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PALESTINIAN EDUCATION—TEACHING

PEACE OR WAR?

HEARING

BEFORE A

SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE

COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

SPECIAL HEARING

OCTOBER 30, 2003—WASHINGTON, DC

Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate
(II)

COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

TED STEVENS, Alaska, Chairman

THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi

ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania

PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico

CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri

MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky

CONRAD BURNS, Montana

RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama

JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire

ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah

BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado

LARRY CRAIG, Idaho

KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas

MIKE DEWINE, Ohio

SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas

ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia

DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii

ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, South Carolina

PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont

TOM HARKIN, Iowa

BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland

HARRY REID, Nevada

HERB KOHL, Wisconsin

PATTY MURRAY, Washington

BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota

DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California

RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois

TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana

JAMES W. MORHARD, Staff Director

LISA SUTHERLAND, Deputy Staff Director

TERRENCE E. SAUVAIN, Minority Staff Director

SUBCOMMITTEE ON DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND

EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES

ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania, Chairman

THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi

JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire

LARRY CRAIG, Idaho

KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas

TED STEVENS, Alaska

MIKE DEWINE, Ohio

RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama

TOM HARKIN, Iowa

ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, South Carolina

DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii

HARRY REID, Nevada

HERB KOHL, Wisconsin

PATTY MURRAY, Washington

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana

ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia (Ex officio)

Professional Staff

BETTILOU TAYLOR

JIM SOURWINE

MARK LAISCH

SUDIP SHRIKANT PARIKH

CANDICE ROGERS

ELLEN MURRAY (Minority)

ERIK FATEMI (Minority)

ADRIENNE HALLETT (Minority)

Administrative Support

CAROLE GEAGLEY
(III)

CONTENTS

Page

Opening statement of Senator Arlen Specter ........................................................ 1

Statement of Itamar Marcus, director, Palstinian Media Watch ........................ 2

Statement of Hon. David Satterfield, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State

for Near Eastern Affairs, Department of State ................................................. 3

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 5

Statement of James Kunder, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Asia and

Near Eastern Affairs, Director, Afghan Relief and Reconstruction, USAID ... 9

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 10

Statement of Richard Solomon, President, U.S. Institute of Peace ..................... 13

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 15

Prepared statement of Itamar Marcus .................................................................. 32

Statement of Hassan Abdel Rahman, chief representative, PLO Mission .......... 33

Statement of Ziad Asali, president, American Task Force on Palestine ............. 38

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 40

Opening statement of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton ...................................... 52

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 54

Statement of Morton Klein, president, Zionist Organization of America ........... 55

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 59

Prepared statement of The American Jewish Committee .................................... 68

(1)

PALESTINIAN EDUCATION—TEACHING PEACE

OR WAR?

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2003

U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN

SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES, COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, Washington, DC.

The subcommittee met at 9:30 a.m., in room SD–192, Dirksen

Senate Office Building, Hon. Arlen Specter (chairman) presiding.

Present: Senator Specter.

Also present: Senator Clinton.

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR ARLEN SPECTER

Senator SPECTER. It is 9:30, the scheduled starting time for the

hearing of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and

Human Services, and Education.

This morning, we are going to take up the issue of education of

Palestinian young people, the issue of the funding of the U.S. Government for the Palestinian Authority, and the implications on the

Mid-East peace process.

A few days ago, I had an opportunity to see some videos of young

Palestinians talking about suicide bombings and the benefits of

participating in that kind of a suicide bombing as an entry to heaven and as an entry to paradise. Notwithstanding some substantial

experience in terrorism and what is going on in the Mid-East I

found these videos to be absolutely shocking—absolutely shocking

that teenagers, attractive young Palestinians, were stating a view

that the desired goal in life is to be a suicide bomber, to kill as

many Israelis as they could as an entry to nirvana, to heaven, to

paradise.

This hearing has been scheduled as promptly as we could because of our views that these films ought to be known by the people

of the United States and the people of the world as to what is going

on. We have seen and heard a lot about suicide bombings, but I believe these videos have a portrayal and a depiction on an entirely

different level.

Consideration was given to having this hearing in the Foreign

Operations subcommittee, where I’m a member, and I discussed it

with the chairman there, Senator McConnell, and the decision was

made to proceed in this subcommittee because the Foreign Operations appropriation bill is now under consideration by the full

Senate and it was thought this was the better committee to proceed.
2

We are going to be hearing from administration authorities.

We’re going to be hearing from the representatives of the Palestinian Authority. We’re going to be hearing from people who are in

favor of the peace process, people who have questions about the

peace process.

Since the Oslo Accords in 1993, the U.S. Government has contributed $1,200,000,000 to the Palestinian Authority, almost all of

it going to non-governmental agencies. This year, some $20 million

has been allocated under waiver provisions, allocated by the Department of State, and we’re going to be questioning the wisdom

of that, in light of the terrorism that the Palestinian Authority is

a party to. Before, some $36 million went directly to the Palestinian Authority, so most of the funding has been going to non-governmental agencies. But, even there, there’s a substantial question

as to where the money ends up.

In 1995, Senator Shelby and I introduced an amendment to the

Foreign Operations bill which prohibited governmental funding to

the Palestinian Authority until the Palestinian Authority made a

maximum effort to avoid terrorism and to recognize the State of

Israel.

Now, that is a very, very brief overview and a very brief introduction.

STATEMENT OF ITAMAR MARCUS, DIRECTOR, PALSTINIAN MEDIA

WATCH

Senator SPECTER. We have a very distinguished panel of witnesses. We’re going to start, really, out of turn here today, with Mr.

Itamar Marcus, who is the director of the Palestinian Media

Watch, showing us these videos, which, as I say, I saw a few days

ago, and that will set the stage for the witnesses from the administration, the witnesses from the Palestinian Authority, and our

other witnesses.

Mr. Marcus, if you would identify yourself for the record, I would

appreciate it.

Mr. MARCUS. Yes, director of Palestinian Media Watch.

Senator SPECTER. And do you have in your possession certain

videos?

Mr. MARCUS. Yes.

Senator SPECTER. And where were the videos obtained?

Mr. MARCUS. Everything that you’ll see was filmed in Palestinian

Authority television. This is PBC, Palestine Broadcast Company,

that is owned and operated by the Palestinian Authority.

Senator SPECTER. All right, would you please show those to the

subcommittee?

VIDEO PRESENTATION

‘‘Ask for death’’ is the message the Palestinian Authority has been conveying to

its children since the start of violence in October 2000.

In July 2002, two articulate 11-year-old girls were interviewed in a studio of official Palestinian television.

What has caused this compelling desire for death among these children? The Palestinian Authority has been making a supreme effort to convince their own children

that there is no greater achievement than to die for Allah in battle, known as

Shahada. This indoctrination film clip is designed to offset a child’s natural fear of

death. It portrays Shahada as both heroic and tranquil, and was broadcast repeatedly over the last 2 years.
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The film’s hero, a nice-looking school boy, leaves his father a farewell letter explaining his choice to carry out Shahada.

This film was broadcast on official Palestinian television. Most of the scenes portray blood and death. The film ends with this screen displaying, in Arabic and in

English, ‘‘Ask for death. The life will be given to you.’’

In another film clip, ‘‘I am the shahid, my mother,’’ mothers are urged to be joyous over the Shahada death of their own children.

The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Education textbooks portray Shahada as

an ideal. For example, the poem of the shahid appears in textbooks on four grade

levels and extols yearning for death.

A song honoring Wafa Idris, the first woman suicide terrorist, was broadcast on

Palestinian television three times.

The Shahada mandate comes from top Palestinian political leadership.

The Palestinian Authority gives significant media exposure to parents who praise

their children’s choice to die.

Palestinian religious leaders have been a driving force in calling for Palestinians

to kill Jews, especially through suicide bombings, and direct these messages at children, as well.

Palestinian polls show that 72 to 80 percent of Palestinian children desire death

as Shahids. Having been repeatedly exposed to this indoctrination, Palestinian children today actively set their sights on Shahada as a personal goal.

The Palestinian indoctrination has already led to the death of Palestinian children. Young children have written farewell letters to their parents in which they

express pride in their desire to die and have set out on suicide terrorist attacks.

The child Yusef Zakut wrote: ‘‘Don’t cry for me. Bury me with my brothers and

with the Shahids.’’

The Palestinian Authority has created a violent death-seeking reality for their

children, having taught them to see death for Allah, Shahada, as an ideal which

they are expected to achieve.

The examples presented in this report are a representative selection demonstrating the comprehensive campaign waged daily by the Palestinian Authority.

Even if just 1 percent of the children attempt to fill their duty and seek Shahada

through suicide terrorism, the ramifications will be cataclysmic. The targets of the

future Palestinian terror wave will be Israel and, in all likelihood, other Western

democracies, as well.

This education is an indelible stain on Palestinian society and places the Palestinian Authority among the greatest child abusers in history.

Senator SPECTER. Thank you very much, Mr. Marcus.

The characterization at the end about child abusers is a vast understatement. They’re civilization abusers. The children are their

means to destroy civilization.

STATEMENT OF HON. DAVID SATTERFIELD, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR NEAR EASTERN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT

OF STATE

Senator SPECTER. I will now proceed to the administration witnesses. We will first call on Mr. David Satterfield. Ambassador

Satterfield is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near

Eastern Affairs. He previously had served as ambassador to Lebanon, director of the State Department’s Office of Israel and ArabIsraeli Affairs on the National Security Council staff. Satterfield is

a graduate of the University of Maryland and Georgetown University.

Welcome, Mr. Satterfield.

We are going to limit the opening statements of witnesses to 5

minutes. I have been commenting, when the announcement is

made about the limitation of time, to the Memorial service for Ambassador Walter Annenberg, where the time was 3 minutes, President Ford and Secretary of State Colin Powell and I and others

were given 3 minutes. So I want you to know what a lengthy period 5 minutes is for an opening statement.
4

Thank you for joining us, Ambassador Satterfield, and the floor

is yours.

Ambassador SATTERFIELD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would ask, first, that my prepared statement be entered into

the record, and I do have some brief opening remarks to make.

The video clips that we’ve just seen—and there are many others

that could have been chosen—do, indeed, cultivate a climate of

alienation, hostility, incitement, what has been termed a culture of

death rather than a culture of life, hope, and promise. As I said,

many more images of this kind could have been chosen.

The subject of this hearing today is a very serious one for the administration. Indeed, Mr. Chairman, if we look back on the record

of the modern peace process, since 1993, the issue which has been

most problematic for us and for our partners in peacemaking to address, has been the challenge of how one changes minds, hearts,

and attitudes. Frankly, too little attention was given to this challenge during many years of the peace process when focus was

placed upon treaties, agreements, understandings. They have their

place certainly, but the fundamental changes in the way people

look at each other and deal with each other, the way they look at

themselves and their culture and society, that also has to be addressed.

The administration, in pursuit of President Bush’s vision of two

states, Israel and Palestinian—Palestine, living together in peace

and security—has been focused upon building institutions for Palestinian statehood. Upon confronting the issue of incitement, incitement to violence, incitement to death, wherever it may be found,

this is a major challenge, and I cannot minimize for you, Mr.

Chairman, the magnitude of this problem.

We have been making efforts to try, with our partners in the region and outside, with the Palestinian Authority and with the Government of Israel, and with institutions drawn from civil society on

both sides, to find ways in which to tackle this problem. I cannot

tell you that this is an issue which we have succeeded in addressing, which we have succeeded in transforming from the type of images of hostility and death that you just saw to something else. But

we do believe some progress—and I’ll be quite honest—some

progress is being made.

It’s most important, if we look at how one changes minds and

hearts, to begin at the earliest age possible in changing the nature

of the culture and changing the nature of views of one people towards another. We have been successful, to an extent, in introducing changes into the textbooks used by the Palestinian educational system, the public educational system. Those textbooks, in

the past, were marked by overt anti-Semitism, rejection of Israel,

images of hostility towards Jews and Israelis which were absolutely unacceptable in any climate of peacemaking.

