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Written Question
Palestinians: Textbooks
Wednesday 29th April 2020

Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with her international counterparts on reports of incitement to violence in the online version of the Palestinian Authority school curriculum used by students at home as a result of school closures during the covid-19 pandemic.

Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary

The UK government is deeply concerned about allegations of incitement in the Palestinian Authority’s curriculum. ?We are pleased that the Palestinian Authority is undertaking a review of its textbooks and updating them for the new academic year.

The UK has been at the forefront of international action to get to the bottom of allegations. We secured agreement from European partners to commission the Georg Eckert Institute to conduct an independent review, which is currently underway. The scope of the Review was set before the COVID-19 crisis and it does not cover online teaching arrangements put in place by the Palestinian Authority while schools are closed. Any changes to its scope would be a matter for Georg Eckert Institute and our European Partners. We have not had specific discussions with our international counterparts on the Palestinian Authority’s online curriculum. Ministers have regularly raised the issue of incitement in the education sector with the PA’s Minister for Education,?which the Secretary of State did most recently in February this year.


Written Question
Palestinians: Curriculum
Wednesday 29th April 2020

Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the Georg Eckert Institute review of the Palestinian curriculum will include the online lessons by Palestinian Authority teachers during the covid-19 pandemic.

Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary

The UK government is deeply concerned about allegations of incitement in the Palestinian Authority’s curriculum. ?We are pleased that the Palestinian Authority is undertaking a review of its textbooks and updating them for the new academic year.

The UK has been at the forefront of international action to get to the bottom of allegations. We secured agreement from European partners to commission the Georg Eckert Institute to conduct an independent review, which is currently underway. The scope of the Review was set before the COVID-19 crisis and it does not cover online teaching arrangements put in place by the Palestinian Authority while schools are closed. Any changes to its scope would be a matter for Georg Eckert Institute and our European Partners. We have not had specific discussions with our international counterparts on the Palestinian Authority’s online curriculum. Ministers have regularly raised the issue of incitement in the education sector with the PA’s Minister for Education,?which the Secretary of State did most recently in February this year.


Written Question
Palestinians: Textbooks
Wednesday 29th April 2020

Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of reports that a Palestinian Authority teacher recently gave 10-year-olds an online reading comprehension lesson glorifying the terrorist Dalal Mughrabi.

Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary

The UK government is deeply concerned about allegations of incitement in the Palestinian Authority’s curriculum. ?We are pleased that the Palestinian Authority is undertaking a review of its textbooks and updating them for the new academic year.

The UK has been at the forefront of international action to get to the bottom of allegations. We secured agreement from European partners to commission the Georg Eckert Institute to conduct an independent review, which is currently underway. The scope of the Review was set before the COVID-19 crisis and it does not cover online teaching arrangements put in place by the Palestinian Authority while schools are closed. Any changes to its scope would be a matter for Georg Eckert Institute and our European Partners. We have not had specific discussions with our international counterparts on the Palestinian Authority’s online curriculum. Ministers have regularly raised the issue of incitement in the education sector with the PA’s Minister for Education,?which the Secretary of State did most recently in February this year.


Written Question
Palestinians: Textbooks
Wednesday 25th March 2020

Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the compliance with Article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child of the reported use of Palestinian Authority school textbooks containing antisemitic and extremist content.

Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary

The UK government is deeply concerned about the allegations of incitement in Palestinian Authority’s school textbooks. The International Development Secretary reiterated our concerns in a call to the Palestinian Authority’s Education Minister just last month.

The UK has been at the forefront of international action to get to the bottom of the allegations. We funded work to develop the methodology for an independent textbook Review sponsored by our European partners. We expect an interim report in June, with a full report later in the year. We have regular discussions with our European Partners on the Review.