Tweet
PA promises 'Protocols' ammendment
SHEERA CLAIRE FRENKEL, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 14, 2005
Following The Jerusalem Post's report Tuesday that Palestinian textbooks contained references to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion as an "integral part" of Zionist history, the Palestinian Authority has promised to remove the mention from future textbooks.
"The Palestinians Minister [of Education Naim Abu al-Humos] said that it was a mistake that would be immediately corrected," said a spokesman for the Belgian Ministry of Development speaking to the Post by telephone. "They apologized and said they would report to us where the reference originated."
He added that in the next printing of this year's textbooks the reference would be omitted. A Web site for the Palestinian Education Ministry that also included a reference to the Protocols was corrected immediately, said the Belgian spokesman.
The Protocols are a fabricated document purporting to disclose the secret plans of a Jewish conspiracy for world domination.
The Belgian government, which has funded the books since 2000, was scheduled to end its funding this year.
"At this point we are not reviewing funding the textbooks for an additional year," said the Belgian spokesperson.
"In the future, if we are to reconsider supporting the textbooks, then it would only be with an enhanced screening process."
The textbooks were originally funded by Italy, Finland, and the Netherlands. However, this year's books only credited "Arab nations" and the Belgium government for funding.
"A lot of what appears in the Palestinian textbooks in regards to the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion' and the lack of the existence of Israel on any map feeds into the incitement that the Palestinian Authority promised to put an end to," said a senior official in the Prime Minister's Office. "This is another example of steps not taken [as part of] stage one roadmap obligations."
"The mention of the 'Protocols' is indeed wrong and the Belgian government recognizes the 'Protocols' as an anti-Semitic document," said the Belgian spokesman.
"It is something we cannot support and we feel it is totally wrong."
The government has begun reevaluating why the mention was not caught by the "screening process," which included an Arab-speaking staff that read through the textbook and approved them as not being anti-Semitic.
The Belgian Minister of Development, who heads the department that funds the textbooks, said that he asked the Palestinian Ministry of Education why the mention of the Protocols was included in the textbook.
SHEERA CLAIRE FRENKEL, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 14, 2005
Following The Jerusalem Post's report Tuesday that Palestinian textbooks contained references to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion as an "integral part" of Zionist history, the Palestinian Authority has promised to remove the mention from future textbooks.
"The Palestinians Minister [of Education Naim Abu al-Humos] said that it was a mistake that would be immediately corrected," said a spokesman for the Belgian Ministry of Development speaking to the Post by telephone. "They apologized and said they would report to us where the reference originated."
He added that in the next printing of this year's textbooks the reference would be omitted. A Web site for the Palestinian Education Ministry that also included a reference to the Protocols was corrected immediately, said the Belgian spokesman.
The Protocols are a fabricated document purporting to disclose the secret plans of a Jewish conspiracy for world domination.
The Belgian government, which has funded the books since 2000, was scheduled to end its funding this year.
"At this point we are not reviewing funding the textbooks for an additional year," said the Belgian spokesperson.
"In the future, if we are to reconsider supporting the textbooks, then it would only be with an enhanced screening process."
The textbooks were originally funded by Italy, Finland, and the Netherlands. However, this year's books only credited "Arab nations" and the Belgium government for funding.
"A lot of what appears in the Palestinian textbooks in regards to the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion' and the lack of the existence of Israel on any map feeds into the incitement that the Palestinian Authority promised to put an end to," said a senior official in the Prime Minister's Office. "This is another example of steps not taken [as part of] stage one roadmap obligations."
"The mention of the 'Protocols' is indeed wrong and the Belgian government recognizes the 'Protocols' as an anti-Semitic document," said the Belgian spokesman.
"It is something we cannot support and we feel it is totally wrong."
The government has begun reevaluating why the mention was not caught by the "screening process," which included an Arab-speaking staff that read through the textbook and approved them as not being anti-Semitic.
The Belgian Minister of Development, who heads the department that funds the textbooks, said that he asked the Palestinian Ministry of Education why the mention of the Protocols was included in the textbook.
Comment