The current textbooks, which are in the process of being introduced through grades kindergarten to 12, sin more now by omission rather than commission. The images of anti-Semitism have

been largely removed, but we want to see positive images of embracing Israel as a state, Israelis as a people, put in. We don’t just

want the absence of negative image. We want the presence of positive images, and this is a challenge that remains before us. Some
5

progress, as I said, has been made, but much more needs to be

done.

Mr. Chairman, those images which we witnessed, the challenge

that confronts us as we deal with Israel/Palestinian peacemaking

also is reflected on a broader regional scale. We are committed to

doing everything possible, not just to address the call for death, the

call for martyrdom, which we saw here today, but also the continuing images of anti-Semitism, rejection of Israel, rejection of

Israelis, rejection of Jews as a people who merit a life in peace and

security in the Middle East and elsewhere throughout the Middle

East and the world.

PREPARED STATEMENT

Here, too, the challenge remains before us. Here, too, we have

not been fully successful in our efforts with other governments in

the region, indeed outside, in addressing this challenge. But the administration is fully committed to applying what resources we have

to this goal, and we welcome the opportunity to appear here today

in that pursuit.

Thank you.

[The statement follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. DAVID SATTERFIELD

Thank you, Chairman Specter. I wish to express my gratitude to all the Members

of this Subcommittee for this opportunity to discuss Palestinian education.

Mr. Chairman, let me begin by stating that we are in full agreement with the

goals underlying this hearing. We all recognize that an education system that promotes peace and tolerance best prepares children for a bright future. We welcome

this Committee’s interests in the Palestinian education system and share its concerns. This is why we have placed such great emphasis on working with the Palestinian Authority to revise their curriculum to promote principles of human rights,

democracy, diversity, tolerance and pluralism. That approach to education will provide a foundation for democracy and peace in the region, and the basis for a shared

future.

Of concern to our discussions today is the question, to what extent does the current Palestinian education system promote the hate and violence that undermine

the foundations for stability and peace? It is clear that the old Palestinian curriculum in the West Bank and Gaza is unacceptable to us and everyone else in the

international community genuinely interested in an education system that teaches

children the truth, as opposed to hatred. The United States and other donor nations,

as well as Israel, have long been concerned that materials used in the Palestinian

education system and the UNRWA schools incited hatred. The curriculum—formed

around a core of outdated Egyptian and Jordanian textbooks that fell out of use in

those countries long ago—contained anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli content and promoted gender stereotypes. Moreover, the textbooks failed to promote critical-thinking, but rather favored rote memorization. The Palestinian Authority, at the urging

of the United States and the international community, recognized that neither intolerance nor deprivation of independent thought would serve future generations of the

Palestinian people. Accordingly, the Palestinian Authority undertook the revision of

the entire curriculum.

The revised curriculum represents a significant and positive step forward. There

are no longer references to the Jews as ‘‘the evil enemy’’ or as being ‘‘treacherous’’,

but rather there is clearly an avoidance of dealing with the Jewish-Islamic relationships in negative contexts. The new books seek to advance inter-religious tolerance

and diversity, and have rid themselves of their anti-Semitic content. Concepts of

good citizenship and ethics are stressed, as is respect for the environment and for

others. The new curriculum also reflects an effort to promote active learning and

critical thinking, over passive acceptance.

Despite these important gains, the new books fall short of expectations in important ways. Israel’s existence is not explicitly acknowledged either in narratives or

on maps. Discussions of ‘‘historic Palestine’’ are ambiguous on the status of Israeli
6

cities such as Haifa and Nazareth. Encouragement of inter-religious tolerance focuses on Islam and Christianity, without mentioning Judaism.

A true peace curriculum must contain neither the sins of commission nor of omission. Therefore we will continue to press for further change and have dedicated the

resources to do so. Revisions are underway for the remaining grades that use the

older texts (grades 5, 10, 11, 12). Moreover, the Ministry of Education regards the

development of the new curriculum as a continuing process, with further amendments expected once President Bush’s two-state vision becomes reality. Obviously,

that is not soon enough. We recognize that the new textbooks still contain certain

historical and political omissions and inaccuracies. What they do not contain, however, is a call to violence or reason for hate. To further ensure that the positive concepts of peace and tolerance in the textbooks are being promoted, with funding appropriated by Congress, we have charged the Israel/Palestine Center for Research

and Information (IPCRI)—a well-respected NGO—with continued monitoring of the

content, distribution, and use of these new books, and with the training of Palestinian teachers in peace and tolerance. IPCRI’s materials stress Israel’s existence

as a political and historical reality.

We call upon your Committee to work to strengthen the hand of the President

and Secretary as they seek to lead the region away from violence and towards peace

by supporting these efforts. The future of the region depends on its children.

Thank you very much Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee. I’d be

pleased to take your questions.

Senator SPECTER. Ambassador Satterfield, the roadmap states

that: ‘‘All official Palestinian institutions must end incitement

against Israel,’’ and the roadmap requires the Palestinian Authority to: ‘‘undertake efforts on the ground to arrest, disrupt, and restrain individuals and groups conducting and planning violent attacks on Israelis anywhere.’’ Are those requirements being complied with by the Palestinian Authority?

Ambassador SATTERFIELD. No, Mr. Chairman, they are not. We

have not seen those basic steps necessary by the Palestinian Authority to confront violence and terror being taken to the extent

that the roadmap requires and, indeed, any meaningful progress

towards peace mandates.

Senator SPECTER. And the depiction shows Chairman Yasser

Arafat on film talking about Shahid. What efforts are being made

to combat Arafat’s efforts as depicted and shown on the screen?

Ambassador SATTERFIELD. Mr. Chairman, the position of this administration towards Mr. Arafat is very well known. We do not regard him as an interlocutor for the purpose of peacemaking. We

have sought, working with the Government of Israel, working with

individuals in the Palestinian Authority, and our partners in the

region and the international community, to see an empowered,

credible Palestinian leadership take office and move against terror

and violence, as it moves towards the necessary institutional steps

required, to see a Palestinian State achieved.

Senator SPECTER. Now, Ambassador Satterfield, in light of this

kind of filming, and in light of the failure of the Palestinian Authority to act to restrain violence, what’s the justification for the

U.S. Government this year advancing $20 million to the Palestinian Authority?

Ambassador SATTERFIELD. Mr. Chairman, that decision was

made after careful reflection, upon the state of Prime Minister Abu

Masen’s government, the credibility of Minister of Finance Salam

Fayed, the institutional checks and balances, which both our own

system and auditing mechanisms in place and the credibility of

Abu Masen and Salam Fayed, established. We would not have

taken this step—did not take this step lightly.
7

We believe that that decision was appropriate. We believe that

those monies are accountable, fully, and that they went to purposes

for which they were intended. Obviously, the administration continued to look very closely at any future issue of direct financing

for the Palestinian Authority. No such financing is under contemplation at this point. Were we to do so, we would obviously consult with the Congress. We would also reflect very carefully on the

issue of transparency and accountability for funds.

Senator SPECTER. Well, you say the monies have been accounted for. Where did the $20 million go?

Ambassador SATTERFIELD. They went through the Ministry of Finance, under mechanisms which we believe are transparent and

accountable, for both salary payments and repayment of debt to the

Palestinian private sector.

Senator SPECTER. Can you be more specific than that?

Ambassador SATTERFIELD. Mr. Chairman, we can provide de- tailed specifics on where the $20 million——

Senator SPECTER. We’d like you to——

Ambassador SATTERFIELD [continuing]. Went.

Senator SPECTER [continuing]. Tell this subcommittee——

Ambassador SATTERFIELD. We’d be happy to.

Senator SPECTER [continuing]. Where every dime of the $20 million went.

Ambassador SATTERFIELD. We’d be happy to.

[The information follows:]

In July, $20 million from the Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act was

transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA) though a ‘‘Cash Transfer Grant Agreement’’ between the PA (represented by the Ministry of Finance) and the U.S. Government (represented by USAID). Use of the $20 million was subject to a variety

of controls and monitoring mechanisms.

Under the terms of the agreement, up to $9 million could be spent on the financing of utility payments. On August 28 the USAID West Bank/Gaza mission approved the use of $9 million to pay the Israeli Electric Company for bills owed by

the PA. The PA made the payment on the same day.

For the remaining $11 million of the Grant, the Ministry of Finance has proposed

65 projects—25 in the West Bank and 40 in Gaza—with a total estimated cost of

$10,878,280. Most of the projects involve repair and rehabilitation of roads, water

and wastewater facilities, and municipal halls.

On September 22, following site visits by USAID staff engineers, USAID approved

30 projects, totaling $4,410,000.

On October 21, USAID approved an additional 11 projects totaling $1,310,000.

This brought the total of approved projects to 41, with an estimated cost of

$5,720,000.

Twenty-four projects ($5,158,280) proposed by the Finance Ministry have not yet

been approved. Several of these will likely be approved once project designs and cost

estimates are completed by the Ministry and reviewed by USAID engineers. The Finance Ministry will propose substitutions for any projects that are rejected.

Funds for a given project are drawn down by the Finance Ministry in five

tranches, corresponding to work completed and subject to USAID approval at each

stage.

The following mechanisms, incorporated into the Agreement and subsequent Implementation Letters, allow USAID to monitor use of the money:

—The Ministry of Finance has certified that none of the money will go to anyone

involved in ‘‘armed hostilities or other acts of violence’’ or for the purchase of

military or police equipment;

—The Ministry has established a separate bank account solely for this money, so

as to ensure it will not commingle with funds from any other source;

—The Ministry has sent an authorization letter to its bank, authorizing USAID

to access directly information about the account;

—The PA has agreed to keep detailed records and provide them for USAID to review and audit;
8

—Contractors are vetted using standard USAID procedures;

—Reports are provided quarterly by the Ministry of Finance, including copies of

bank statements and a list of agreed-upon uses;

—The agreement contains a clause saying that the Ministry may be required to

pay back any money not supported by appropriate documentation as being in

accordance with the agreement;

—At the conclusion of each project, a USAID engineer will visit the site to confirm

that the work was done as planned; and

—USAID’s regional Inspector-General will conduct a financial audit of the Cash Transfer activity after all $20 million has been expended.

Senator SPECTER. Essentially, what you’re saying is that $20 million was given to the Palestinian Authority to help Abu Masen in

his effort to become the Prime Minister. Is that about the size of

it?

Ambassador SATTERFIELD. Mr. Chairman, it was given to the

Palestinian Authority in a way that we believe bolstered the credible empowered authority of Prime Minister Abu Masen, of the

Ministry of Finance, and institutional mechanisms and safeguards

which have been put in place under Minister Salam Fayed.

Senator SPECTER. Well, are you essentially saying that the way

things are today, with former Prime Minister Abu Masen having

departed, that there will be no further payments by the U.S. Government to the Palestinian Authority?

Ambassador SATTERFIELD. Mr. Chairman, that was a one-time

direct payment, the only such payment of its kind. Before we would

contemplate any such step in the future, we would need to see in

place an empowered, credible Prime Minister and Cabinet, with

unified security services under the control of the Prime Minister

and tangible steps taken on the ground to confront terror and violence, yes.

Senator SPECTER. Would you go further and require proof that

the Palestinian Authority is not going to be showing these videos,

with young people glorifying and—self-sacrifice and being suicide

bombers?

Ambassador SATTERFIELD. Mr. Chairman, we have made very

clear that the Palestinian Authority, to be viewed as a credible

partner for peace, must not just move against terror and violence—

that’s obviously a central critical priority—but also must move

against the climate and culture of incitement and violence which

underlies the actual acts of terror.

Senator SPECTER. Well, that’s not quite a flat statement that additional funds would not be advanced to the Palestinian Authority

unless this kind of propaganda was stopped. Can you give this subcommittee that assurance flatly?

