Oliver Varhelyi, the European commissioner for neighborhood and enlargement at the European Union, demanded Monday that the EU review the conditions by which it funds education in the Palestinian Authority after a recent report exposed antisemitism and incitement to violence in Palestinian textbooks.
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"The conditionality of our financial assistance in the educational sector needs to be duly considered," he tweeted. "Firm commitment to fight antisemitism and engage with Palestinian Authority + @UNRWA to promote quality education for Palestinian children and ensure full adherence to @UNESCO standards of peace, tolerance, coexistence, non-violence in Palestinian textbooks."
Varhelyi's remarks come days after the release of an EU-sponsored report on PA textbooks that revealed instances of antisemitism, and the demonization of Israel and of Jews in educational material.
Earlier on Monday, European Commission spokesperson Ana Pisonero said the report presents a "complex picture" about the textbooks, which "express a narrative of resistance" that is often violent and "displays an antagonism towards Israel."
"The EU will step up engagement with the PA on the basis of this study with the aim to ensure further curriculum reform addresses problematic issues in the shortest possible time frame and [that] the PA take responsibility to screen textbooks not analyzed in the study," she said.
"We have agreed to work with the PA on a specific roadmap … [that] must include a process of screening and monitoring of educational material for which the PA will be fully responsible and will ensure coherence with UNESCO standards."
Reprinted with permission from JNS.org
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