Palestinian School Textbooks: EU Review

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I beg to move,

That this House has considered the EU Review into Palestinian school textbooks.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dame Angela. It is a privilege to speak in this place, and I do so today with a keen sense of responsibility. Very recently, yet more Palestinian and Israeli lives were lost to conflict and citizens left traumatised. The ceasefire has held, mercifully, but in the words of Mahatma Gandhi,

“If we wish to create a lasting peace, we must begin with the children.”

Children’s education is a long-term, strategic first frontline for all parties and all agendas. As far back as Aristotle, that has been understood. He said:

“Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man.”

In the context of this debate, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Theresa Villiers) first raised the alarm about radicalisation in the Palestinian curriculum in the European Parliament, 20 years ago. Last year, a debate in this House on the same subject highlighted shocking examples in the educational materials in use by British-funded teachers in Palestinian Authority schools. The answer to this, we were told then, would be found in the EU review—the long-awaited work of the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research. Ministers publicly vowed to take action if the report found evidence of material that incites violence. The report on that review has just been published, and it does.

In opening the debate, I want to bring into the light examples of the troubling findings cited in the report, share wider analysis and critique of the review itself, which casts a yet longer shadow, and demonstrate that we are not alone in our challenge to the Palestinian Authority. On a personal level, I should note that I am a teacher by profession, and for many years before coming to this place I worked as a school inspector, scrutinising the curriculum and evaluating learning. I should also note that I visited the region a number of years ago with the Conservative Friends of Israel and had the opportunity to speak with both Israelis and Palestinians.

The hon. Lady is right to highlight the deficiencies of the material, which are outlined comprehensively and in a very balanced way in the Georg Eckert report, but does she accept that the overall conclusion of the report is that,

“the textbooks adhere to UNESCO standards and adopt criteria that are prominent in international education discourse, including a strong focus on human rights”?

If she is inviting the House to accept the material that she quotes, should she not also invite the House to accept the conclusions of the authors of the report?

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question, which strikes at the heart of the point I was making: although there is increased coverage and focus on human rights, that does not extend to the Israelis. Actually, the very point that I rested on was that the conclusion rests on a report that offers up, in its body, example after example that contradict those UNESCO values. We need to understand that and challenge it.

My hon. Friend is making a really important point. To underline it, is it not the case that when we read the report—the executive summary, the main body of the report and the conclusions—it appears that there is a disconnect between what the executive summary says and the conclusions and the real evidence, which is contained deep in the body of the report? That is the concern and that is what we should be discussing today.

I concur entirely. What is required is a full reading of the body of evidence, because the executive summary does not seem to reflect that evidence. In fact, it must be contested that the textbooks adhere to the UNESCO standards when they simultaneously espouse a narrative of resistance to Israel and display antagonism towards it. How can the report’s conclusion be reconciled with the extensive evidence within the body of the report?

There are other issues with the report. A wider analysis highlights glaring omissions—or apparent omissions. The justification of the Munich Olympics terrorist attack as an attack on Zionist interests abroad is not covered. On the 2020 claims, the report suggests positive editing and improvement in the most recently published textbooks, but are these criticisms put forward? Are these phantom changes? Are they based on books that reportedly are not in the curriculum, or on books that do not appear on the Palestinian Authority’s official Education Ministry online portal? Is the scale and scope of the review sufficiently robust? For example, 15% relates to the coverage of the 2020-21 textbooks.

Notwithstanding the discordant finding of the report, as mentioned by the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael), last week, following the completion of the EU review, the Foreign Office issued a statement acknowledging that anti-Israel content remains. The UK is not alone in reaching that conclusion. Norway has already cut its funding and the Biden Administration are now making aid conditional on the removal of incitement of antisemitism from educational materials.

My hon. Friend makes a particular point about Norway reducing its funding and the US completely removing its funding, but does she agree that removing our funding is probably not the right way to go and that we should instead ask for the reforms that we really need to see, to make sure that every child in the Palestinian Authority area gets a meaningful education?

I thank my hon. Friend for his excellent question, and I concur. Education is absolutely at the heart of this process; it is mission-critical to establishing a peaceful resolution in the region. Change is possible where there is political will and leadership. From Tunisia and Egypt through to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, there is a clear trend across the region for improving curricula through the removal of anti-Israel and racist narratives, and instead promoting peace and co-existence. There is a better way.

Positive change could also be inspired through engagement with the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. This project, which has widespread cross-party support here and in the US, is exactly the sort of programme that the UK could also support if it wished to deliver on its goal of a lasting and meaningful peaceful two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. I have seen at first hand the value of peaceful co-existence projects; the day-to-day interactions that they afford Israelis and Palestinians are invaluable. Projects such as Seeds of Hope, Hands of Peace and Hand In Hand are all remarkable projects that work through education to change lives and create positive interactions.

I look forward to the rest of the debate and to hearing from the Minister, for whom I have some specific questions. What assessment has the Department made of the review? Does he recognise or share the concerns expressed over its shortcomings? Does he believe that the Palestinian Authority’s curriculum, as presented, supports or harms the UK’s long-standing goal of securing lasting peace? Given the promise of action, what new and different steps are being considered? Thus far, raising concerns has failed to elicit the change we need. Nothing perpetuates conflict as much as seeding it in generation after generation of children and young people.

