Middle East Minister Rt. Hon. James Cleverly MP this week said that the Government is “deeply concerned about allegations of incitement in Palestinian Authority’s school textbooks”.
In response to written parliamentary questions on the issue by CFI Officer Dr Matthew Offord MP, the Minister said that an independent EU-funded review by the Georg Eckert Institute of the textbooks is underway, adding: “We expect interim findings to be due by June 2020 and full findings later in the year. We continue to encourage the EU to publish the report”.
Mr Cleverly underlined that “the International Development Secretary reiterated our concerns in a call to the Palestinian Authority’s Education Minister just last month”.
Dr Offord additionally asked: “Whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the September 2019 report by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE) on the content of school textbooks published by the Palestinian Authority; and if he will make a statement”.
The Middle East Minister reiterated the Government’s concern about IMPACT-SE’s findings.
Last week, former school teacher and new MP Jonathan Gullis led his first Westminster Hall debate on the subject of radicalisation within the Palestinian school curriculum. 20 Conservative MPs were in attendance in the debate, which focused on concerns about the content of the Palestinian Authority’s school textbooks which contain incitement of hatred, martyrdom, and violence towards Israelis.
The debate follows a recent exposé in the Daily Mail, which laid bare the disturbing content of textbooks, and MPs have raised the issue on numerous occasions in the House of Commons in recent years.
