campers whose fathers have been convicted of murdering Jews.
Center for Near East Policy Research
Subject: Translations into Hebrew and English of All Palestinian Authority Text Books Used in UNRWA Schools in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and Gaza During the 2016-2017 School Year.
Status of Research: Completed.
Translation Budget: $25,000
Publicity Budget: $200,000
Executive summary:
Director of Research: Dr. Arnon Groiss, assisted by Dr. Ronni Shaked.
Enclosed please find:
- Time lines
- Examples from current research
- Earlier research on the subject by Dr. Groiss
- Bios of Dr. Gross and Dr. Shaked
- Legal Policy Statement
- Banking Details
Respectfully Submitted,
David Bedein
Director
TIME LINE – EXAMINING PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY TEXTS USED BY UNRWA
PART ONE: BACKGROUND
1.An oft-repeated mantra at the time of the Oslo accords was that when the nascent Palestinian Authority would produce its own school books, they would affirm the Declaration of Principles of the Oslo accords, even though the PLO never ratified these principles. UNRWA announced that as soon as the PA curriculum would come to be, it would recognize the PA as the “host country” that would supply school books for UNRWA schools in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
- In 2000, our Center contacted consulates that donated funds for the new PA schoolbooks: Belgium, Holland, Finland, Ireland and Italy. After meeting with the donor nations at their respective consulates in Jerusalem, it became clear that the PA had not shared the new books with their funders. The Center then acquired the books directly from the PA minister of education. The Center was the first agency to acquire the new PA schoolbooks.
- The Vatican became the first entity with whom we shared the newly published PA books. The Vatican ambassador issued a report that the new PA schoolbooks indoctrinate their children to seek war and not peace with Israel. The Vatican then asked Italy to pull funding from PA education, which it did.
- For the past 17 years, our Center has issued timely reports on PA schoolbooks, as updated books were published. The author engaged to write these reports was veteran journalist, Dr. Arnon Groiss, who holds a PhD in Islamic Studies from Princeton. The consistent conclusion of these reports was that the new PA school books inculcate the idea that the only way that there can be an independent Palestine is by waging a holy war to wipe Israel off the map, perpetuating the stateless status of Arab refugee descendants, reinforcing a life of limbo, poverty, anguish and despair, and indoctrinating principles of Jihad, martyrdom and the “right of return” by force of arms as core values of PA school books, all of which are incorporated in the UNRWA school system.
- On July 30, 2015, David Bedein met with the US State Department official who oversees the funding of the PA and UNRWA. That State Department official informed the CFNEPR director that the US vetted and approved all PA books used in UNRWA schools, and said that these texts met the standards of peace education. CFNEPR commissioned a new report for the Jerusalem diplomatic corps in January 2016 which showed that the war curriculum had not changed. http://tinyurl.com/hjksrrb
- The Obama administration issued a written statement to a member of the White House Press corps on March 18th, 2016, which stressed that PA schoolbooks used in UNRWA schools did meet standards of peace education. http://tinyurl.com/js4h9fn
- Rep. leana Ros-Lehtinen , in her capacity as the chairperson of the Middle East Subcommittee of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, examined the March 18, 20I6 White House statement, and said that this was the same statement that all members of her committee had received from the US administration.
- In August 2016, officials of US AID in Jerusalem, which administers US financing of PA and UNRWA schools, informed the Center for Near East Policy Research that, as a matter of policy the US never examines the PA school books used in UNRWA schools and never vets PA or UNRWA teachers.
- In September 2016, the Center for Near East Policy Research acquired all PA text books and hired Dr. Groiss and Dr. Ronni Shaked, two veteran journalists with PHD’s in Islamic Studies, in order to produce a comprehensive translation into Hebrew and English of all PA texts used in the past year in the UNRWA schools, to determine if elements of war advocacy or peace education surfaced in the school books used in the 2016-2017 school year.
- In July 2017, translations were completed, with one conclusion: War education thrives in the official educational curriculum of the PA, as used in the UNRWA schools in Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem and Gaza, even though the professed theme of UNRWA remains; PEACE STARTS HERE.