Ambassador SATTERFIELD. I can assure that we would not make

any direct funding available to the Palestinian Authority if there

was any question whatsoever regarding the commitment of that authority, translated into action on the ground, including with respect

to incitement.

Senator SPECTER. Like this——

Ambassador SATTERFIELD. As was seen here.

Senator SPECTER [continuing]. Video.

Well, okay, thank you, Ambassador Satterfield. We appreciate

your coming over. We know you have commitments today and have

asked to be excused at this point, and you are excused by the subcommittee.
9

Customarily, we like the witnesses to stay, because there may be

some comments at a later time for a response, but I understand

your official duties, so we’ll thank you.

Ambassador SATTERFIELD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Appreciate

this opportunity.

STATEMENT OF JAMES KUNDER, DEPUTY ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR ASIA AND NEAR EASTERN AFFAIRS, DIRECTOR, AFGHAN RELIEF AND RECONSTRUCTION, USAID

Senator SPECTER. Our next witness is Deputy Assistant Administrator for Asia and Near Eastern Affairs, Mr. James Kunder, Director for Afghan Relief and Reconstruction. Mr. Kunder received his

master’s degree in international relations from Georgetown, and

his bachelor’s in political science from Harvard University.

Thank you for joining us, Mr. Kunder, and we look forward to

your testimony.

Mr. KUNDER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I have a prepared statement that, with your permission, I’d like

to submit for the record.

Senator SPECTER. Your full statement will be made a part of the

record.

Mr. KUNDER. I want to give a quick overview of the U.S. Foreign

Assistance Program in the areas in which the Committee has expressed an interest. But just to start with a personal comment of,

USAID throughout the world, with the support of taxpayer dollars,

uses the media for a number of positive, what we refer to as, social

marketing activities in AIDS prevention and better healthcare, participation of girls in school. And I just have to say, at a personal

level, to see this kind of perversion of media targeted at children,

knowing the powerful impact that media has on children, it’s an

abomination to see this thing firsthand.

The U.S. Agency for International Development Program targeted at Palestinians is, as you described earlier, primarily targeted at international or Palestinian non-governmental organizations, with the exception of the $20 million direct cash transfer this

past year. It works in the area of humanitarian assistance and,

more broadly, at building Palestinian civil society so that there are

voices of moderation in the political debate in Palestine. And that

includes support for independent media organizations that show

debate in the Palestinian Legislative Council, and otherwise bring

in groups whose voices might not be heard in the Palestinian debate. Following the congressional guidance and the law, we do not

give direct assistance to the Palestinian Broadcasting Company.

We recognize that our attempts to bring voices of moderation into

the political process, however, is subject to diversion of resources,

and, therefore, we have put in place a range of safeguards, including the vetting within the American Embassy of all of the organizations, all the grantees and program partners with which we work.

We have, in all of our grant agreements, a certification requirement that the organization receiving U.S. taxpayer dollars is not

passing any of that money through to terrorist organizations. We

have an extensive oversight operation where, consistent with the

security situation on the ground, either U.S. Government directhire employees or our contractors are out monitoring the use of our

funds to ensure that there are not abuses or diversions, and we are
10

discussing these issues on a regular basis with the Israeli authorities in the West Bank and Gaza.

PREPARED STATEMENT

So from our view, the totality of the U.S. foreign aid program is

contributing to moderate voices being part of the Palestinian debate, and we have implemented a range of safeguards that we

think ensure that U.S. taxpayer dollars are going to the purposes

for which they are intended.

I’d be glad to answer any questions, sir.

[The statement follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES KUNDER

Mr. Chairman: Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on behalf of the

U.S. Agency for International Development. I would like to begin by echoing the

words of Deputy Assistant Secretary Satterfield: We appreciate the importance of

education as a force for peace and progress in the world, and share the concern of

this Subcommittee whenever the education of children is perverted to serve as a

platform for violence and hatred.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

In order to provide context for the Subcommittee’s inquires today, I would like

briefly to summarize the U.S. foreign assistance program in the West Bank and

Gaza. In general terms, the Mission responds to the humanitarian situation, providing relief to the poorest segments of the Palestinian population, while at the

same time implements longer term development projects, supporting the road map

and other U.S. foreign policy goals in the region.

Consistent with Congressional guidance and in support of U.S. foreign policy priorities, the U.S. foreign assistance program in West Bank and Gaza consists of several elements. First, we are addressing basic human needs resulting from the severe

economic downturn of the past three years. Our programs provide food, medical care

and emergency water and create jobs for those who have lost them as a result of

the depressed economy and the limited employment opportunities within Israel.

Working with U.S. partners such as the YMCA, Save the Children, ANERA, CHF

Inc. and local NGOs, we have created more than 1.9 million person days of employment since 2001. In addition, our support to food aid delivery through WFP and

ICRC has ensured that more than 650,000 of the most vulnerable Palestinians have

received a nutritional food basket on a regular basis. We also support vaccination

projects, supply clinics and health NGOs with emergency medicines, and fund special training for doctors and nurses though our grants with CARE International.

Second, we are promoting a wide range of reform efforts within the Palestinian

Territories. Since the 1996 national elections, we have been the lead donor working

with the Palestinian Legislative Council, which within the last 12 months has challenged the PALESTINIAN Executive Branch on issues relating to the designation

of a Cabinet and delineation of the Prime Minister’s responsibilities. In 1999, we

initiated a rule of law program, which has trained scores of Palestinian judges and

prosecutors and has led to the formation of two commercial Alternative Dispute Resolution Centers. We have also funded programs to develop the capacity of the Palestinian Monetary Authority, to assist the Minister of Finance in strengthening the

internal audit capacity of the Palestinian Authority, and to restructure the new

Ministry of National Economy. We are poised to support a Palestinian election process, having already conducted a comprehensive electoral assessment and provided

technical assistance to the Central Election Commission. Lastly, we have a robust

civil society program that funds Palestinian NGOs, which are advocates for reform

and democratization.

Third, our Mission has supported the ‘‘revitalization’’ of the private sector. Activities include direct technical assistance at the firm level to assist in their internal

restructuring, grants to repair damaged business premises and providing loan capital for mid-size businesses. Our emergency micro lending programs have provided

much needed cash to small business owners, mostly women. With $3 million of

USAID funds, we have leveraged funds for small loans from two commercial banks

in the amount of $17 million.

Fourth, I would like to emphasize that we have maintained some of our longerterm development projects. These include the construction of much needed water in-
11

frastructure, which has provided potable water to much of the population in the

Southern West Bank. We are also repairing small scale water infrastructure in several cities, working closely with the municipal governments. Our community services projects, which build schools, clinics, agricultural roads, youth centers, and

other small infrastructure, are active in 50 per cent of the villages in the West Bank

and Gaza.

Fifth, through our scholarship and training programs, we are developing the

human capital that a democratic Palestinian state will require. Since 2000, 90 Palestinians have received or are in the process of receiving Masters Degree scholarships from] U.S. universities. In addition to their academic studies, many of the returned scholars serve to educate their fellow-citizens about the reality of life in the

United States. The Mission also has provided more than 300 full scholarships to

Palestinians for study in local universities and funds short training programs in the

IT sector that has benefited more than 115 Palestinians to date.

Last, using the $50 million we received as part of the fiscal year 2003 emergency

wartime supplemental appropriation, we responded quickly to acute problems on the

ground, repairing roads in 5 cities in the West Bank and repairing bridges, greenhouses, damaged business premises, and agricultural wells in Northern Gaza. Of

this Supplemental, we used $20 million as a cash transfer to the Palestinian Authority. With the very tight restrictions and safeguards we attached to this cash

transfer, I am happy to report that it is being used in a transparent manner to pay

utility bills owed to the Israeli Electric Company and to make municipal infrastructure repairs throughout the West Bank and Gaza.

These results have been achieved, notwithstanding the on-going violence, because

of the dedication and commitment of our contractors, grantees and Palestinian partners, and with the full support and cooperation of the Government of Israel.

Through creative mechanisms, which I will describe below, we have maintained adequate oversight to ensure that US taxpayer resources are well spent and support

the foreign policy goals of the Administration.

Having provided general background on the USAID program, let me now address

the specific issues covered by this hearing related to Palestinian education and other

issues related to the promotion of peace and moderation.

EDUCATION

Palestinians put a very high priority on education for children. USAID does not

work specifically on curriculum development or textbooks. We do fund significant

training programs for teachers and students, which help students deal in alternative

ways with trauma and anger. Our ‘‘psycho-social’’ training project has reached over

32,000 students between the ages of 6 and 18 and their teachers. Activities under

this project, which is implemented by Save the Children, include play and art activities for children, geared towards helping them deal with the tension of the situation

on the ground, and group discussions with parents and teachers. This program is

implemented throughout the West Bank and Gaza, including such urban centers as

Jenin, Ramallah, and Gaza City. The project is also active in rural areas. We also

improve the learning environment by building and repairing classrooms, libraries,

and labs. The 800 classrooms that USAID has remodeled and rebuilt provide improved learning environments for children. Among other things, these new classrooms provide the opportunity for girls to go to school in areas that they previously

were unable to because of space limitations.

In addition, our NGO support project, TAMKEEN, implemented by U.S. contractor CHEMONICS, has awarded some grants related to education. One NGO in

Gaza supports university students’ work on issues of democratic practice, including

peer mediation and conflict resolution. Another NGO has provided extremely high

quality civic education to thousands of people (mostly high school students) throughout the West Bank and Gaza. Our Moderate Voices program has awarded NGOs to

work with teachers, Ministry of Education, and school administrators on a peace

curriculum integrated with the regular school curriculum. It has also supported an

initiative with high school students promoting democratic dialogue, attitudes, and

skills, and an ongoing project in the Gaza Strip to enrich and emphasize democratic

and human rights oriented values in the standard curriculum. Also in Gaza, a peer

mediation and conflict resolution program conducted in UNWRA schools disseminates desired values and identifies and training peer leaders to act as mediators in

conflict situations.

One part of the the Wye-funded People to People program, being implemented by

Professor Dan Bar-On of Ben Gurion University and Dr. Sami Adwan of Bethlehem

University, works with Palestinian Ministry of Education and Israeli public school
12

teachers on developing a curriculum that recognizes the views, values, narrative,

and humanity of the each side in the conflict.

MEDIA

Since 1998 USAID has been prohibited from supporting the Palestinian Broadcasting Company. Still, through activities in our democracy and governance portfolio, we have funded various media programs produced by the independent television and radio stations and prepared for daily newspapers that provide outlets for

voices of moderation and peace. For example, our ‘‘Moderate Voices’’ NGO project

has funded the development and broadcasting of a popular soap opera series, which

examine the daily conflicts inherent to Palestinian life, including, but not entirely

focused on the interface with Israel and Israelis. Our flagship civil society support

project, TAMKEEN, provides grants to Palestinian NGOs for media programs that

provide voice to marginalized groups, including women and the disabled, and recently convened a workshop for eight media broadcasting outlets and teaching institutes to improve professionalism and competency. Lastly, our legislative assistance

program has included a televised series regarding the role of women in the Council

and in politics, televised proceedings of the Council and widely broadcast town hall

meeting events with Council members. Through these programs and others, we have

helped Palestinian media outlets provide information about democratic processes

and facilitated debate among democratic actors.

In a situation like the West Bank and Gaza, there is always a concern that U.S.

assistance dollars may be diverted from their intended purposes and inadvertently

be used to foment hatred or violence, in educational programs or in some other way.

To counter this possibility, USAID has instituted a number of safeguards in our programs. I would like to describe briefly two such safeguards: our system of vetting

program partners, and our system of program oversight.

VETTING

The Mission is well aware of the dangers associated with providing assistance to

terrorist organizations or those who are affiliated with such organizations. Consequently, beginning in November 2001, the Mission implemented a program whereby Palestinian grantees and contractors must be vetted by the U.S. Country Team.

