If The 'E' In UNESCO Really Does Stand For "Education" What Is "Palestine" Doing There?

Putting aside whether a pseudo-state with no defined borders can become a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), admitting it into UNESCO obviously took more than a little stretch of imagination--and an agenda.

All you have to do is take a look at what passes for education--and according to a study of the Palestinian school curriculum, Palestine clearly does not belong in UNESCO:

The Palestinian Authority does not meet the UNESCO recommendations for becoming a full member in the international organization, according to a study published on Monday by IMPACT-SE – the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education.

IMPACT-SE is a research organization that monitors and analyzes schoolbooks and curricula across the Middle East with an eye toward determining their compliance with international standards on peace and tolerance, a goal derived directly from UNESCO declarations and resolutions.

Keep in mind that Abbas is supposed to be a moderate and the last best chance for peace that Israel has. But looking at the facts, you see that Abbas is no more a partner for peace than "Palestine" belongs in UNESCO:

The study also found that there was continued demonization of both Israel and the Jews in the books. Jews are described, among others, as violating treaties, getting rich unduly, deceitful, murdering children, disemboweling women and invading snakes. They are never presented in neutral or positive terms.

The study quotes the following examples from the Palestinian schoolbooks: “The Messenger of God [Muhammad] ordered Zayd Ibn Thabit to learn the language of the Jews in order to be safe from their cheating,” History of the Arabs and Muslims, Grade 6, (2009), page 133; “Your enemies killed your children, split open your women’s bellies, held your revered elderly men by the beard, and led them to the death pits,” Reading and Texts, Grade 8, Part 2, [2003] (reprinted 2007), page 16; and “By your life! How come snakes invade us and we [still] observe a protection covenant [dhimma] which respects commitments?” Arabic Language– Linguistic Sciences, Grade 12, (2010), page 61.

“The Oslo accords and the Declaration of Principles are mentioned and even quoted, but they are not praised and a peacefully negotiated settlement is not advocated or supported,” said the authors of the study.

At least Abbas is consistent: he no more advocates and supports the Oslo agreement than he recognizes Israel as a Jewish state.

Abbas is also consistent in that his public commemoration and honoring of Palestinian terrorists who murder women and children meshes perfectly with the educational system he has set up that inculcates hatred of Jews--and not just Israelis.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is obviously no place for a "Palestine" whose education and culture encourages the murder of its neighbors.

Technorati Tag: Israel and UNESCO and Palestine.