Hamas textbooks spread militant ideology through Palestinian schools
'National education' textbooks introduced by Islamist movement are part of war of influence and show growing gulf between Palestinian factions
When a class of Palestinian ninth-graders in Gaza recently discussed the deadly 1929 riots over access to the Western Wall in Jerusalem, it was guided by a new textbook, introduced this autumn by the Islamist Hamas movement.
Asked the lesson of the uprising, one of the 40 boys in class promptly answered: "Al Buraq Wall is an Islamic property," using the Muslim name for the site, one of the holiest in Judaism.
Pleased, the teacher then inquired whether the students would boycott Israeli products, as Arabs had boycotted Jewish businesses in 1929. A resounding chorus of "Yes!" came back.
For the first time since taking control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, the Hamas movement is deviating from the approved Palestinian Authority curriculum, using the new texts as part of a broader push to infuse the next generation with its militant ideology.
Among other points, the books, used by 55,000 children in the eighth, ninth and 10th grades as part of a required "national education" course of study in government schools, do not recognise modern Israel, or even mention the Oslo Peace Accords the country signed with the Palestine Liberation Organisation in the 1990s.
Beyond their take on Israel, the new texts are also a salvo in the war for influence between the rival Palestinian factions: the Gaza-based Hamas, and Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority and the West Bank. They reflect a growing gulf between the 1.7 million Palestinians living in the densely populated Gaza Strip and the 2.5 million spread among the West Bank's cities and villages.