This applies to all contracts in excess of $100,000 and to all grants regardless of

dollar value. In each case, the organization and its key personnel are reviewed to

determine whether they are engaged in terrorist activity. Also, individuals applying

for scholarships or to participate in USAID funded training programs are similarly

vetted. To date, the Mission has vetted more than 1000 Palestinian organizations

and individuals.

OVERSIGHT

To oversee the USAID Mission’s large portfolio, project managers and contracting

officers at Mission headquarters and local staff work closely together, even when

travel restrictions preclude face-to-face meetings. The Mission’s staff includes three

engineers residing in Gaza and another three in the West Bank, ensuring visits to

construction sites during periods when U.S. staff are unable to enter the West Bank

and Gaza.

The Mission also utilizes information communications technology to ensure effective oversight. Telecommuting is common-place for staff unable to travel to Tel Aviv

on a regular basis, and video-conferencing is used to maintain contacts between

project officers in Tel Aviv and contractors/grantees with offices in Ramallah or

Gaza. Our engineers often make use of digital photography to help keep the home

office suitably informed of construction project progress.

The Mission has pioneered a GIS-based performance monitoring system under

which project information data are entered by project managers. This system allows

almost immediate retrieval of data on any given activity. The system has been implemented for the Mission’s largest strategic objective and will soon be applied to

all the others.

The Mission conducts portfolio reviews several times a year, and publishes a report detailing the status of each activity twice a year. In addition to periodic audits,

the Mission, with congressional encouragement, has developed a robust risk assessment strategy. All Mission institutional contracts and grants—approximately 100—

are audited on an annual basis by local accounting firms under the guidance and

direction of USAID’s Inspector General. Preliminary findings on the first 10

auditable units appear to indicate that except for some questioned costs, general

compliance and internal controls appear to be adequate.
13

Mr. Chairman: Once again, I appreciate the opportunity to testify today and the

interest of this Subcommittee in the work of the U.S Agency for international development. We believe our stewardship of the U.S. foreign aid program in West Bank

and Gaza has been a force for peace, and not for war; a force for moderation, and

not for conflict. I welcome the Subcommittees questions on our programs and oversight mechanisms.

Senator SPECTER. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Kunder.

STATEMENT OF RICHARD SOLOMON, PRESIDENT, U.S. INSTITUTE OF

PEACE

ACCOMPANIED BY STEVEN RISKIN, PROGRAM OFFICER, GRANT PROGRAM, U.S. INSTITUTE OF PEACE

Senator SPECTER. We have one further witness on this panel, Mr.

Richard Solomon, president of the U.S. Institute for Peace. We’d

like Mr. Solomon to come forward at this time.

Dr. Solomon has served as the president of the U.S. Institute of

Peace since 1993, previously served as Assistant Secretary of State

for East Asia and Pacific Affairs and Director of Policy Planning at

the Department of State. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from

the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Thank you for joining us, Dr. Solomon, and we look forward to

your testimony.

Dr. SOLOMON. Good morning, Mr. Chairman. And I and my colleagues really appreciate the opportunity to be with you this morning. As you know, our institution reports directly to the Labor,

Health, and Human Services Committee. You fund our work directly, inasmuch as we’re an independent federal institution. Normally, since I come up asking for financial support, it’s a pleasure

to be able to describe to you some of our activities that relate to

this very serious issue that is on the agenda today.

The Institute of Peace, as I think you know, was created as an

educational institution, and what I will describe is a shift in our

work over the last 20 years from educational activities largely focused here within the United States to activities in zones of conflict

around the world. And those activities very substantially focus on

the effort to promote educational reform in Muslim societies, ranging from Northern Africa, the Middle East, through South Asia,

and Southeast Asia.

Our objective is to try to mobilize those interested in reform, reconciliation within these societies in the interest of promoting peaceful resolution of disputes, reconciliation, tolerance, and certainly

countering incitement.

What we have discovered through a decade of activities that

began with work after the Dayton Accords, when we went into the

Balkans and worked with educators to promote an educational system that had been corrupted by the Milosevic regime, was, of

course, that education is a very powerful tool for reform, for teaching reconciliation and breaking the cycles of hatred and violence.

Indeed, the power of education is precisely why the extremists have

been trying to capture the madrasa system and turn it against

even existing Muslim governments, whether it’s in Pakistan, Malaysia, or Indonesia. And so our work is attempting to empower

those who seek to use the educational system for purposes of reconciliation. And one of the dilemmas our friends in these various

parts of the world face is that many of them do not have the na-
14

tional government resources to fully fund their educational system,

so that money comes in from abroad from what you might characterize as interested parties who are trying to turn the madrasa system in the direction of the kind of horrific propagation of violence

that we saw in the opening video.

Let me describe three very brief examples of the kind of work

that the U.S. Institute of Peace supports through its full range of

programming—our grant-giving, our fellowship activity, our education/rule-of-law programs, and our professional training activities.

The first example would be the effort to support the Anti-Incitement Commission that was established after the 1998 Wye River

agreement. And two of our board members, former board members

now, Father Theodore Hesburgh, of Notre Dame, and Shibley

Telhami, professor at the University of Maryland, were on the

Anti-Incitement Commission. And two of my colleagues who are

with me here today, Dr. Jeff Helsing, who is with the Education

Program, and Steven Riskin, who is with our Grant Commission,

they are more specialists on this region than certainly I am. They

brief the Commission on our experience about educational reform

and efforts to limit incitement. Unfortunately, as Father Hesburgh

concluded after a number of efforts to engage both sides in the region, was that issues of limiting incitement were just not open to

discussion. This is the late 1990s.

A second example is our support for Seeds of Peace, an effort to

bring teenagers from the Israeli/Palestinian societies together in

the pristine, secure environment of Northern Maine, an effort

that’s gone on for 10 years and has engaged over 2,500 teenagers.

And I think the Seeds of Peace experience, which is documented in

a book that we’ve published, written by John Wallach, the late

John Wallach, who, tragically, died rather early, was that this kind

of a cloistered experience, if run professionally, can help to break

stereotypes, hostilities, establish friendships. And, indeed, what we

find is that many of the Palestinian kids who went back to societies

totally unsupportive of this reconciliation work demonstrated real

courage in resisting the return to the kind of attitudes that we’ve

seen here.

The third project was an effort in which we supported a book

project by a George Washington University professor, Dr. Nathan

Brown, who analyzed the situation in the Palestinian areas of reform following the Oslo Accords. And his conclusion, and he should,

of course, speak for himself, was that there had been modest

change in the direction of a moving away from the kind of inciteful

textbooks and the educational material that we’ve seen here today,

but clearly much more incitement than we want to see in these instances, but some movement away from what it had been in earlier

times. And the clear fact is that the political context which would

support the moderating efforts of work like Seeds of Peace or the

kinds of reform efforts that Dr. Brown describes are, at this point

in time, just not supportive of significant reform.

So, in conclusion, based on the experience of institute work, I

would say the four issues I would stress is that intergenerational

cycles of conflict, hatred, can be broken, especially if you work with

teenagers, those who are much more impressionable. But, unfortu-
15

1Dr. Solomon will be accompanied by Mr. Steven Riskin, Program Officer in the Institute’s

Grant Program. 2The U.S. Institute of Peace was established by Congress in 1984 as an independent, nonpartisan federal institution to promote the prevention, management, and peaceful resolution of

international conflicts.

nately, as we’ve seen in these videos, you can also see the opposite

effect.

Second, educational reform is not a short-term process. Our work

with educational reformers in Northern Ireland indicates that this

is a decades-long effort.

Third, we have found professional educators who are receptive to

reform, and our efforts are to support, at the civil society level,

those who want to see a curriculum that will encourage reconciliation and peace.

PREPARED STATEMENT

But, fourth, and most disturbing, of course, is that the political

context, the leadership that would encourage these kinds of reforms, is, in the Palestinian areas, apparently totally lacking at

this point, and that unless we have that kind of leadership, it

seems unlikely we will see sustained efforts to promote this kind

of reform.

Thank you.

[The statement follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DR. RICHARD H. SOLOMON

INTRODUCTION

Thank you, Senator Specter, for inviting me to testify this morning before the

Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and

Education.1 The U.S. Institute of Peace 2 has traditionally testified before this Subcommittee to discuss its annual budget, which is funded by this Subcommittee. We

are honored to be here today to discuss an issue that is at the core of the Institute’s

mandate: educating people in the perspectives of tolerance and mutual understanding, and training professionals in the skills of conflict management and resolution.

As you know, the Institute was created nearly two decades ago as an educational

institution. In our first decade of work, we focused on raising the awareness of

American educators about war and peace issues and conflict resolution strategies.

During the 1990s, in the context of efforts to stabilize the post-Dayton peace in the

Balkans, the Institute developed programs beyond our borders to promote conflict

resolution education in zones of conflict. What the Institute has learned through

these activities abroad is that education reform is a powerful force for change. Indeed, it is critical in efforts to break the cycle of violence in conflict-ridden societies.

Educating for tolerance and reconciliation, and overcoming entrenched attitudes of

prejudice and hatred, requires intensive efforts at a people-to-people level, with educators and other leaders of civil society.

We recognize that educating for peace is not a substitute for a successful political

process. In an atmosphere poisoned by relentless violence, it is tempting to conclude

that education and other dialogue programs are either irrelevant or impossible to

sustain. But such a conclusion ignores the reality that any peace process can be sustained only with broad public support.

The Institute’s ongoing work with Israeli and Palestinian educators, religious

leaders, and legal experts, even in the face of terrorist violence, however, sustains

hope among leaders in these societies, leaders who some day will be the builders

of peace. These are the people, in both societies, whose support will be critical to

any future peace agreement. They are the ones who will be called upon to promote

reconciliation once the political process gets back on track.

Thus, the Institute is sustaining its educational programs despite the horrendous

violence over the last three years. Despite occasions when our activities are disrupted by a bombing or a failure of diplomacy, we are heartened that Israeli and
16

3 As mandated by Congress, the Institute distributes funds each year ($3.25 million in fiscal

year 2003) in support of research and conflict resolution programs worldwide.

Palestinian educators have the courage to seek reforms and promote mutual understanding.

Given the topic of today’s hearing, I would like to describe what the Institute has

done, and is doing, through its range of programs—our Grant, Education, Training,

and Fellowship programs—to help bring Palestinians and Israelis together, to reduce incitement to conflict, and build constituencies in support of reconciliation. I

will also summarize some lessons the Institute has learned, through its work in conflict zones around the world, about how education can be used as a peacebuilding

tool.

WYE RIVER MEMORANDUM AND THE ANTI-INCITEMENT SUBCOMMITTEE

The Institute became involved with the issue of incitement to violence in the

Israeli-Palestinian conflict after the signing in 1998 of the Wye River Memorandum.

That agreement established a Trilateral Anti-Incitement Committee ‘‘whose purpose

[was] to reduce tensions and create a positive atmosphere of positive cohabitation.

Its purpose [was] not to incriminate but to solve pressing problems.’’ Among those

serving on the Committee were former Institute Board members Father Theodore

Hesburgh, President Emeritus of Notre Dame University, and Dr. Shibley Telhami,

Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland. As

Father Hesburgh noted at the time, getting both sides to discuss educational reform

was a daunting challenge. In a recent conversation on the issue, Father Hesburgh

recalled, ‘‘Both sides were not open to discussion.’’

As the Trilateral Anti-Incitement Committee began its work, two Institute staff

members, Dr. Jeffrey Helsing and Mr. Steven Riskin, briefed the Committee about

the Institute’s experience on this topic and also provided useful lessons from other

societies that had been working to reduce incitement by reforming their educational

curricula.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF EDUCATION REFORM

As relations between Palestinians and Israelis have evolved since Madrid and

Oslo, U.S. officials, researchers, and education specialists have increasingly recognized the importance of reforming education systems in the promotion of peace, tolerance, and reconciliation. Educators in Israel and the Palestinian territories have

begun over the past decade to examine ways the formal educational systems—

through school textbooks and other means—address such topics as the history of the

region. A primary objective of revising textbooks is to lay the groundwork to advance mutual understanding, encourage greater tolerance, and promote coexistence.

