The European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, on Monday called on the European Union (EU) to review the conditions by which it gives funding to education in the Palestinian Authority (PA).
“Firm commitment to fight anti-Semitism & engage with Palestinian Authority + UNRWA to promote quality education for Palestinian children & ensure full adherence to UNESCO standards of peace, tolerance, co-existence, non-violence in Palestinian textbooks,” tweeted Varhelyi.
“The conditionality of our financial assistance in the educational sector needs to be duly considered,” he added.
His comments follow the European Commission’s publication of a study on PA textbooks which found that those textbooks contain many elements that educate for anti-Semitism, glorification of terrorists and terror activities, and the denial of Israel's right to exist.
Past research has also shown that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) uses educational material which includes anti-Semitism and incitement to violence.
In April, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning UNRWA for teaching hate and violence in Palestinian Authority (PA) schools.
The resolution expressed concern "about the hate speech and violence taught in Palestinian school textbooks and used in schools by UNRWA" and insists that financial aid be conditioned on the removal of educational materials that promote hatred and incitement to violence.
Last week, a cross-party group of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General and EU Commission president demanding an investigation into UNRWA’s educational materials.