
Despite Promised Reforms, PA Textbooks Still Teach Antisemitic, Anti-Israel Messages
Palestinian Authority textbooks continue to glorify terror, demonize Israelis, traffic in antisemitic themes, and advance exclusivist nationalist rhetoric despite promises to implement reforms, a comprehensive study has found. Now, the report says the content has remained unchanged despite explicit commitments by the PA to reform the curriculum and public claims by European officials that such reforms were underway.
“Virulent antisemitism, the glorification of jihad, and incitement to violence remain deeply embedded across all grades of Palestinian Authority textbooks,” the researchers concluded. Reform of the curriculum is also a central component of postwar peace plans for the region; there was no immediate PA or EU response to the report upon its publication.
Examples cited include early-grade materials introducing the term “shaheed” (martyr) as part of language lessons and poems celebrating “the revolution” while referencing Israeli cities and Jerusalem. The study also notes the absence of Jewish history and the removal of earlier references to peace processes and compromise.
Beyond Israel-related content, the review found certain books continue to portray women as subordinate, falling short of UN educational standards in multiple areas. Despite assurances that new textbooks for specific grades would be ready this year, the study said no substantive changes were evident as of November 2025.
(TOI/VFI News)
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” – Proverbs 22:6