Reconciliation cannot happen until long-held prejudices are challenged and the history, culture, and religion of the other side are recognized as having their own legitimacy.

This is obviously a monumental task given the long history and current intensity

of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Institute is using its resources in support of educational reforms—however incremental—and confidence-building measures that will

end incitement to conflict and violence.

Let me give you a few examples of our programs in this regard.

INSTITUTE-RELATED GRANTS

Through the Institute’s Grant Program,3 we have supported the work of Seeds of

Peace, a summer camp experience that sends Arab and Israeli teenagers for six

weeks of coexistence training in Maine. Since 1993, Seeds of Peace has brought together more than 2,500 young people who have learned of alternatives to hatred and

conflict.

In 1999, the Institute awarded a grant to Seeds of Peace to develop an educational, interactive CD–ROM program based on the experiences of Arab and Israeli

youth who have participated in the summer camp program for use in classrooms

around the Middle East. The initiative has also prepared related curricular materials, a manual to guide educators in the use of the CD–ROM program, and a students’ handbook. The start of the current Intifada has slowed dissemination of the

CD–ROM, but it is reaching schools across the region.

I should also note that the Seeds of Peace founder John Wallach, who tragically

passed away last year, was an Institute fellow in 1998. During his fellowship, John

documented the work of his remarkable organization in breaking down stereotypes

and seeking an end to incitement and violence. His fellowship year culminated in
17

the publication by the Institute of a study, The Enemy Has a Face: The Seeds of

Peace Experience.

The Institute also provided a grant in 1999–2000 to George Washington University Professor Dr. Nathan Brown to study the reforms underway in Palestinian politics in the wake of the Oslo peace accords. The culmination of this grant was his

recently released book, Palestinian Politics After the Oslo Accords; Resuming Arab

Palestine. Dr. Brown focuses his work on five areas: legal development, constitution

drafting, the Palestinian Legislative Council, civil society, and the effort to reform

education and write a new curriculum. He devotes a chapter of this book to ‘‘Democracy, Nationalism, and Contesting the Palestinian Curriculum.’’ In this latter chapter, Dr. Brown sheds light on the challenges facing Palestinian educators in their

efforts to reform education in Palestinian society, advance more modern and democratic approaches to learning, and develop and implement new curricula.

In this important work, Dr. Brown outlines the debates among Palestinian educators and politicians about how to build a new generation of Palestinian citizens

committed to democracy and coexistence. He writes that the textbooks in use in the

West Bank and Gaza Strip before the establishment of the Palestinian Authority

were old Jordanian and Egyptian textbooks used when the territories were held by

those two countries prior to the 1967 war. They contained many offensive and inaccurate passages regarding the history of the region and the State of Israel. These

educators confronted the need to remove outdated and inaccurate accounts of history and geography from the curriculum and replace them with new perspectives

that are consistent with the two-state solution that Israeli and Palestinian leaders,

as well as President Bush, now hold out as the goal of a political process.

In reworking their own textbooks, however, Palestinian educators confronted the

fact that no Palestinian state yet exists, and that their relationship with the Israelis

is still undefined. As a result of this uncertainty, Dr. Brown concluded, the new Palestinian textbooks do not fully reflect a commitment to educating for coexistence.

Nevertheless, he asserts, these new Palestinian teaching materials represent a significant improvement over the old textbooks.

Dr. Brown’s assessment of Palestinian textbooks reveals a mixed record of reform

and considerable room for improvement. But that is not a reason for despair. The

Institute’s experience is that there are many moderates on both sides of this conflict

prepared to improve the quality of education on behalf of coexistence. While political

leaders must create the context for peace, the Institute’s responsibility is to support

educational professionals who are laying the basis for mutual understanding.

Another example of our grant-making and education work is our collaboration

with the Middle East Children’s Association, a joint Israeli/Palestinian non-government organization that works with teachers to improve intercommunal relations

and promote curriculum development. As one of the few educational organizations

still working across the Green Line, the Middle East Children’s Association was

awarded an Institute grant in the summer of 2001 to engage Palestinian and Israeli

elementary and middle school teachers to:

(1) assess the impact of the current violence on teachers and their professional

capacities in the classroom;

(2) develop educational materials that introduce students to human rights concepts and their relevance to tolerance and mutual understanding; and,

(3) design a work plan for continued inter-ethnic engagement among educators in

the context of the ongoing violence.

With Institute support, the Middle East Children’s Association has trained more

than 250 Palestinian and Israeli elementary, middle, and high school teachers to

cope with trauma resulting from the conflict. The initiative will result in a guide

for implementing seminars for educators dealing with trauma, tools assessing the

impact of such sessions on the capacity of educators to identify and cope with the

trauma of their students, and educational materials for use in the classroom.

At the end of November, the Institute’s Education Program will be training 40

Israeli and Palestinian educators in new cross-cultural learning techniques and curricular materials that were developed by teachers in other zones of conflict (specifically, Northern Ireland and Macedonia). As part of this program, training materials

from the ‘‘Education for Mutual Understanding’’ curriculum mandated throughout

Northern Ireland are being translated into Hebrew and Arabic. In addition, the November workshop will help Israeli and Palestinian educators to enhance their facilitation and conflict resolution skills so that they can work effectively in bi-national

teams.

Other relevant Institute activities in the educational area include:

—A recent grant to Catholic Relief Services is supporting a project to explore how

issues of peace and tolerance can be addressed in Pakistani religious educational institutions. The initiative will result in a report on ways to integrate
18

peace education into the religious curriculum and will produce a peace education module to be implemented in those institutions.

—With Institute funding, a study based at Brown University is examining religious educational materials used in schools across the Middle East, in an effort

to identify and promote more tolerant Islamic curricula.

—A 1997 grant to Hebrew University of Jerusalem examined middle and secondary school history and civics textbooks used by Palestinian and Israeli students, focusing particular attention on the treatment of Israeli-Palestinian history and interaction from 1949 to 1987. A joint Israeli and Palestinian research

team produced a report that examined national narratives in the textbooks and

identified negative stereotypes of the other in an attempt to weed out these

stereotypes and hostile references of each other.

—A 2002 grant to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is supporting a human

rights education project to develop, implement and evaluate a pilot teacher

training course in Hebrew and Arabic on theories of and approaches to promoting human rights. Targeting some two dozen Arab and Jewish teachers from

underserved areas in Israel and East Jerusalem, the program will result in a

‘‘Human Rights Reader’’ in Arabic to accompany its Hebrew analogue, provide

teachers with educational tools to integrate human rights concepts into lesson

plans, and produce a model for human rights education that will be disseminated to university schools of education and other teacher training institutions

in Israel.

—A 2003 grant to the Israeli organization, Yesodot—The Center for the Study of

Torah and Democracy—is underwriting a faith-based peace building training

program for 16 religiously observant Jewish and Muslim teachers in Israel that

explores the theological, psychological and social roots of intolerance and conflict. The initiative will result in a manual for facilitators of future religious

Jewish and Muslim school encounters and a curriculum on coexistence for

teachers that includes religious Muslim and Jewish sources and simulation exercises. A previous Institute grant to Yesodot supported an education program

that brought together principals of Jewish, Muslim, and Christian religious

schools in a series of bi-monthly workshops exploring religious tolerance, coexistence and citizenship issues.

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT EDUCATION REFORM IN OTHER ZONES OF CONFLICT

The Institute’s work in conflict zones around the world has yielded lessons that

we are applying in our work with Israelis and Palestinian. Our Education Program

recently convened scholars from Israel, Northern Ireland, Macedonia, and South Africa (via the Internet) to evaluate the effectiveness of cross-community relationshipbuilding and to share experiences of teaching and curriculum development.

The experience of Northern Ireland is particularly instructive, as schools there

were reinforcing negative stereotypes and promoting incitement to conflict. In the

1970s, a small group of Protestant and Catholic parents and teachers wanted to

transform education in Northern Ireland so that it promoted tolerance, respect, nonviolence, and human rights. The curriculum they developed began in only a few

schools, but after twenty years—or one generation—it has been adopted as a requirement by the educational authorities throughout Northern Ireland. A new curriculum on civic education is now being developed by a combined group of Protestant and Catholic educators. Northern Ireland will be a significant case study for

a workshop on conflict resolution education that the Institute’s Education Program

is putting together at Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The Institute’s extensive work in the Balkans has included peace education. A

1997 grant to the Centre for Transition and Civil Society Research in Zagreb, Croatia, sought to examine the content of history, politics, and literature textbooks at

the primary and secondary school level in Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia. The study,

conducted by a multinational team, assessed the utility of existing textbooks in promoting reconciliation, and developed recommendations for designing and implementing peace education programs in the former Yugoslavia.

Through the Institute’s Jennings Randolph Fellowship Program, in 2000–2001 we

hosted an educator from Macedonia (Violeta Petroska-Beska) who conducted a

project on ‘‘Education for Interculturalism: Learning to Live Together in a Multicultural Society.’’ With our support, Dr. Petroska-Beska has written curriculum development guides for teachers and trainers in Macedonia on topics such as combating

ethnic stereotyping and promoting ethnic tolerance. Dr. Petroska-Beska is one of the

education experts participating in our workshop with the Middle East Children’s Association.
19

The history of South Africa also provides insight about how to address curriculum

reform and how the reform process requires a long-term commitment to be successful. With the end of apartheid in South Africa there were, initially, many school programs on tolerance (including a strong human rights component) and conflict management. But transforming the official education curriculum, particularly on issues

such as history and race relations, has now taken more than a decade and is not

scheduled to be completed before 2005. Education reform is not a short-term process.Through its Grant Program, the Institute of Peace is currently funding a major

research initiative focusing on how the teaching of history—through textbooks and

school-based programs—affects attitudes about former enemies and contested pasts.

The project will involve comparisons among case studies (Northern Ireland, Russia,

Kazakhstan, and North and South Korea) and is likely to yield fresh insights for

educators seeking to advance reconciliation in conflict and post-conflict settings.

OTHER INSTITUTE PROGRAMS PROMOTING ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT RESOLUTION

As mentioned earlier, the Institute is working with a range of civil society leaders

in Israeli and Palestinian societies to support conflict resolution.

The Institute’s Religion and Peacemaking Program continues to support the follow-up work to the Alexandria Declaration, signed in January 2002 by prominent

Jewish, Muslim, and Christian leaders from Israel and the West Bank. The Declaration stresses that none of the three religious faiths legitimizes political violence, and

calls for an end to all violence in the region. Because of the religious arguments

used by extremists in this conflict to justify the use of violence, it is especially important to mobilize religious leaders to speak out for peace and coexistence—to undercut the arguments of the extremists.

The Institute’s Training Program works with Palestinians, other Arabs, and

Israelis to promote alternative strategies to the use of violence in bringing about

change. During 2000 and 2001, Institute staff conducted two workshops for 40

young Arab and Israeli leaders from universities, governments, the media, non-governmental organizations, and civil society with the goals of networking and preparing for a non-violent future. Institute facilitators used training in conflict management and resolution to illustrate how skills such as analysis and negotiation

could resolve conflicts and achieve political and social goals. Arabs and Israelis engaged in joint problem solving, many working with each other for the first time.

They also engaged in dialogue on their visions of the future in the Middle East,

while grappling with the ongoing violence between their communities. The Institute’s Training Program is currently organizing another skills-building workshop for

Palestinians and Israelis in the first half of 2004.

