A study by the union stated that the Palestinian textbooks do not incite against Israel • but that the results were based on an analysis of the textbooks in Israel • The union conceals the findings

• Palestinian high school students in Hebron, this week

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  Archive: AFP

A study initiated by the European Union to examine the textbooks of the Palestinian Authority incorporated textbooks in Arabic of the Israeli education system into its examination.

The study is designed to examine whether the textbooks in PA schools include content of incitement against Israel.

The study, which examined textbooks in the Palestinian Authority, was ordered by former EU Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini, following harsh criticism from members of the European Parliament and NGOs that EU funds fund incitement against Israel, and do not educate for peace.

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However, the Impact C research institute, which examines textbooks around the world and exposed Palestinian incitement, suspected from the outset that the research was not done professionally, but was intended to whitewash the facts. The services of the George Eckert Institute were hired to conduct the research. The study, some of whose findings were obtained by Israel Today, includes errors in translation from Western to English. Although the study has long been completed, the EU has repeatedly rejected the publication of the findings.

It is now clear that the study also mixes, as mentioned, Palestinian textbooks with Israeli textbooks in East Jerusalem. These are books that were originally prepared by the PA, but have undergone substantial amendments that included the replacement of the anti-Israel elements with contents of peace and tolerance. These books have been reviewed and approved by the Israeli education system.

The internal presentation of the European Institute presents the chapter "Change in textbooks". The researchers claim that there is a change in the eighth grade curriculum. "Five examples relating to the conflict with Israel have been replaced by examples promoting peace or tolerance towards Israel." The researchers also talk about the cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians in the fire brigade of both sides and claim that the Palestinians tell about them in the textbooks.

However, an examination by the Impact C Institute shows that the researchers cited textbooks of the Arab-Israeli education system, and not of the Palestinians. According to the Impact C study, other parts of the study also have a clear lack of professionalism.

"Comedy of Mistakes"

Marcus Chef, CEO of the Impact C Institute, told Israel Today that the serious flaws in the study and the concealment of the findings are "a really unfortunate thing." "The study was a comedy of mistakes from beginning to end. The researchers 'researched' the wrong textbooks. They examined textbooks for Arab schools in Jerusalem and presented them as coming from the Palestinian Authority. "There are embarrassing sentences in the study in basic Arabic that lacks familiarity with Palestinian culture, and strangely enough, there is a citation of research that does not exist."

The European Union did not respond to "Israel Today" questions about the errors in the study and the concealment of its findings.