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EU Investigates Palestinian Curricula over Alleged Hate Education

Pupils gather in front of a school run by the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza City on August 29, 2018, on the first day of classes after the summer holidays. (AFP/ Mahmud Hams)
Pupils gather in front of a school run by the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza City on August 29, 2018, on the first day of classes after the summer holidays. (AFP/ Mahmud Hams)
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EU Investigates Palestinian Curricula over Alleged Hate Education

Pupils gather in front of a school run by the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza City on August 29, 2018, on the first day of classes after the summer holidays. (AFP/ Mahmud Hams)
Pupils gather in front of a school run by the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza City on August 29, 2018, on the first day of classes after the summer holidays. (AFP/ Mahmud Hams)

The European Union (EU) has decided to investigate the new Palestinian textbooks after reports said they promote against peace with Israel.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini stated that the EU took this decision after a study by a non-government organization showed that the new Palestinian textbooks are even more radical than previous editions.

The purpose of the probe is to "identify possible incitement to hate and violence and non-compliance with UNESCO standards regarding peace and tolerance in education," Mogherini said.

"Incitement to violence is incompatible with the promotion of the two-state solution, and greatly exacerbates the lack of trust between the communities,” she added.

The EU grants the Palestinian Authority annually around EUR360 million, much of which goes to the Education Ministry. The EU passed a legislation in April 2018 to prevent hateful content in Palestinian textbooks.

The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education, IMPACT-SE, published last month a 70-page document with hundreds of examples of incitement for hate in the new Palestinian textbooks.

According to the investigation by IMPACT-SE, the 2018-2019 curriculum has intentionally omitted studies about peace or the presence of Jews before 1948.

"The European Union is the largest financial donor to the Palestinian Ministry of Education. But European taxpayers' money and good will have been abused for years, with generations of young Palestinians systematically undergoing radicalization," said Marcus Sheff, CEO of the institute.

 "There is no excuse and no justification. The PA takes hundreds of millions of euros and in return educates millions of children to violence, hatred, and Jihad. We hope that the EU's in-depth examination of this issue will help put an end to this abuse of children and will finally enable young Palestinians to finally receive a meaningful education for peace and tolerance,” he added.

However, the Palestinian Ministry of Education said that its previous and updated curricula are committed to the message of openness, independence, and international standards. They also reinforce the identity and belonging to the Palestinian community and demand the end of the occupation, it said.

The ministry added that in the past two years it requested an impartial European committee to compare the Israeli and Palestinian curricula but Israel rejected the move, which means that the occupation’s curricula are full of incitement.

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Arab World

Italy Arrests 7 Accused of Raising Millions for Hamas

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Italy Arrests 7 Accused of Raising Millions for Hamas

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Italian police said Saturday that they have arrested seven people suspected of raising millions of euros for Palestinian group Hamas.

Police also issued international arrests for two others outside the country, said AFP.

Three associations, officially supporting Palestinian civilians but allegedly serving as a front for funding Hamas, are implicated in the investigation, said a police statement.

The nine individuals are accused of having financed approximately seven million euros ($8 million) to "associations based in Gaza, the Palestinian territories, or Israel, owned, controlled, or linked to Hamas."

While the official objective of the three associations was to collect donations "for humanitarian purposes for the Palestinian people," more than 71 percent was earmarked for the direct financing of Hamas" or entities affiliated with the movement, according to police.

Some of the money went to "family members implicated in terrorist attacks," the statement said.

Among those arrested was Mohammad Hannoun, president of the Palestinian Association in Italy, according to media reports.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi posted on X that the operation "lifted the veil on behavior and activities which, pretending to be initiatives in favor of the Palestinian population, concealed support for and participation in terrorist organizations."

Arab World

Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
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Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)

Türkiye held a military funeral ceremony Saturday morning for five Libyan officers, including western Libya’s military chief, who died in a plane crash earlier this week.

The private jet with Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, four other military officers and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after taking off from Ankara, Türkiye’s capital, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.

Al-Hadad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a crucial role in the ongoing, UN-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military.

The high-level Libyan delegation was on its way back to Tripoli, Libya’s capital, after holding defense talks in Ankara aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.

Saturday's ceremony was held at 8:00 a.m. local time at the Murted Airfield base, near Ankara, and attended by the Turkish military chief and the defense minister. The five caskets, each wrapped in a Libyan national flag, were then loaded onto a plane to be returned to their home country.

Türkiye’s military chief, Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, was also on the plane headed to Libya, state-run news agency TRT reported.

The bodies recovered from the crash site were kept at the Ankara Forensic Medicine Institute for identification. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc told reporters their DNA was compared to family members who joined a 22-person delegation that arrived from Libya after the crash.

Tunc also said Germany was asked to help examine the jet's black boxes as an impartial third party.

Arab World

Syrian Foreign Ministry: Talks with SDF Have Not Yielded Tangible Results

SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
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Syrian Foreign Ministry: Talks with SDF Have Not Yielded Tangible Results

SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)

A source from the Syrian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the talks with the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) over their integration into state institutions “have not yielded tangible results.”

Discussions about merging the northeastern institutions into the state remain “hypothetical statements without execution,” it told Syria’s state news agency SANA.

Repeated assertions over Syria’s unity are being contradicted by the reality on the ground in the northeast, where the Kurds hold sway and where administrative, security and military institutions continue to be run separately from the state, it added.

The situation “consolidates the division” instead of addressing it, it warned.

It noted that despite the SDF’s continued highlighting of its dialogue with the Syrian state, these discussions have not led to tangible results.

It seems that the SDF is using this approach to absorb the political pressure on it, said the source. The truth is that there is little actual will to move from discussion to application of the March 10 agreement.

This raises doubts over the SDF’s commitment to the deal, it stressed.

Talk about rapprochement between the state and SDF remains meaningless if the agreement is not implemented on the ground within a specific timeframe, the source remarked.

Furthermore, the continued deployment of armed formations on the ground that are not affiliated with the Syrian army are evidence that progress is not being made.

The persistence of the situation undermines Syria’s sovereignty and hampers efforts to restore stability, it warned.