when she entered post was to the Education Minister in the Palestinian Authority” to express the UK’s concerns. He pledged to ensure that UK-funded education “does not encourage violence or prejudice against Jewish people”.
Minister Cleverly has previously confirmed that the UK “has repeatedly lobbied the EU to push for publication of the interim report” amid reports that the EU plans to classify the report.
Initially expected to be finalised in June, with a full report due later this year, publication of the interim report has now reportedly been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Cross-party parliamentarians have called on the UK Government to publish the report in full following a Westminster Hall debate on radicalisation in the Palestinian Authority curriculum led by Conservative MP Jon Gullis in March this year.