TIME LINE PART TWO: Ensure that policy makers and mainstream media will act upon and report the message conveyed by the conclusions of translated PA texts used by UNRWA
- Distribute results to policy makers, diplomats and reporters through “Knesset Lobby for UNRWA Reform”
- Break the story at TheHill.com, FoxNews.com and Camilla Turner at the Daily Telegraph; facilitate features in Yediot, Yisrael Hayom, NY Times, Washington Postand LA Times
- Facilitate September Parliamentary presentations after summer recess of US Congress, UK Parliament and Canadian Parliament
- Arrange for presentation at Knesset in late October when it convenes after recess
- Request that Rabbi David Saperstein, retired US Ambassador for Religious Freedom, convene all Jewish groups in DC to hear conclusions
- Convene forum at BESA at Bar Ilan
- Facilitate presentation at the UN in NYC for all UNRWA donor nations
- Arrange forum at Henry Jackson Society in London
9.Lecture at Middle East Forum in Philadelphia
- Facilitate SWC LA event in November, followed by presentation in LA at General Assembly of Jewish Federations
- Create a “Lobby for UNRWA Policy Reform” at legislative bodies in DC, London, Ottawa and Stockholm
- Arrange event at Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center with Israel Defense Establishment figures who have been protective of UNRWA
- Engage German language translators and conduct special briefing at Bundestag, as German government-funded foundations remain key funders of PA/UNRWA education
- Conduct tribute to the memory of Archbishop Pietro Sambi, first official to commission translations of the new Palestinian Authority textbooks. Hold a special session at the Apostolic Nunciatur, diplomatic mission of the Holy See to the United States Government.
Selections: PA Schoolbooks used in UNRWA schools, 2016-2017
1
“[שיעור מס’] 2 פלסטין ערבית [ו]מוסלמית”. בהמשך הדף מפה של מדינות ערב בצבעים שונים בכותרת “מדינות המולדת הערבית” וביניהן כל הארץ באדום עם השם פלסטין, ומעליה מתנוסס הדגל הפלסטיני.
(טיפוח לאומי וחברתי, כתה ד’, חלק א’ (2016) עמ’ 7)
“[Lesson No.] 2: Palestine is Arab [and] Muslim.” A map of the Arab states in different colors titled “States of the Arab Homeland” appears on the same page. The whole country appears in red with the name “Palestine” written next to it and with the Palestinian flag flying above.”
(National and Social Upbringing, Grade 4, Part 1 (2016) p. 7)
2
“…7. הלחימה ביהודים והנצחון עליהם: השליח [מוחמד] בישר את קץ העושק של היהודים על-פני האדמה הקדושה הזאת והפסקת שחיתותם וכיבושם אותה. [נמסר] מפי אבו הוריירה [אחד ממקורבי מוחמד] שהנביא אמר: אחרית הימים לא תבוא עד אשר ילחמו המוסלמים ביהודים, והמוסלמים יהרגום, ואפילו יתחבא היהודי מאחורי סלע או עץ – הרי שהסלע או העץ יאמרו: ‘הוי מוסלמי, הוי עבד האל, יש יהודי מאחורי, בוא והרגהו!’ – חוץ מהימלוח [ע’רקד], שכן הוא מעצי היהודים.”
(אמונה, כתה י”א [מגמה הלכתית] (2013) עמ’ 94)
“…7. The fighting against the Jews and the victory over them: The Messenger [Muhammad] announced the end of the Jews’ oppression upon this holy land and the end of their corruption and occupation there. [It is told] by Abu Hurayrah [one of Muhammad’s Companions] that the Prophet said: ‘The End of Days will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews, and the Muslims will kill them, and even if a Jew would hide behind a rock or a tree – the rock or the tree will say: ‘O Muslim, O God’s servant, there is a Jew behind me, so come and kill him!’ – except the salt bush [Gharqad], for it is one of the Jews’ trees.”
