Today, Arabic media reports that, after lengthy meetings with Hamas leaders, UNRWA caved and has "frozen" that curriculum in Gaza to placate the Hamas terrorists who prefer to teach children how to murder.
UNRWA's human rights curriculum is far from perfect, however.
In 2011, an expert evaluated the UNRWA human rights curriculum at the time. He found that while it did talk about most of the topics in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, its omissions were significant.
The good parts, including parts that Hamas would object to:
The content includes social, behavioral and environmental values such as: good social manners, mutual respect, tolerance, equality between members of the different sexes, races, socio-economic classes etc., personal hygiene, care for personal and public property, non-discrimination against the poor and the handicapped, mutual help, conversation manners, time management, freedom of expression and respect for others' views, cooperation, respect for the law, integrity, protection of the environment, peace and non-violence, love for family members and friends, social responsibility, patriotism, equal opportunities, free elections, peaceful collective expression of views (that is, meeting, assembly, rally, demonstration, etc.), non-smoking, social activity through NGOs, respect for others' feelings, listening, negotiation, peaceful solution to conflicts, the courage to admit mistakes, respect for others' privacy, respect for others' rights, recognition of the right to be different, the importance of education, the importance of order and cleanliness, respect for one's parents, etc. The discussion of these values repeats itself along the grades.
The bad parts:
What is missing from this list - with no justification - is freedom of religion, religious equality and religious tolerance. In fact, the books are totally devoid of any mention of religion.So even according to UNRWA, human rights are only something that apply to Palestinian Arabs, but Jews do not deserve any.
· The Middle East war is absent from the books. None of the values mentioned: peace, tolerance, peaceful resolution of conflicts, non-violence, etc. is given an interpretation in connection to the conflict. On the other hand, there are few references to aspects of the conflict - all presenting the Palestinians as victims. For example, an exercise includes a picture of two girls sitting next to a tent with a demolished house in the background. The caption reads: "A family whose house was demolished lives in a tent" (Human Rights Curriculum, Grade 3, Part 2 (2010) p. 34). In another example the children of Gaza fly kites "in spite of the [Israeli] siege" (Human Rights Curriculum, Grade 5, Part 2 (2010) p. 66).
· In conclusion, the books - if they are indeed used in school, which I could not ascertain - contribute to the creation of more tolerant atmosphere within Palestinian society (save for Muslim-Christian relations). Their contribution to a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is nil, if not negative.
But even this was too much for Hamas to stomach. And UNRWA, naturally, gave in.
How long will it be before UNRWA adopts Hamas' curriculum of violence and intolerance?