The Institute’s Rule of Law Program, at the request of the Israeli and Palestinian

ministers of justice, organized a special initiative on a Palestinian-Israeli legal dialogue. The Institute seeks to build professional relationships between the two legal

communities and enable them to jointly solve common problems—a process they had

not been able to start without outside facilitation, and that no other international

party had undertaken. At roundtables and follow-on working groups in the region,

members of the two legal communities and foreign experts discuss issues affecting

the daily interaction of their two systems, and develop proposed solutions to common problems. Over 120 members of the two legal communities have participated

to date. Although the dialogue was suspended during the recent violence, the Institute is exploring ways to reactivate the program.

CONCLUSION AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

To summarize, the U.S. Institute of Peace is committed to the concept that education, through curriculum reform and the training of teachers, can be an effective

component of conflict resolution efforts between Israelis and Palestinians. We support this commitment with our funding and programming, and we are sustaining

our efforts despite today’s daunting environment of hostility and violence!

In the case of the Palestinians’ education curriculum, the process of change that

supports coexistence is incomplete, incremental, and still controversial. But continued attention to this issue by Members of Congress and the Administration is one

important way of encouraging further progress.

Educational reform in the Palestinian Authority will fully advance only in the

context of political reconciliation, a process that, as President Bush has stressed, is

at the heart of the ‘‘roadmap’’ effort. Educational reform will be a vital means of

ensuring that any future peace agreement is widely understood, supported, and sustained over the long-term. Thus, the links the Institute is helping to build today between Palestinian and Israeli educators, legal professionals, and religious leaders
20

will be part of the public support structure necessary for preventing the kind of collapse that ended the Oslo process. It is an investment in future peace.

Confronting deeply held views of history and territory, much less revising them

in the interest of accommodation with an adversary, is one of the most difficult and

long-term tasks in conflict resolution. But such changes in attitude are essential to

helping peace take root and preventing future outbreaks of conflict. The U.S. Institute of Peace is committing its resources to support Israelis, Palestinians, and other

communities in conflict to educate their children for peace by teaching conflict resolution skills and promoting the values of mutual understanding, tolerance, and respect for the other.

We thank the Committee for its support of our work. My colleagues and I look

forward to responding to your questions.

Senator SPECTER. Well, Dr. Solomon, when you talk about breaking the pattern if there is education of teenagers, isn’t it all going

in the wrong direction? Is there any effort being made to educate

teenagers away from the culture of violence?

Dr. SOLOMON. We have seen some efforts of that sort. We have

funded some activities——

Senator SPECTER. Such as what?

Dr. SOLOMON. Well, here again, I think, at this point, we may

want my colleagues to give you much more detail. My formal testimony gives a number of examples of institutions of civil society, not

associated directly with the Palestinian Authority, that are trying

to promote a curriculum of reconciliation.

Senator SPECTER. Well, what are they accomplishing?

Mr. RISKIN. Well, the institution has supported several

initiatives——

Senator SPECTER. Well, we hadn’t planned to have more witnesses, but step up and identify yourself, and——

Mr. RISKIN. This is Steven Riskin, of our——

Senator SPECTER [continuing]. Talk to the question, if you can.

Mr. RISKIN [continuing]. Of our Grant Program.

Senator SPECTER. What is your name, sir?

Mr. RISKIN. Steve Riskin. I work in the institute’s Grant Program, and I’m a——

Senator SPECTER. I would like to know specifically what the Institute of Peace is doing. We fund you $171⁄2 million from this subcommittee.

Mr. RISKIN. Correct.

Senator SPECTER. And I believe there is going to be an additional

allocation of funding in the supplemental appropriation. And my

question to you, What specifically are you doing to counteract that

kind of virulent terrorism which is depicted in those videos?

Mr. RISKIN. We’re a bridge-builder. We work with a variety of organizations in the region that are moderate and that are interested

in removing the hate——

Senator SPECTER. What are they doing?

Mr. RISKIN. What are they doing? In one instance, for example,

Yesodot, which is the Center for the Study of Torah and Democracy, they are bringing teachers together——

Senator SPECTER. Study of Torah and Democracy?

Mr. RISKIN. Torah and—Muslim, Christian, and Jewish liturgy—

to talk about and to ferret out the areas where there is promotion

of tolerance and reconciliation.

Senator SPECTER. Are you reaching——

Mr. RISKIN. These are——
21

Senator SPECTER [continuing]. Are you reaching teenagers, such

as those you saw in the videos?

Mr. RISKIN. The work with the teachers—the work that we are

doing with the teachers does trickle down into the classroom. We

have found that the religious communities, particularly—and educators, but the religious communities were not involved or engaged

in the Oslo process, and this is one area that, in the future, they

will not only be—they have—religion has been seen as being an impediment to the peace process, but here are people on both sides,

religious people, who are committed to promoting nonviolence and

peace.

One of the other activities that we have been involved with as

an institute is the Alexandria Declaration. David Smock, who

works in our Religion and Peacemaking Program, has been a proponent of this, and this brought together Jewish, Christian, and

Muslim leaders in Cairo to—and they signed a declaration in support of the peace process and nonviolent approaches to resolving

the conflict, and there is an array of activities that are flowing

from that.

Senator SPECTER. Well, I think——

Mr. RISKIN. Getting——

Senator SPECTER [continuing]. I think at the level that you describe, it’s commendable, but it’s not too impressive to talk about

‘‘trickle-down.’’ How much of it——

Mr. RISKIN. There——

Senator SPECTER. Excuse me. Finish the question. How much of

it reaches the kind of young people we see on these videos?

Mr. RISKIN. There are other organizations that we have and are

supporting, like Neve Shalom, in addition to the Seeds of Peace

Program, that directly relates to youth and gets them engaged with

the other in mutual understanding.

Senator SPECTER. Palestinian youth?

Mr. RISKIN. Palestinian youth. There are organizations that work

both in Israel, with Jews and Arabs, and across the Green Line,

because it’s our view that what is happening in relations between

Jews and Arabs in Israel does have an impact across the Green

Line, as well. But there are materials that are being developed—

human rights materials at the Hebrew University, both for Jewish

and Arab classrooms. There is teacher training that’s going on, and

this is certainly connected to moving toward a resolution of the

conflict.

Senator SPECTER. How would you evaluate the effectiveness—

how would you evaluate the effectiveness of all of that, contrasted

with these propaganda videos, which are shown on Palestinian terrorism?

Mr. RISKIN. Well, this is a difficult environment, obviously. The

last 3 years, the intensity of the conflict, it is very difficult to say,

okay, here’s a huge success that we have had. We are working with

courageous moderate educators—in some cases, legal specialists—

across the Green Line. These are people who are committed to

working together to resolve the conflict. These are two competing

narratives on the education front. We have supported work—and

it’s in the testimony—Jewish and Arab educators together, looking

at what is in the textbooks and seeing how events were portrayed
22

and trying to work out, not a unified history, but at least an appreciation that can then be—and work has been done to translate that

appreciation into material that’s used in classrooms.

Senator SPECTER. Let me come back——

Mr. RISKIN. It is——

Senator SPECTER [continuing]. Let me come back to my question.

How effective is that against this kind of video propaganda?

Mr. RISKIN. That’s a difficult—it’s a difficult question to answer.

We know it is effective with the teachers who are engaged in these

activities, because they are committed to working with the other

and mutual understanding. And it is our hope—and this work is

to expand the pool of moderate, in this case, educators——

Senator SPECTER. We have seen——

Mr. RISKIN. [continuing]. Working through the system.

Senator SPECTER [continuing]. We have seen the textbooks in the

Palestinian schools, for a decade or more, preaching violence, terrorism, and hatred. Have those textbooks been changed?

Mr. RISKIN. Dr. Solomon referred to the study here that we funded, in part, that looked at those textbooks. And before 1993, as you

may know, the textbooks that were used in Gaza and the West

Bank were Egyptian and Jordanian, and there was hateful material in those. And those are no longer, by and large, used. There

is now new material coming out, and the study that we funded indicates that progress has been made. Still, there are problems with

it, but significant progress about removing hateful references to

Jews and Israel—in fact, the omissions that I think were mentioned earlier talking about Israel from a Palestinian perspective is

a difficult thing to do, as it is for Israelis talking about it. Where

do you draw the lines for a state? It’s very difficult to present

maps, for example, when you don’t know where the limits of

your——

Senator SPECTER. Never mind the maps or the delineation of the

states. Do the current textbooks being given to—in Palestinian

schools to fourth-graders, fifth-graders, sixth-graders, seventh-graders contain hateful information about Israel and Jews?

Mr. RISKIN. I have not done the study of those textbooks. I can

only refer to some of the work that’s been done here. It’s been less

than 10 years since there was a Ministry of Education, and there

had—reform is underway, and I think a few—textbooks at a few

levels—and there will be speakers later, I think, who can address

this—there are textbooks at some of the levels that have come out

that are a step clearly in the right direction, of removing hateful

material.

Dr. SOLOMON. Mr. Chairman, let me just add——

Senator SPECTER. Excuse me——

Dr. SOLOMON. Sure.

Senator SPECTER [continuing]. Dr. Solomon.

The subcommittee would like an answer to the question specifically. It shouldn’t be too hard to answer. Those materials are available, and the subcommittee would like to know whether, currently,

the textbooks being used in Palestinian schools have hateful and

inciteful matters against Israel and Jews.

You wanted to say something, Dr. Solomon?
23

Dr. SOLOMON. Well, I was just going to repeat—I think my bottom line on this is, until you get a leadership in the Palestinian

Authority that is committed to reform and reconciliation, the people that we work with in civil society are not going to be reinforced,

empowered by their own leadership. And so that puts a substantial

constraint on the impact of the kinds of things we’re supporting.

But you are certainly entitled to a full accounting of the projects

that we support and as best an answer to your question as we can

provide you.

Senator SPECTER. Well, we’d like to have it, because every year

we take a look at your request for money, and the budget is extremely tight, and we’d like to know what value is being received

by the U.S. Government for the $17 million a year.

[The information follows:]

TEACHING ABOUT COMBATING INCITEMENT IN PALESTINIAN SCHOOLS

Hate and incitement in Palestinian schools is a serious issue and a central concern of all the Institute’s education work. We commend you, Senator Specter, for

raising this issue to the attention of your colleagues and the American people, and

taking a leadership role in addressing this very disturbing problem. Teaching children to hate is unacceptable, and the Institute is doing its part to address this problem.

While hateful and inciting materials were clearly evident in older Palestinian

textbooks, improvements are being made to eliminate such overt incitement statements in more recently published Palestinian textbooks. When the Palestinian Authority (PA) assumed control over education in the West Bank and Gaza in 1994,

it initially relied on Jordanian and Egyptian textbooks, pending the composition of

a new, Palestinian curriculum. That new curriculum was designed between 1995

and 1998, and the first new textbooks (for grades 1 and 6) were introduced in 2000.

Two grades have been switched over to the new textbooks each year; as of the beginning of the current school year, grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9 all use the new textbooks. In grade 5 and the remaining high school grades the older Jordanian and

Egyptian books are still in use as of this writing. Israeli schools for Palestinians in

East Jerusalem follow the same pattern, using the same books. No academic study

has been carried out regarding the older books, but they have few defenders. Thus,

to our understanding, they do include material that is hostile to Jews and Israel.

The newer Palestinian textbooks have been studied extensively by academics and

by non-governmental organizations including:

—Nathan J. Brown, professor of political science and international affairs at

George Washington University, has conducted research on the new curriculum

with funding from a grant from the U.S. Institute of Peace and a Fulbright research and teaching grant in Israel.

—The U.S. Department of State, through our embassy in Tel Aviv and the consulate in Jerusalem, commissioned a study conducted by Israeli, Palestinian,

and international educational experts under the auspices of the Israel-Palestine

Center for Research and Information (IPCRI).

—A joint project was conducted by an Israeli academic (Ruth Firer) and a Palestinian academic (Sami Adwan), funded in part by the U.S. Institute of Peace,

and carried out under the auspices of the George Eckert Institute in Germany,

covered both Israeli and Palestinian education.

—The Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace (CMIP), an Israeli non-governmental organization, has focused on the topic since 1998.

