The Obama administration is trying to convince Congress that foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority (P.A.) is the key to peaceful coexistence with Israel. In keeping with this theme the U.S. has granted $4 billion in foreign aid. However, despite this remarkable allocation, a recent study of Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad’s school text books reveal how counterproductive this aid has been. Rather than promote peaceful coexistence, it has encouraged Palestinian terrorism.
The study in question confirms that Palestinian text books set the stage for the next wave of violence. These books: encourage suicide bombing and martyrdom; idolize jihad and bloodshed; cite the 1967 borders of Israel as a “national goal;” define Israel as an illegitimate and immoral state; conspicuously omit any reference to peaceful coexistence; and call for the annihilation of Israel.
"Our Beautiful Language," a 7th grade text notes: “We shall sow Palestine with (martyrs) skeletons and skulls; we shall paint the face of Palestine with blood, but Palestine shall wash our face with heavenly water…”
The eighth grade text says “Our beloved Palestine is calling me, the orphaned cities yearn for me to return and rectify the blunder with storms and lightning…”
At the same time children are being acculturated for war, Obama still speaks serenely and naively of peace. Palestinian education, media and mosques have been manufactured into lines of hatred, incitement, terrorism and suicide bombing. Yet the aid pours into the territory even though Congress is forbidden to appropriate funds that can be used to instill hatred.
It is instructive that Mahmoud Abbas, a man many in the State Department call a "moderate," was assigned the task of developing the Palestinian curriculum two decades ago. That curriculum is vehemently anti-Jewish, anti-Israel and anti-United States. Yet when it comes to aid, the Congress blinds itself to the current reality.
With this curriculum as a backdrop, it is not surprising that the thoroughly discredited and anti-semitic “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” is a best-seller in the Palestinian Authority. Terrorists are idealized in schools, summer camps, tournaments, and street names. And recent attacks on innocent Israeli children often lead to street celebrations.
What then is meant by a two-state solution? By what standard should a Palestinian state exist when it encourages terror and promotes martyrdom among youthful adherents? How reliable can claims of peace be when thoughts of Israel’s destruction are foremost in the minds of Palestinians?
If adjoining states are to live in harmony violence must be contained and discouraged. If the U.S. is to play a helpful role on the pathway to coexistence, aid to the Palestinians should be suspended until it has demonstrated that terrorism is not a goal. Until that time all the discussion about statehood is absurd. Another state devoted to terror is not what the Middle East requires.
The hypocrisy in the United Nations belies an institution engaged in doing the bidding of the Islamic bloc. It appears that the General Assembly is prepared to deny reality and call for the establishment of a Palestinian state. But denial does not, cannot, obviate reality and the reality is that an independent Palestine would invite terrorism into Israel’s backdoor.
Herbert London is president of Hudson Institute and professor emeritus, NYU and author of "Diary of A Dean" and "America's Secular Challenge."
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