EU denounces 'antisemitism' and 'glorification of jihad' in Palestinian schoolbooks – report

The European Union (EU) Parliament in Brussels has officially denounced Palestinian Authority (PA) textbooks in several resolutions for promoting “antisemitism” and the “glorification of jihad,” the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) reported on Wednesday.

The resolutions were passed by a large majority, with 418 lawmakers in favor, 207 opposed and 14 abstaining. The European Parliament reviewed nearly 300 PA textbooks and 71 teacher guides used by local educators in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and the Gaza Strip.

The EU, one of the PA’s leading international sponsors, stated that future financial aid to the PA would be conditioned on the removal of “antisemitic content, incitement to violence and the glorification of martyrdom and jihad” from its educational materials. The European Parliament’s budget report stressed that EU financial aid “should support education that promotes peace, tolerance and coexistence.”

The resolutions noted that “education is a central pillar of peacebuilding, coexistence and preparation for a negotiated two-state solution,” and that education constituted a key component against intolerance, extremist ideologies and calls for violence.

Hamas is designated by much of the international community as a terrorist organization and has expressed genocidal intentions against the Jewish people. By contrast, the PA, led by the rival Fatah party, has often been portrayed as a “moderate” force and a partner for peace in the Middle East.

In 2024, French lawyer and lawmaker Ilana Cicurel noted a direct link between the anti-Israel incitement in PA textbooks and the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack in southern Israel, which resulted in the massacre of 1,200 Israelis and the kidnapping of 251 people, the largest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

In July 2024, the Palestinian Authority (PA) signed an agreement with the EU to reform its educational system, but the reported content has not yet been removed from its textbooks. According to IMPACT-se, this marks the seventh consecutive year that the European Parliament has condemned antisemitic content in PA educational materials.

Based in the United Kingdom and Israel, IMPACT-se is an NGO focused on promoting global tolerance and monitoring educational materials. The organization noted that PA continues to “erase Israel from maps and texts, embeds antisemitic motifs, glorifies violence and martyrdom, and politicizes STEM and grammar exercises in ways that normalize conflict.”

PA President Mahmoud Abbas has made statements that critics say downplay or dispute aspects of Jewish historical ties to the region and elements of the Holocaust. In 2022, Abbas faced backlash after stating during an official visit to Germany that Israel had committed “50 Holocausts” against the Palestinian population.

The German government strongly condemned the remarks, with German Ambassador to Israel Steffen Seibert stating, “Germany will always stand against any attempt to deny the tremendous dimensions of the crimes committed during the Holocaust.”