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After criticizing the anti-Israel content in schools run by the United Nations Relief Organization for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the German government is behind the organization.
"The Federal Government welcomes the fact that UNRWA has independently uncovered the problem and has responded promptly," said the answer to a written request from FDP member of the Bundestag Frank Müller-Rosentritt, which WELT has received.
Earlier it became known that teachers at UNRWA-run schools in the Palestinian Territories had been handing out learning materials to students during the pandemic lockdown that reproduced anti-Semitic stereotypes and glorified jihad.
The Israeli non-governmental organization Impact-se first reported on the worksheets in mid-January, some of which have been in circulation since March last year.
Shortly thereafter, UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini responded.
The Swiss confirmed that "inappropriate pages" from textbooks were distributed to schoolchildren.
The material is now being strictly examined.
In addition, UNRWA will start an “innovative online platform”, “on which all tested and approved learning materials are made available for use by students in our schools”.
The Federal Government welcomes this decision: It is expected that “with a view to the e-learning platform set up by UNRWA for the provision of tested and approved learning materials, further incidents will be avoided”.
One rejects any form of anti-Semitism, glorification of violence and incitement to hatred.
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UN officials did not find out about the content until the weeks after teachers had distributed the inappropriate materials.
At this point in time, the worksheets had already been distributed to thousands of households, according to informed sources.
Collecting the leaves again was logistically impossible.
WELT reported on the content, including texts that talked about Israel as a “Zionist occupier” and Palestinians as “martyrs”.
FDP politician Müller-Rosentritt considers the German government's stance on the incidents to be "too passive, clichéd and waiting".
"The educational work in the Palestinian territories in particular is incredibly important. After all, we all want it to work," said Müller-Rosentritt.
“There are good reasons why we put the most money into this system.” In this respect, the federal government should “have a vital interest in simply having a reliable, regular monitoring process,” says the FDP MP.
"Expect a decisive fight against anti-Semitism"
In the past year, the federal government allocated more than $ 200 million to UNRWA.
This makes it the largest donor of the aid program.
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The UNRWA is repeatedly criticized for not taking decisive action against anti-Israeli resentment.
The organization emphasizes that the curricula of the approximately 370 schools in the Palestinian territories are created by the Palestinian Authority.
UNRWA has no mandate to develop school books itself.
In the past, the organization's efforts to influence the design of the curriculum had repeatedly led to upheavals between the UN organization and the Palestinian Authority.
According to its own statements, the organization is currently pursuing the approach of sensitizing teachers to passages in school books that are incompatible with the values of the UN.
"The teachers must be able to classify and correct all problematic areas themselves," says the organization's website.
Müller-Rosentritt is also demanding more credible commitment to peace from the federal government.
Only then could Germany act as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinians.
"There is a big difference between the ritualized use of the phrase that Israel's security is German reasons of state and what that means in concrete terms," said the FDP MP.
"I expect the federal government to understand this reason of state as a decisive fight against anti-Semitism."