The Center for Near East Policy Research has  concluded  a research project of all PA textbooks used in UNRWA Schools.(1)  The report , authored by Dr. Arnon Groiss and  Dr. Ronni Shaked , published and submitted to the UN on Sept. 27,2017,  has simply been dismissed by UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness as  “inaccurate and misleading” because, he says, 178 of the 201 books cited “are not being used in UNRWA schools.” (2)

UNRWA went on to falsely claim that the US government has conducted its own study of the PA school books and found them to were found “to be free of incitement to terrorism”. UNRWA has shared this “conclusion” with all 68 nations that donate $1.2 billion to UNRWA – 54% of which is allocated to UNRWA education. Here is the list of the UNRWA donor nations:

UNRWA has also spread that lie to all members of the US Congress.  I have spoken with officials of the new US Embassy staff in Israel to ask that the US government correct the UNRWA misrepresentation of US UNRWA policy.

The UNRWA statement goes on to fantasize that “in the small number of instances where issues of concern were found, we have created enriched complementary material for use in our classrooms”, for which our researcher found no evidence.

It must be understood that books used by UNRWA do not say “kill the Jews!”  However, the PA/UNRWA books teach that Dalal al-Mughrabi, who led a terrorist attack on an Israeli civilian bus in 1978 in which  35 men, women and children were murdered , is a heroine and a martyr. Meanwhile, a new PA/UNRWA school book describes a terrorist attack with lethal Molotov cocktails on an Israeli bus near a Jewish community as “a barbecue party”.

In a statement that can only be described as some kind of wry humor, Mr. Gunness stresses that the UNRWA curriculum  “aims to ensure that our curriculum is in line with UN values”.  But the unkindest cut of all is that new PA books of 2017 have stopped using the name “Israel” and have replaced all references to Israel as the “Zionist occupation”.

Is Israel not a member state in the UN?  Is UNRWA, as a UN agency, not obliged to be treated it as such?

Why, does a UN agency not place Israel is not on the map? Is peaceful resolution of conflicts not in line with UN values?

Why does UNRWA, as a UN agency continue to allow Jihad and martyrdom indoctrination into its schools?

Why does UNRWA, as a UN agency, not insist that PA texts invoke expressions of peace and coexistence with Israel?

Instead, a required reading in UNRWA schools is that “I will remove the usurper and exterminate the foreigners’ scattered r.

emnants” (Our Beautiful Language, Grade 3, Part 2 (2016) p. 64) in line with UN values?

Our new comprehensive report clearly shows that the PA and UNRWA curriculum uses has to change its ways.

Instead of futile attempts to undermine solid conclusions based on solid evidence, UNRWA donor nations should look more seriously into the materials it has inculcated for almost seventy years to over two million Palestinian youngsters in its various areas of operation.  Subjecting children to notions of Jihad, martyrdom, victory and “return” is dangerous to both nations and incompatible with UN values. The future of Palestinian children in its care should be UNRWA’s primary concern; otherwise, UNRWA would betray its mission. (3)

See here, here and here.

Concerned? Raise your voice with these nations that donate to UNRWA, beginning with the USA:

The post Don’t believe what your UNRWA Spokesperson tells you appeared first on Israel Behind the News.

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David Bedein

David Bedein is an MSW community organizer and an investigative journalist.   In 1987, Bedein established the Israel Resource News Agency at Beit Agron to accompany foreign journalists in their coverage of Israel, to balance the media lobbies established by the PLO and their allies.   Mr. Bedein has reported for news outlets such as CNN Radio, Makor Rishon, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, BBC and The Jerusalem Post, For four years, Mr. Bedein acted as the Middle East correspondent for The Philadelphia Bulletin, writing 1,062 articles until the newspaper ceased operation in 2010. Bedein has covered breaking Middle East negotiations in Oslo, Ottawa, Shepherdstown, The Wye Plantation, Annapolis, Geneva, Nicosia, Washington, D.C., London, Bonn, and Vienna. Bedein has overseen investigative studies of the Palestinian Authority, the Expulsion Process from Gush Katif and Samaria, The Peres Center for Peace, Peace Now, The International Center for Economic Cooperation of Yossi Beilin, the ISM, Adalah, and the New Israel Fund.   Since 2005, Bedein has also served as Director of the Center for Near East Policy Research.   A focus of the center’s investigations is The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In that context, Bedein authored Roadblock to Peace: How the UN Perpetuates the Arab-Israeli Conflict – UNRWA Policies Reconsidered, which caps Bedein’s 28 years of investigations of UNRWA. The Center for Near East Policy Research has been instrumental in reaching elected officials, decision makers and journalists, commissioning studies, reports, news stories and films. In 2009, the center began decided to produce short movies, in addition to monographs, to film every aspect of UNRWA education in a clear and cogent fashion.   The center has so far produced seven short documentary pieces n UNRWA which have received international acclaim and recognition, showing how which UNRWA promotes anti-Semitism and incitement to violence in their education’   In sum, Bedein has pioneered The UNRWA Reform Initiative, a strategy which calls for donor nations to insist on reasonable reforms of UNRWA. Bedein and his team of experts provide timely briefings to members to legislative bodies world wide, bringing the results of his investigations to donor nations, while demanding reforms based on transparency, refugee resettlement and the demand that terrorists be removed from the UNRWA schools and UNRWA payroll.   Bedein’s work can be found at:www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com and www.cfnepr.com. A new site,unrwa-monitor.com, will be launched very soon.

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