Norwegian daily reports on PMW report on education being presented to Norwegian government officials
Norwegian daily reports on PMW report on education
being presented to Norwegian government officials
being presented to Norwegian government officials
Headline: [Norwegian] Foreign Ministry gets report on education in hate against Jews
by Kenneth Fjell Rasmussen, 14 April 2016
Dagen's correspondent in Israel
Dagen's correspondent in Israel
Jew hatred
- It is totally misleading to call the ongoing wave of violence a "leader-less intifada." Throughout their upbringing Palestinian children are taught to hate Jews, says Itamar Marcus.
Itamar Marcus is the founder of Palestinian Media Watch, which monitors Palestinian newspapers, websites and television channels.
This Friday he will be in Norway attending the European Israel conference held by With Israel For Peace (MIFF), but also to present the report "Education to hatred and terror" to Norwegian authorities.
The report has been translated into Norwegian by MIFF and this Friday, Marcus is meeting with the Foreign Affairs Department together with executives from the Norwegian organization.
- In the past, we looked specifically at the content of Palestinian textbooks, but this year's report is much broader. It is an analysis of the education system of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the environment in which children from these areas grow up, says Marcus in an interview to Dagen the day before leaving for Norway.
Terrorists glorified
One of the points in the report is that schools and sporting events are named after terrorists, which affect children and youth.
- Among other things, three girls' schools are named after the female terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, who led the most lethal terror attack in Israel's history, says Marcus.
The report documents that girls in these schools are now looking up to Mughrabi as a role model.
- Dozens of other terrorists have had schools named after them. Often images of the terrorists are prominently placed at the schools, or they are part of the school's logo. Also, the images [of the terrorists] are often printed on the school uniforms. Students must memorize the life story and the actions of the terrorists, and this becomes part of their identity, he said.
He also documents that very young terrorists are presented [as role models] to children of the same age. Above the entrance to a high school in Bethlehem hangs the picture of the youngest female [Palestinian] suicide bomber, Ayyat Al-Akhras (17), who blew herself up at a supermarket in Jerusalem in 2002.
- 13-year-old Ahmad Manasrah who [in October 2015] stabbed a 13-year-old Jewish boy in Jerusalem, has already had a football tournament for boys named after him - "The Ahmad Manasrah Football Tournament."
The PA’s message
The 67-page report is packed with examples of hate indoctrination, but Marcus highlights the following key messages conveyed by the Palestinian Authority:
Israel has no right to exist.
Israel will disappear and will be replaced by Palestine.
Violence is permitted in the fight against Israel.
Muslims must fight an endless Islamic war against Israel.
Those who murder Israelis are heroes and role models.
Martyrdom for Allah is the highest form of honor.
- Education is a key to peace. But the Palestinian Ministry of Education and other PA-sponsored players unfortunately neither promote peace, nor reconciliation or normalization with Israelis and Jews, he says.
He thinks the findings in the report completely expose as false the claims that [the current wave of violence] is a leader-less uprising and [made up of] "lone wolves."
Western governments
In recent months, Itamar Marcus has visited European politicians and representatives of the governments of the UK, Sweden, and the United States. He has been well received in all these places.
- The report is clear and well documented, and most react with disgust when they read it. I think pressure from Western countries may be one reason that terror has diminished recently.
- In addition, as head of the Donor Group to the Palestinian territory, Norway can influence the situation, he said.
[http://www.dagen.no/Nyheter/J%C3%98DEHAT/UD-f%C3%A5r-rapport-om-oppl%C3%A6ring-i-hat-mot-j%C3%B8der-329840 ]