—The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) released a report on the

first new Palestinian textbooks in 2002.

All five assessments agree that explicit incitement has decreased or been eliminated in the new Palestinian textbooks. The latter two organizations still find problematic material and implicit incitement. The first three studies, however, found no

material that could be fairly called incitement. The new textbooks, however, do not

treat Israel or Jews in any consistent manner. The little material they do include

reflects a strongly nationalistic point of view (for instance, they include illustrations

of home demolitions and a short unit on the 1948 massacre at Deir Yassin). The

new textbooks do not make efforts at peace education, either avoiding many of the

most sensitive topics or treating them obliquely. The new textbooks show some pro-
24

gressive themes—as on gender, democracy, and human rights issues—but they are

quite timid on issues related to Israel.

The Institute is well aware of the serious problem of textbooks teaching hate and

incitement and has approached it from a number of vantage points. Institute staff

have worked with our former Board member Father Theodore Hesburgh, who traveled to Israel a number of times as a member of an official delegation looking into

the issue of incitement following the signing of the 1998 Wye Agreement. The Institute has approached the issue of Palestinian education primarily through its Education Program and Grant Program, which are involved in teacher training and the

development of learning materials for Palestinian and Israeli teachers to use in the

classroom. The Institute has learned from its work in other zones of conflict, such

as Northern Ireland and the Balkans, that a central component of any effective

strategy for reaching students is to work with their teachers. This has a multiplier

effect by influencing the students in the classrooms. If teachers are not sensitive to

the issue of hate and incitement, then what is in the textbooks will have limited

effect.

The following is an account of how the U.S. Institute of Peace is doing its part

to address incitement by working directly with American, Israeli and Palestinian

educators and civic groups through our Education and Grant making programs:

1. The Institute has worked with the Middle East Children’s Association (MECA),

a joint Palestinian-Israeli NGO, in a project that brings over 250 Palestinian and

Israeli elementary and middle school teachers together to create learning materials

for their students that incorporate peace, tolerance, respect, responsibility and nonviolence. From November 28–30, 2003, the Institute’s Education staff conducted a

training workshop in Cyprus for MECA participants. In this workshop, Palestinian

and Israeli teachers worked with curriculum developers and teacher trainers from

other zones of conflict. They drew on the lessons and experiences of teachers in

other conflict zones, such as Violeta Petroska-Beska, a Macedonian educator who

was a 2000–2001 Jennings Randolph Fellow at the Institute and wrote curriculum

development guides for teachers and trainers in Macedonia on topics such as combating ethnic stereotyping and promoting ethnic tolerance. The MECA participants

will be training additional teachers inside Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

MECA’s training initiatives, with the Institute’s support, will not only engage educators from both sides of the conflict, but will directly impact several thousand students. The multiplier effect of the Institute’s working with and training teachers is

significant. Programs like MECA provide Israeli and Palestinian teachers with the

opportunity to counter the incitement that surrounds their classrooms and reinforce

the message of coexistence to their students. The Institute has also provided grants

to assist in the development of MECA.

2. Promoting understanding and respect for human rights is another critical aspect of the Institute’s efforts to reduce incitement and strengthen peaceful approaches to resolving differences. A 2002 grant to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem mentioned in my testimony is supporting a human rights education project

to develop, implement and evaluate a pilot teacher-training course in Hebrew and

Arabic on theories of and approaches to promoting human rights. Targeting some

two dozen Arab and Jewish teachers from underserved areas in Israel and East Jerusalem, the program will produce a ‘‘Human Rights Reader’’ in Arabic to accompany its Hebrew analogue, provide teachers with educational tools to integrate

human rights concepts into lesson plans, and produce a model for human rights

education that will be disseminated to university schools of education and other

teacher-training institutions throughout the country. In the initial phase, this program will reach several hundred Jewish and Arab Israeli students as well as Palestinian students in East Jerusalem. In collaboration with Haifa University the program will soon be launching training programs that will engage between 80–100

Arab and Jewish teachers in northern Israel—impacting hundreds of classrooms

and thousands of students. Discussions are now underway with Ben Gurion University of the Negev to mount a similar program for teachers in the southern part of

the country.

3. The Institute is a supporter of the Seeds of Peace organization, a summer camp

experience that sends Arab and Israeli teenagers for six weeks of coexistence training in Maine. In 1999, the Institute awarded a grant to Seeds of Peace to develop

an educational, interactive CD–ROM program based on the experiences of Arab and

Israeli youth who have participated in the summer camp program for use in classrooms around the Middle East. The initiative has also prepared related curricular

materials, a manual to guide educators in the use of the CD–ROM program, and

a students’ handbook. The start of the current Intifada has slowed dissemination

of the CD–ROM, but even so it is reaching schools.
25

4. The Institute also provided through a grant to Seeds of Peace support for an

October 10–17, 2003, Seeds of Peace International Youth Conference ‘‘Breaking

News, Making Headlines.’’ The Conference enabled 125 youth ages 15–19, including

Palestinian and Israeli, to develop the independent thinking skills necessary to decipher media and use it to make their voices heard. The Conference moved beyond

identifying the factors that contribute to conflict towards constructive action to reverse these trends in their societies, specifically focusing on the question: How can

we redirect the power of the media towards the positive aim of building a culture

of peace.

5. As noted in my testimony, a 2003 Institute grant to the Israeli organization,

Yesodot—The Center for the Study of Torah and Democracy—is enabling this organization of religiously observant Jewish Israelis to reach communities long neglected

by programs seeking to advance tolerance, mutual understanding and peace. This

peace-building training program for 16 religiously observant Jewish and Muslim

teachers in Israel explores the theological, psychological, and social roots of intolerance and conflict. While modest in its early stages, the project will expand the small

but growing number of religious educators promoting shared values of coexistence

and mutual acceptance, and will reach several hundred students. Moreover, the potential growth of this program is significant, with the number of Muslim and Jewish

student beneficiaries likely to reach several thousand.

6. A 2003 Institute grant to the Jerusalem-based Citizens’ Accord Forum is funding a coexistence leadership training program for Jewish and Arab middle school

youth. In the first phase, targeting students between the ages of 14–15, the initiative will train and develop the skills of a future cadre of outstanding community

leaders motivated and equipped to be active in the field of coexistence work on a

local and national level. The initiative will also develop curricula and study materials in peacemaking and coexistence, and disseminate a new model of collaboration

and partnership among Arab and Jewish youth, parents, educators, and their broader communities.

7. As stated above, an Institute-funded project in 1997 based at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem examined middle and secondary school history and civics textbooks used by Palestinian and Israeli students, focusing particular attention on the

treatment of Israeli-Palestinian history and interaction from 1949 to 1987. A joint

Israeli and Palestinian research team produced several reports that examined national narratives in the textbooks and identified negative stereotypes of the other

in an attempt to weed out these stereotypes and hostile references of each other.

The soon-to-be published findings of this research have already been used by and

had a direct impact on curriculum development in the Palestinian Ministry of Education, and the development of new junior high school curriculum in Hebrew and

Arabic on the subjects of geography, literature and civics, is now underway.

8. Also as stated above, the Institute provided a grant in 1999–2000 to George

Washington University Professor Dr. Nathan Brown to study the reforms underway

in Palestinian politics in the wake of the Oslo peace accords. The culmination of this

grant was his recently released book, Palestinian Politics After the Oslo Accords;

Resuming Arab Palestine. He devotes a chapter of this book to ‘‘Democracy, Nationalism, and Contesting the Palestinian Curriculum.’’ In this chapter, Dr. Brown

sheds light on the challenges facing Palestinian educators in their efforts to reform

education in Palestinian society, advance more modern and democratic approaches

to learning, and develop and implement new curricula.

9. With Institute grant funding in 2003, a study based at Brown University is currently examining religious educational materials used in schools across the Middle

East, in an effort to identify and promote more tolerant Islamic curricula. The initiative will also assess contemporary Islamic education in comparison with the classical tradition, explore points of convergence and reciprocity among different religious traditions in the Middle East, and probe models for Islamic religious education

that can inform the development of new, more tolerant and inclusive curricula.

10. In addition, in May 2004, the Institute is planning to conduct a conflict resolution education program at Hebrew University of Jerusalem that will supplement the

education graduate students are receiving in conflict resolution studies. The training

program will bring together Israeli and Palestinians educators who are working to

incorporate principles of conflict resolution, peace and non-violence into their teaching and their classrooms.

In closing, the Institute is committed to expanding its work with educators on

anti-incitement education wherever we find receptive Israelis and Palestinians partners. We understand that these efforts will be substantially constrained until there

is leadership in the Palestinian Authority that is committed to reform and reconciliation. In the meantime, the Institute measures the impact of its programs based on
26

increasing dialogues between Israeli and Palestinian teachers and getting them to

teach their students about peace and conflict resolution.

I want to express the Institute’s deep appreciation for your support of its work,

which is sustained by appropriations from this Subcommittee. We look forward to

working with you and other members of this Subcommittee on this very important

subject.

Senator SPECTER. Mr. Kunder, I note that the administration requested $75 million in direct aid for the Palestinian Authority for

the fiscal year 2004. The bill drafted by the Senate does not contain a specific dollar amount for the Palestinians. Is there still a

request by the administration for $75 million in direct aid for the

Palestinian Authority, or has that changed with the deterioration

of the Palestinian Government and the change of Prime Minister?

Mr. KUNDER. Sir, I think Ambassador Satterfield stated exactly

what the situation is now, that there would be no additional direct—it would be considered on a case-by-case basis. There would

not be additional assistance, except in those cases—in those circumstances that he described, that all those guarantees would be

met. So I take that, his answer to your earlier question, as the current state of play.

Senator SPECTER. Mr. Kunder, where you fund humanitarian

projects in the West Bank and Gaza, does that result in the indirect release of funds, which can be used by the Palestinian Authority for terrorism?

Mr. KUNDER. Sir, whenever we’re acting as stewards of the taxpayer dollars anywhere around the world, I think the question of

fungibility always comes up, and we cannot deny that in any circumstance a dollar is a dollar, so that a dollar going to any entity

or any nation or any NGO around the world can be seen as a dollar

that that organization does not have to locate or access from some

other source. So at that level of generality, of course dollars going

to any entity provide resources that don’t have to be raised somewhere else.

Senator SPECTER. Well, it obviously poses a very difficult choice.

You don’t want to free up money to go to terrorist operations.

Mr. KUNDER. Yes, sir.

Senator SPECTER. And I know there is a real effort to try to stimulate some moderate view——

Mr. KUNDER. Yes, sir.

Senator SPECTER [continuing]. Within the Palestinian Authority

to try to advance the peace process. But, to the extent possible, are

you looking at situations where USAID might release money for

terrorism, to avoid it where at all possible?

Mr. KUNDER. We have a specific certification required of all of

our grantees that’s quite specific—we could certainly make a copy

of it available to you—that goes into quite detailed requirements by

any of our recipients, in terms of what they can do and cannot do,

in terms of the pass-through of money.

Senator SPECTER. I’m familiar with the certification.

Mr. KUNDER. Yes, sir.

Senator SPECTER. It provides that the Palestinian entities will

not provide material, support, or resources to any individual or entity which it knows or has reason to know is acting as an agent

for any individual or entity that advocates, plans, sponsors, en-
27

gages in, or is engaged in terrorist activity. So that’s what you

were referring to.

Mr. KUNDER. Yes, sir.

Senator SPECTER. And we’ve been advised that many Palestinian

partners have refused to sign the pledge. Is that correct?

Mr. KUNDER. That’s correct. Yes, sir.

Senator SPECTER. But where they refuse to sign the pledge, do

you give them American money?

Mr. KUNDER. I’m sorry, sir? They——

Senator SPECTER. Where they refused to sign the pledge, do you

advance U.S. aid to them?

Mr. KUNDER. If this is an—the certification is an absolute requirement to receive USAID assistance. If an organization does not

sign the certification, it will not receive any assistance.

