No peace without new school books
Yours and my tax money is used to pay for Palestinian school books which deny that Israel exists, and that if it does, contrary to expectation, it must be destroyed. The same school books glorify jihad and invite children to seek death instead of life.
The state of Sweden actually finances this hate propaganda. A recently published [Palestinian Media Watch] report [on PA media and schoolbooks] which [PMW] presented last week to [Swedish] MPs, shows with tragic clarity the Swedish-Palestinian cooperation to spread hatred and lies, and encourage violence.
A lasting peace can never come into being unless it be through border adjustments and power shifts. Both the Balkans and South Africa ought to have taught us that. Peace and reconciliation are linked - something that the EU has taught us. It is naive to believe that "land-for-peace" would in any way bring peace and justice in the Middle East. Muslim media and school books must be exposed and changed.
About three years ago, World Today presented excerpts from a number of television broadcasts from Lebanon, Iran and Egypt. Key messages from these TV stations were: the United States and Israel, Americans and Jews, are guilty of most [catastrophes]: September 11, the AIDS epidemic, SARS, bird flu, the genocide in Rwanda, the destruction of Iranians (!). Therefore, non-Muslims in general must be fought, Jews and Americans in particular should be killed, yes, destroyed.
Just over a year ago a major study of 95 compulsory textbooks in Iran was published. They concern the natural sciences, civic education and religion. The books are used during the first eleven grades. 11 000 pages later, it turns out that women are seen as secondary in relation to men. Non-Muslims are treated as second-class people and despised. Israel is the enemy number one for all the world's Muslims. Holy war - jihad - is a celebrated Muslim duty.
These are just some examples from the past three years of state-controlled TV, newspapers and school books from Iran, Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon [and] Egypt... Can anyone seriously believe that Israel's neighbors truly want peace? If we would still believe this, how can peace and reconciliation be achieved through constant slandering of the Jews, with calls for genocide and terrorism?
Furthermore, the Palestinian school books are another very sad example of the politicized and disastrous development policies of the Swedish Government.
The state of Sweden actually finances this hate propaganda. A recently published [Palestinian Media Watch] report [on PA media and schoolbooks] which [PMW] presented last week to [Swedish] MPs, shows with tragic clarity the Swedish-Palestinian cooperation to spread hatred and lies, and encourage violence.
A lasting peace can never come into being unless it be through border adjustments and power shifts. Both the Balkans and South Africa ought to have taught us that. Peace and reconciliation are linked - something that the EU has taught us. It is naive to believe that "land-for-peace" would in any way bring peace and justice in the Middle East. Muslim media and school books must be exposed and changed.
About three years ago, World Today presented excerpts from a number of television broadcasts from Lebanon, Iran and Egypt. Key messages from these TV stations were: the United States and Israel, Americans and Jews, are guilty of most [catastrophes]: September 11, the AIDS epidemic, SARS, bird flu, the genocide in Rwanda, the destruction of Iranians (!). Therefore, non-Muslims in general must be fought, Jews and Americans in particular should be killed, yes, destroyed.
Just over a year ago a major study of 95 compulsory textbooks in Iran was published. They concern the natural sciences, civic education and religion. The books are used during the first eleven grades. 11 000 pages later, it turns out that women are seen as secondary in relation to men. Non-Muslims are treated as second-class people and despised. Israel is the enemy number one for all the world's Muslims. Holy war - jihad - is a celebrated Muslim duty.
These are just some examples from the past three years of state-controlled TV, newspapers and school books from Iran, Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon [and] Egypt... Can anyone seriously believe that Israel's neighbors truly want peace? If we would still believe this, how can peace and reconciliation be achieved through constant slandering of the Jews, with calls for genocide and terrorism?
Furthermore, the Palestinian school books are another very sad example of the politicized and disastrous development policies of the Swedish Government.