(Faith, Grade 11 [Shar’i Stream] (2013) p. 94)
3
“במה תשיב
אם יתקוף את בני ביתך
אדם זר
שהיותו בעל נשק פיתה אותו
והוא חשף ניבי זאב
…
במה תשיב אם יטען
שמטע התמרים
ופרדס התפוזים
וזיתיך הערביים,
ואתה,
ואשתך סלמא,
ובניך הטובים
[הם] שלל מלחמה
ורכוש שנתפס בחוזק יד…”
(קריאה וטקסטים, כתה ט’, חלק ב’ (2014) ע”ע 51 – 53)
“How would you respond
If your family was attacked
By an alien person
Dazzled by his being a weapon holder
He bared a wolf’s fang
…
How would you respond if he claimed
That the date palm grove
And the orange orchard
And your Arab olive tree
And yourself
And your wife Salma
And your decent sons
Are war spoils
And seized possessions…”
(Reading and Texts, Grade 9, Part 2 (2014) pp. 51-53)
4
“בחייך! איך זה שנחשים פולשים אלינו…”
(השפה הערבית: מדעי הלשון, כתה י”ב (2015) עמ’ 63)
“By your life! How come that snakes invade us…”
(Arabic Language: Linguistic Sciences, Grade 12 (2015) p. 63)
5
“המרטיר [אל-שהיד – קטעים]
…
נעימה לאוזני שמיעת שקשוק [החרבות] ומשמחת את נפשי זרימת הדם
ו[כן] גוף המוטל בישימון שעליו מתקוטטים טורפי המדבר
…
בחייך! זהו מות גברים ומי שמבקש מוות אצילי – הריהו זה”
(שפתנו היפה, כתה ז’, חלק א’ (2014) עמ’ 75)
“The Martyr [Excerpts]
…
Hearing [weapons] clash is pleasant to my ear
And the flow of blood gladdens my soul
As well as a body thrown upon the ground
Skirmished over by the desert predators
…
By your life! This is the death of men
And whoever asks for a noble death – this is it!”
(Our Beautiful Language, Grade 7, Part 1 (2014) p. 75)
Earlier research pieces by Dr. Arnon Groiss on PA/UNRWA Education
UK and UNRWA Education for Peace: What will be?Required Changes in Palestinian Authority/UNRWA Schoolbooks – to conform with peace policies advocated by the US and EU
Problematic Educational Role of UNRWA in the Middle East War
A dissenting voice on the textbook study
Comments on: “Victims of Our Own Narratives”
Scanned PA school book material
Anti-Semitism in New PA Schoolbooks used in UNRWA schools: 2001-2014
The role of UNRWA in preparing their students for war
What UNRWA Should not Teach in its Schools
Palestinian Textbooks: From Arafat to Abbas and Hamas
Dr. Arnon Groiss – Professional background
Dr. Arnon Groiss is an Arabic-language journalist who has recently retired from the Voice of Israel Arabic Radio after 42 years of experience there beginning in 1973. He is also an expert on Middle Eastern affairs, having earned his Ph.D. degree from Princeton University’s Department of Near Eastern Studies, as well as an MPA degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Dr. Groiss taught for several years at the Hebrew University in the 1990s and 2000s. Between the years 2000-2010 Dr. Groiss served as chief researcher and, later, as Director of Research at the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE, formerly known as the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace – CMIP), a non-political NGO committed to studying the attitude to the “other” and to peace in the Israeli and in other Middle Eastern curricula. During his work there Dr. Groiss studied hundreds of textbooks of various school subjects and authored over ten reports on Palestinian, Egyptian, Syrian, Saudi Arabian, Iranian and Tunisian schoolbooks. These reports are available on the Institute’s Web site http://www.impact-se.org. A summary of his ten-year research of this subject is to be found in “De-legitimization of Israel in Palestinian Authority Schoolbooks,” published in Israel Affairs, Vol. 18 (2012), Issue 3, pp. 455-484, where he compares the PA schoolbooks with other Arab and Middle Eastern texts, including their Israeli counterparts. Since 2000, the Center for Near East Policy Research has arranged for Dr. Groiss to present his findings to policy makers and people of the press at the US Congress, the European Parliament, the UK House of Commons, the Israeli Knesset, the Canadian Parliament, the French Assemblée nationale and elsewhere. On the basis of his experience in this field, Dr. Groiss was appointed as a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) of the Palestinian-Israeli Schoolbook Research Project commissioned by the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land (CRIHL). The project was funded by the US State Department and ended in February 2013. Dr. Groiss’ evaluation paper of this research project is to be found at
http://www.israelbehindthenews.com/library/pdfs/EVALUATIO1-1.pdf
Dr. Ronni Shaked: Professional Background
Until recently, Dr. Ronni Shaked served as the senior correspondent and commentator on Palestinian Arab Affairs for the Hebrew daily newspaper “Yedioth Aharanoth.” He is currently the Middle East and Islam Research Unit Coordinator at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace. Shaked has followed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since several months after the 1967 Six Day War through his participation in field work, academic studies and research. The focus of his Doctoral research is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the subject of his research is “The Ethos of Conflict Within the Palestinian Society.”
Dr. Shaked has written four books:
- “Hamas-the Islamic Movement”
- “Capucci-the General Security Services at the Heels of Terrorists”
- “From Jerusalem to Damascus and Back”
- “On the Fence”
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