75 Palestinian Authority schools named after terrorists and Nazi collaborators and honoring Martyrs and Martyrdom
75 Palestinian Authority schools
named after terrorists and Nazi collaborators
and honoring Martyrs and Martyrdom
- 31 PA schools named after terrorists
- 3 PA schools named after Nazi collaborators
- 41 PA school names glorify Martyrdom
- School funded by Belgium given name of terrorist
by Itamar Marcus
Introduction: PA Schools Turn Terrorists into Role ModelsThe PA Ministry of Education has named at least 31 schools after terrorists and an additional 3 schools after Nazi collaborators, while at least 41 school names honor "Martyrs." Significantly, the PA Ministry of Education is directly and solely responsible for the naming of schools:
"The naming of schools and changes are the responsibility of the Minister of Education, by a direct decision of the Ministry or the Name Committee."
[Ma'an, independent news agency, Aug. 26, 2015,
see also WAFA, official Palestinian Authority news agency Aug. 25, 2015]
By naming schools after terrorists, the Palestinian Authority is telling its children most emphatically that terrorists who have murdered Israeli civilians are role models and heroes. PMW has found evidence that in practice, students who attend such schools refer to terrorists as personal heroes whom they look up to and aspire to emulate. For example, the Shadia Abu Ghazaleh School for Girls is named after one of the first female Palestinian terrorists. She was killed in 1968 when a bomb she was preparing accidentally detonated. This is what the girls studying in one of the two schools named after Abu Ghazaleh said about her when interviewed on PA TV:
PA TV host: "What do you know about Shadia Abu Ghazaleh, you study in a school named after her?"Girl 1: "Shadia Abu Ghazaleh is a model of the patriotic woman..."
Girl 2: "She was a model of the wonderful female Palestinian fighter. We follow her path in this school."
Girl 3: "We're happy that our school is named after a very well-known Martyr, who played a role and who did something great."
Girl 4: "The school is named after her to commemorate her... and encourage people to be like her."
Girl 5: "Shadia was a model for us and will remain a model for us and we will follow her path."
The students definitely know that it is a bomb maker they are praising as their role model, because a mural with Abu Ghazaleh’s face and biography highlights this and appears prominently on a school wall: Biography below picture of the terrorist:
"Shadia Abu Ghazaleh... participated in the operation that blew up a bus. She was at home preparing a bomb in order to detonate it in an Israeli building in Tel Aviv but it exploded in her hands."
[Official PA TV, Dec. 5 2013, rebroadcast Dec. 9, 2013]
There are five schools named after Dalal Mughrabi, the terrorist who led the murder of 37 civilians, including 12 children, in a bus hijacking. When high school girls from one of these schools were interviewed, these students likewise saw their school’s namesake as a role model:
Girl 1: "Dalal Mughrabi is a great leader... Our mothers give birth to thousands like Dalal, and she still walks among us... I personally am proud to attend the Dalal Mughrabi School."
Girl 2: "My life's ambition is to reach the level of the Martyr fighter Dalal Mughrabi."
[Official PA TV, March 27, 2014]
Glorifying terrorists and "Martyrdom" by naming schools after terrorists, is sending a grave message to children that killing Israelis and seeking death for Allah are valued goals. This report documents the PA’s policy of venerating terror, violence, and death through the names it chooses for its schools.School funded by Belgium renamed after terrorist murderer Dalal Mughrabi
One of the five schools named after Dalal Mughrabi, the terrorist cited above who led the murder of 37 civilians, was built using money from the Belgium government. Initially it was named "The Beit Awaa School," and subsequently was renamed the "Dalal Mughrabi Elementary School." The plaque citing Belgium’s funding on the wall of the Dalal Mughrabi School reads in English and Arabic:
"Through a fund from the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium
and through the Belgian Development Agency BTC,
constructed and furnished, Beit Awaa Basic Girls School"
[Facebook page of Dalal Mughrabi Elementary School,
(accessed Sept. 18, 2017)]
The pictures below are from the Facebook page of this Dalal Mughrabi school (accessed Sept. 18, 2017). The first screenshot shows the school logo in the profile photo of the school’s Facebook page and the plaque from Belgium. Below it on the left is the school logo enlarged showing the face of terrorist Mughrabi and the text: "The Dalal Mughrabi Elementary School." To the right of it enlarged is the plaque about Belgium’s funding. (accessed Sept. 18, 2017)]
Naming and renaming institutions after terrorists without notifying the donor country is a recurring Palestinian practice. Earlier this year, PMW exposed that a community center for young women that had been funded by Norway, Denmark, and the UN was also named, without the donors’ knowledge, after terrorist Dalal Mughrabi. Each of the donors expressed outrage and demanded their money be returned and their name removed from the plaque. Read below on the topic of international donor funding of PA education.
Introduction: PA Schools Turn Terrorists into Role Models
1. 31 schools the PA has named after terrorists
2. Three schools the PA has named after Nazi collaborators:
3. 41 Palestinian Authority school names glorify Martyrs or Martyrdom
4. International donors reject association with PA institutions named for terrorists
Conclusions
1. 31 schools the PA has named after terrorists
2. Three schools the PA has named after Nazi collaborators:
3. 41 Palestinian Authority school names glorify Martyrs or Martyrdom
4. International donors reject association with PA institutions named for terrorists
Conclusions