Hate propaganda is scattered through Palestinian textbooks, according to an August 29 Arutz Sheva report.

The latest study of Palestinian Authority (pa) textbooks commissioned by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reveals “a curriculum that prepares a new generation of Palestinians to destroy Israel” (ibid.). This is hardly a revelation, having been going on for many years, but it still serves as a good reminder for what Israel is up against as its prime minister, Ehud Olmert, contemplates the next round of territorial concessions to the Palestinians.

For instance, Israel does not appear on any of the maps in the textbooks; the name of Israel is replaced with Palestine. Haifa, Israel’s warm-water port, is annexed as a Palestinian seaport, and the Israeli cities of Galilee, Nazareth and Beit She’an are shown as Palestinian regions. Furthermore, the problems the Palestinians face are blamed solely on Israel, with it being portrayed as the enemy. Martyrdom and jihad are glorified, with war and violence being represented as the means of accomplishing Palestinian goals. The full report can be found here.

Indoctrination of Palestinian youth with hostile propaganda toward Israel will only perpetuate the intransigence of youthful Palestinians. After all, what will indoctrinated Palestinian youth—taught to either ignore or abhor Israel’s right to exist—mature into? A generation of peacemakers? Hardly.

This problem craves an immediate change. But perhaps the most troubling aspect of it is the lack of attention it receives from the highest echelons of the Israeli government. Besieged on all fronts by war and internal strife, Israel’s leaders appear to have let the issue slide to the back burner.

Their attitude may perhaps be summed up by Olmert’s comment back in 2001, “They [the pa] can teach what they want, and we will teach what we want.”