The report as a whole is clear: the Palestinian curriculum remains deeply problematic. It is my sincere hope that the UK Government and their international partners will use the review as the catalyst for change. As things stand, British taxpayers have been directly funding the teaching of a curriculum that actively undermines the peaceful two-state solution that the Government strive to support. Surely, in the light of the violence of recent months, there must be renewed urgency in our resolve to promote peaceful co-existence, and that must focus on the curriculum and textbooks. As the report authors state, textbooks are particularly relevant in conflict

In order to get everybody in, I am not going to impose a time limit at the moment, but I will call the Front Benchers from 10.23 am. If colleagues bear in mind that allows four to five minutes each and try to keep to that, I will be most grateful.

Thank you, Dame Angela. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. I thank the hon. Member for Eastbourne (Caroline Ansell) for bringing this debate on the important topic of Palestinian textbooks. Let me start by saying that I condemn any incitement to violence, whether of Palestinian children, Israeli children, or any children in the world. I condemn antisemitism and anti-Arab Palestinian hate speech.

The research for the review started in September 2019, and the textbooks were published between 2017 and 2019, so the report it is looking at a picture of several years ago, and the picture it paints is complex. I agree with the hon. Lady that there is conflicting evidence in the report, but its conclusion is that the Palestinian Authority have shown a commitment to improving the quality of textbooks, and notes that in recent textbooks things have improved. That needs to be placed on the record.

There has been much discussion of this issue, including in debates in the Chamber. In that context, use was made of a report by IMPACT-se—the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education—but that is a completely discredited organisation. Former UK Minister Alistair Burt said in a written answer on 12 September 2018:

“Our assessment is that the IMPACT-se report was not objective in its findings and lacked methodological rigour. For example, some claims were made on the basis of partial or subjective reading of the text, some findings are presented out of context.”

Overall, IMPACT-se’s report is noted as generalising and exaggerating.

There is no doubt that there is room for improvement, but there is also room for improvement in Israeli schools. That is the nub of the problem. I recently saw footage on social media from a religious school in Israel where children taking part in a question and answer session were caught saying that in 10 years’ time, the al-Aqsa mosque would not be there, a temple would be built on the site, and the only Arabs surviving would be slaves. We have to look at this picture in the round and from both sides of the argument. It is fair to say there is room for improvement in the education of children, within both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Eastbourne (Caroline Ansell) for securing this important debate. Like her, I visited Israel with the Conservative Friends of Israel and spoke to Israelis and Palestinians on this and many other issues.

The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians last month demonstrated just how important it is that we promote de-escalation, reject violence and inflammatory rhetoric, and encourage moderate leaders who are willing to be credible partners for peace in the region. Although the recent EU report on Palestinian textbooks recognises that some improvements have been made, it shows that the Palestinian Authority still has some way to go to live up to those goals. Both the 2019-20 curriculum and the textbooks of the most recent school year are riddled with antisemitism, glorification of terrorism as heroic struggle, and negation of the state of Israel, including in maps that erase Israel’s presence; references to the Oslo accords have been removed.

This is not the first investigation into Palestinian textbooks, and the report serves only to confirm what we have known for some time about the Palestinian curriculum. The contention by the authors of the EU report that the curriculum meets UNESCO standards and that improvements were seen in the 2020 editions is false; close reading of the main body of the report proves as much. When arguing that the textbooks have improved, the EU report cites a particularly egregious example of incitement that has been removed, in which fourth-grade pupils are asked to calculate the numbers of martyrs, including suicide bombers, from the first and second intifadas. On the face of it, that would be a welcome change, but the reviewers show that it has been replaced by a maths question about Israel stealing land from Palestinians. That is not an improvement, and the reviewers concede that they were unable to verify that it is even in circulation in hard-copy textbooks. It turns out that the maths question about terrorists is still in use, as confirmed by the PA’s official Ministry of Education portal online. Such content is indefensible, and I struggle to see how it benefits the Palestinian population, including its children.

We could understand it if, in the history curriculum or other elements of the curriculum, contentious issues were presented in a way that was unfavourable to Israel. That would be understandable, albeit unwelcome. But to get such things into the maths curriculum indicates a conscious will and effort to do so. Does my hon. Friend agree?

I do agree. We must remember that young minds are very absorbent and they tend to take on board and trust what they are taught in school.

Members who have asked questions over the past four years have been told to wait for the publication of this report and assured that this is an important issue, which is why we are having this debate. I hope that the Minister will acknowledge that, with the release of the report, the Government’s long-standing stance on this issue may require some reassessment.

I am, however, grateful and thankful that the report has provoked an international discussion about linking aid to the PA and UNRWA—which runs a number of schools in the west bank and Gaza and uses the same curriculum as the PA—to the removal of antisemitic incitement from the Palestinian curriculum. It is important to highlight that linkage. The United States has said that it will do this for its aid to UNRWA—it will delink—and the European Commissioner responsible for aid to the PA and UNRWA has said that the EU should look at doing so for its funding to the PA. In the light of this report, it may be time for this country to look again at our aid to the PA, ensure that we do not fund the curriculum that is in place while also encouraging the PA to reform their curriculum in a more positive and constructive manner.

The events of the past month have underscored how far we will have to go to heal the divisions in the region and put a permanent stop to the death and destruction. The need to tackle Hamas in particular is as clear as ever, but a lasting peace depends on a Palestinian Authority who take seriously their commitment to co-existing alongside Israel. We have to encourage the PA to demonstrate that this is taking place not just with words but at all levels of society, including education. I therefore hope that Ministers will take this report and build on its efforts to promote moderate, pragmatic Palestinian leadership, working with the PA to improve their textbooks and curriculum. However, they must also ensure that our aid money is not funding an existing curriculum that is morally objectionable and runs against our and all peace-loving people’s aspirations for the region.