PA Education Minister rejects changes in schoolbook maps to include Israel: Palestinian symbols and identity will be “erased” if we educate about the “Israeli occupation”
Headline: "Saidam: We will not allow any change of the [PA] Ministry of Education's curricula by UNRWA"
"[PA] Minister of Education Sabri Saidam emphasized that he adheres to the Palestinian curriculum as formulated by the [PA] Ministry of Education, and that he will not allow any change to the curriculum by UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). Saidam said this in a letter that he sent to one of the participants in a meeting convened by the Central Council of Parents in the Gaza Districts and [the Council of Parents] in the Maghazi Refugee Camp…
The meeting participants discussed UNRWA's attempt to change the curriculum for grades 1–4 in the UNRWA schools.
Chairman of the Council of Parents in Maghazi and member of the Central Council of Parents in the Gaza Districts Wasef Abu Mashayekh explained the dangers of UNRWA changing the curriculum. He emphasized that the goal behind this is to erase the Palestinian identity. He also noted that the goal of these changes is to erase all of the Palestinian national symbols and features and harm the philosophical, moral, and national foundations of the curriculum, and first and foremost to erase the map of Palestine (i.e., the PA map of Palestine that presents all of Israel as "Palestine" together with the PA areas –Ed.) and its name, to establish the existence of the 'Israeli' occupation on the Palestinian land, and [to claim] it has a right."
"[PA] Minister of Education Sabri Saidam emphasized that he adheres to the Palestinian curriculum as formulated by the [PA] Ministry of Education, and that he will not allow any change to the curriculum by UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). Saidam said this in a letter that he sent to one of the participants in a meeting convened by the Central Council of Parents in the Gaza Districts and [the Council of Parents] in the Maghazi Refugee Camp…
The meeting participants discussed UNRWA's attempt to change the curriculum for grades 1–4 in the UNRWA schools.
Chairman of the Council of Parents in Maghazi and member of the Central Council of Parents in the Gaza Districts Wasef Abu Mashayekh explained the dangers of UNRWA changing the curriculum. He emphasized that the goal behind this is to erase the Palestinian identity. He also noted that the goal of these changes is to erase all of the Palestinian national symbols and features and harm the philosophical, moral, and national foundations of the curriculum, and first and foremost to erase the map of Palestine (i.e., the PA map of Palestine that presents all of Israel as "Palestine" together with the PA areas –Ed.) and its name, to establish the existence of the 'Israeli' occupation on the Palestinian land, and [to claim] it has a right."