Palestinian Authority schools have long been used to foster anti-Semitic sentiments in young Arabs.
Some schools, however, have taken the messages of hate – printed in official Palestinian Authority textbooks and broadcast on public television – to the next level, openly inciting violence to produce the next generation of murderous terrorists.
An expose by the Palestinian Media Watch, which tracks incitement and anti-Semitic rhetoric in the Palestinian Authority, has revealed a disturbing pattern of behavior by PA schools, many of which use drama and “cultural studies” to enact murder scenes – and glorify them.
For example, at the Tuqu High School for Boys – a state-run school in the Bethlehem area – hundreds of students watched a performance intended to perpetuate PA blood libels against Israelis.
During the play in question, Israeli soldiers arrest a young Arab man, plant a knife next to him, then shoot him in cold blood, claiming their lives were in danger. The young man is then carried away and hailed as a martyr.
For younger students, the messaging is even more direct – and brutal.
At the Al-Surra Elementary School near Hevron, a young boy wearing a large “Palestine” sash guns down another boy dressed as an Israeli soldier in a mock execution.
The soldier is shown on his knees, holding up his hands in surrender. Nevertheless, after the “execution”, the shooter smiles in satisfaction and is cheered by his classmates.