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I am no fan of Hillary Clinton, but she has done a great thing today, something groundbreaking and of considerable significance:
Hillary Clinton Blasts 'Hate-Filled' Palestinian Textbooks
Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., on Thursday called for a rejection of new Palestinian textbooks that portray a world without Israel, refer to Jews as "Zionist gangs" and rewrite the Holocaust to ignore atrocities committed against Jews.
"We must stop the propaganda to which Palestinian children are exposed," Clinton said in a news conference in Washington, D.C. "These children deserve an education that instills respect for life and peace instead of glorifying death and violence."
...The report found that 12th-grade textbooks issued in November by the Palestinian Authority "repeatedly reject Israel's right to exist, present the conflict as a religious battle for Islam, teach Israel's founding as imperialism, and actively portray a picture of the Middle East, both verbally and visually, in which Israel does not exist at all."
...Clinton called the textbooks "disturbing," adding that the content "profoundly poisons the mind of these children."
"Hate has no place in the curriculum of schools and the glorification of violence has no place in the education of children," she said, calling on the Palestinian Authority to repudiate the texts it has already approved.
"I believe education is one of the keys to lasting peace and security in the Middle East and the greater region," Clinton said. "You cannot build a peaceful, stable, safe future on such a hate-filled, violent and radical foundation."
Clinton has long been critical of the Palestinian textbooks. In 2000, she said that "all future aid to the Palestinian Authority must be contingent on strict compliance with their obligation to change all textbooks in all grades."
She stood by that comment Thursday, telling Cybercast News Service that, "We're withholding money from the Hamas government, which I think is absolutely appropriate, and we're trying to ensure that no country gives any funding to the Hamas government unless and until they renounce violence and accept Israel's right to exist."
This is very significant, because it goes to the heart of the problem: this 'poisoning of the minds' of generations of children, causing many of them to fill their lives with a hatred of entire nations of people. It's very important for this to be openly and widely discussed.
Hopefully this will encourage politicians to begin examining the similar statements being issued daily on TV -- which is also, of course, seen by children -- in the Arab world. (Here's an example from this week, via Memri).
#1
#2We hear a lot about the hate content in Arab and Palestinian textbooks, but I would be interested to know how Israeli textbooks portray Palestine, other Arab neighbors, and Islam.
Perhaps some of the Israeli posters could give us excerpts so we have a comparison.
I am also not a Hillary and am pleasantly surprised by her remarks. My only complaint--one which applies to practically politicians, not just her, is their standardized use of the words disturbed. Such a mild word! She should be enraged, infuriated, or at least angered.
On the other hand, note how many people say they are just sick and tired of the Jews pushing the Holocaust business on them, even if it did happen. So maybe we should be grateful for the simple disturbed.