Senator SPECTER. Well, okay, that’s good news.

Well, thank you very much, gentlemen. It’s a very, very difficult

issue, but what I think we have to look for is something that does

hand-to-hand combat with those videos. Is there any avenue available for the United States or any other entity to put on videos to

compete with the videos which we have seen?

Mr. KUNDER. Sir, if I could, the—on page 3 of my testimony—

I didn’t capture it in my quick overview—but we go into some of

the peace curriculum and conflict resolution work that is being

done, the development of curriculum to be inserted into the Palestinian school systems. And these programs, in answer to your question about what kind of impact, have reached tens of thousands of

students, and we will be glad to provide detailed descriptions of

those programs. So there are certainly competing curricula out

there.

Senator SPECTER. Any—never mind curricula—any television?

Curricula is very passive. Television is very active. Any competing

television?

Mr. KUNDER. Yes, sir. We are——

Senator SPECTER. Such as?

Mr. KUNDER. Both in terms of participation, we are funding the

coverage, for example, of town meetings and alternate moderate

voices that—to lobby the Palestinian Legislative Council. We have

actually funded—because we know the power of this kind of media,

we have actually funded some soap operas that portray—and sometimes in some pretty controversial terms—but Israel-Palestinian

dialogue. So, yes, sir, we take your point, and we’re doing some of

that.

Senator SPECTER. Anything that, head-on, hits the inducement to

these young Palestinians to commit suicide with a bombing?

Mr. KUNDER. Sir, to the best of my knowledge, I don’t think so,

but I will follow up and get that information to the committee.

[The information follows:]

USAID funds a broad range of activities in the West Bank and Gaza that engage

the youth population, and are aimed at dissuading Palestinian youth from aspiring

to be suicide bombers. For example, as the attached table of civil society and community service activities indicates:

—Our democracy and governance projects teach the skills of democratic, civil,

non-violent mobilization and advocacy. They reach out to school children and

university students, providing mentoring, counseling, and structure, and at the
28

same time imparting skills, knowledge, and appreciation for non-violent conflict

resolution techniques.

—USAID-supported civic education media programs are widely disseminated and

artfully designed to deliver and reinforce the message that while there are problems, violence is not a solution.

—Town hall meetings, panel discussions, and young leader training programs

reach out into the heart of the communities that have been identified as prime

breeding grounds for suicide bombers, providing avenues of communication and

organization that are effective and healthy alternatives to violence.

—Through our various community service programs, we are trying to inculcate

skills and positive experiences that will support non-violent conflict resolution

behaviors. For Palestinians teens and young adults, we support programs that

‘‘get them off the street’’ into positive, healthy, mentored situations where they

are engaged in constructive activities and, at the same time, developing attitudes and problem-solving techniques that are conducive to adopting non-violent approaches to resolving the national conflict.

In addition, a significant portion of our overall programming is geared to meeting

emergency health and humanitarian needs, creating jobs, providing educational opportunities, and supporting economic development. In this way, USAID programs

give Palestinian youth hope for a better life and future.

This hearing has been useful in sharpening USAID’s focus on the nature of the

issue of suicide bombings. Consequently, this fiscal year we plan to use available

funds to design and implement additional targeted activities, within the parameters

of current U.S. law.

USAID/WEST BANK AND GAZA CIVIL SOCIETY PORTFOLIO CONTRIBUTIO TO ANTI INCITEMENT 1

NGO Activity Name/Implementing Partner(s) Amount

Moderate Voices

Academy for Educational Development (AED);

Search for Common Ground (SEARCH)

The Palestinian Center for Helping to

Resolve Community Disputes.

Gaza Conflict Resolution Project—Peer Mediation ......................................

Nablus Youth Parliament .............................................................................

$54,965

26,662

Middle East Non-violence and Democracy (MEND).Non-Violence Training Of Trainers ...............................................................

Non Violence Radio Soap Opera ...................................................................

Training of Media Professional in skills that Promote Non-Violence ..........

49,949

49,494

27,824

Israel Palestinian Center for Research and Information.Peace Education Program Non-Violence Module .......................................... 25,212

Palestinian Forum for Democracy ...... Non-Violence Training of Leaders in Gaza ................................................... 48,902

Tamkeen

Chemonics Inc.

The Palestinian Center for Micro

Project Development.

Advocating Democracy and Human Rights through Combating Social Violence.70,800

Fekra For Educational Art .................. Women in Gaza: Expression through Theater .............................................. 85,660

Women and Child Development Association.Democracy Awareness Program for Children in Rafah ................................ 51,580

Community Training and Crisis Management.Civic Education Program of Youth in the Shejayia and Zeitoun areas ...... 64,320

MAAN .................................................. Palestinian Children Taking Part—A Right and a Responsibility .............. 98,412

International Palestinian Youth

League.

Democracy and Citizenship Summer Camp ................................................. 68,543

Panorama ........................................... Youth Assembly on Leadership .................................................................... 95,705

Special Interest Groups for Community participation via Advocacy and

Policy Developemtn.

99,475

Bisan .................................................. Advocacy for a Regional Public Policy on Youth in Civic and Democratic

Participation (Nablus).

97,019

Gaza Community Mental Health Programme.Cooperation through Video Conferencing ..................................................... 24,308

The Palestinian Association for Legal

Sciences.

Supporting the Rule of Law and Resolving Disputes through Arbitration

and Mediation.

78,530

Civic Forum ........................................ Strengthening Palestinian Civil Society and Grassroots Democratic Development in the Northern, Central, and Southern West Bank.297,000

Al Mamal Foundation for Contemporary Art.Contemporary Art for Palestinian Youth ...................................................... 85,286

Maghazi Community Rehabilitation

Society.

To Enhance Community Based Education in Maghazi Camp ..................... 90,155
29

USAID/WEST BANK AND GAZA CIVIL SOCIETY PORTFOLIO CONTRIBUTIO TO ANTI INCITEMENT 1—

Continued

NGO Activity Name/Implementing Partner(s) Amount

The Palestinian Institute for Community Research and Training.Enhancing university Students Role in Public Issues .................................

Enhancing Students’ Role and Participation in Civil Society Issues and

Democratic Reforms in Al Aqsa University.

50,610

50,725

Al Jalaa For Culture and Arts ............ Civic Education for Children through Drama .............................................. 95,913

El Karmel Cultural Association .......... Enhancing Democracy and Creativity Among the Children ......................... 51,400

Gaza Center for Rights and Law ....... Civil Education in Democracy and Human Rights for Young Leadership ... 47,680

Center for Private Sector Development.The Palestinian Private Sector—Towards a More Vibrant Role .................. 92,682

Ashtar Theatre ................................... Abu Shaker’s Affairs 2002. A Theatre Performance as a Tool for

Change.

93,700

Alpha International ............................ Monitoring Attitudes and Perception of High School Students in Palestine and Utilizing Derived Indicators to Conduct an Array of Public Advocacy Activities on Various Aspects of Survey Findings.

94,120

Educational Network Center .............. Strengthening the Role of Education in Building Civil Society in Palestine.99,925

Arab Thought Forum .......................... Civil Society Participation Project ................................................................ 99,292

Citizen’s Rights Project ................................................................................ 99,412

Youth Leadership Project .............................................................................. 98,644

Ayyam Al Masrah ............................... Theatre Plays with Kids in Gaza and Hebron .............................................. 83,330

Civitas

Participating Agencies Services Agreement (PASA)

with Public Diplomacy, Department of State

Palestinian Youth Association for

Leadership and Rights Activation.

Youth4Change ............................................................................................... 20,000

Center for Continuing Education ....... Birzeit University ........................................................................................... 19,535

Association for Women’s Action for

Training and Rehabilitation.

Developing Young Female Leaders ............................................................... 24,000

Palestinian Center for Resolving

Community Disputes.

Empowering Women in the Nablus Area to Understand Legislation and

Increase their Capacity for Political Participation.

20,400

1 Ongoing sub-grants only, not including completed or planned activities under these projects.

Senator SPECTER. Well, it’s a subtle matter as to how you combat

it. Do you have people working on it to figure out how you do it,

where you have some, perhaps, other Palestinian teenagers talking

about living and affirming life, and not hatred and suicide?

Mr. KUNDER. Frankly, sir, your hearing here today will cause us

to look at all these issues more sharply in the future, and we will

look at that.

Senator SPECTER. Well, that’s the first time I’ve heard any hearing doing any good, but——

Mr. KUNDER. I’m quite serious. I’m not saying that to make you

feel good. I’m being quite serious.

Senator SPECTER. All right. Let us know what is being done at

the present time——

Mr. KUNDER. Yes, sir.

Senator SPECTER [continuing]. To combat that kind of inciting

video of the suicide bombers and what you have plans to do to

come to hand-to-hand combat with that kind of trash, garbage, and

incitement.

Mr. KUNDER. Yes, sir.

Senator SPECTER. Okay, thank you very much, gentlemen.

Dr. SOLOMON. Thank you.

Senator SPECTER. I’d like to proceed now to our second panel, Dr.

Hassan Abdel Rahman, Dr. Ziad Asali, and Dr. Morton Klein, and

also Mr. Itamar Marcus.
30

Mr. Marcus, you have already identified yourself, and thank you

for making those videos available to Members of the Senate earlier

and for providing them to the hearing today. The floor is now yours

for 5 minutes.

Mr. MARCUS. Okay, thank you.

One of the challenges, I think, facing any funding of the Palestinian Authority is that not only do the Palestinians use television

as we’ve seen, the Palestinians use the full range of social structures and cultural structures within Palestinian society in order to

promote these values. And I wanted to give you some examples,

and you can actually follow with some of these texts there on the

screen.

So, for example, this summer, there was a whole summer-camp

infrastructure, which we presume is to get children out of the cities

and out into the country, and yet the summer-camp infrastructure

was one that was focused, as well, on the suicide terrorists.

So, for example, there was a summer camp named after Wafa

Idris, who was the first woman suicide bomber. And if you look at

the bottom of the article here on the screen, you’ll see that

UNICEF was thanked for its support of the camps at the closing

ceremonies. So you have a camp named after the first woman suicide bomber, UNICEF funding for this camp.

We had another summer camp for the Ayyat al-Akhras, 17-yearold girl, youngest suicide bomber, again this summer. So that summer camps are used as this means, as well.

Sporting events, which, again, is entertainment around the world

for children, have been a means also to rave and to create role

models for children who are terrorists. So that, for example, just

this past month, there was a soccer tournament, a major, major

soccer tournament, in the Palestinian Authority. The sponsors of

the tournament were Saab Erekat, Yasser Arafat, Jibril Rajoub,

the Minister of Sport, the mufti, all of the heads of the Palestinian

Authority sponsoring a soccer tournament. And the 24 teams, each

of the 24 teams was named after a different shahid, a different

martyr, including people like Yechya Ayash, who was the first

Hamas engineer, Dalil Mughrabi, who—involved in a hijacking killing 36, including an American. So all of the heads of the Palestinian Authority this summer put their names on a sport tournament glorifying terrorists.

This role-modeling, by the way, and naming after terrorists, is

not limited to terrorists who have killed Israeli’s; it includes terrorists who have killed Americans in Iraq. So, for example, we found

in the Palestinian newspaper, just 4 days after the first suicide

Iraqi terrorist killed four U.S. marines, the P.A. renamed a square

in Jenin after that suicide terrorist. So this role-modeling and turning the terrorists into heroes is directed not just at Israelis, but at

Americans, as well.

Now, I want to step back for one moment, and I want to show

you a film here. We’ve been discussing the level of terrorism, but

what we haven’t discussed at all is the level of ideology. And I

think this must be understood, because unless we understand why

the Palestinians are teaching their children to fight, we won’t understand why they are participating in terrorism. And I want to

show you a short item here from an educational program on Pales-
31

tinian television. It’s significant the person speaking is the head of

a history department. And in understanding what he is saying to

these children, you will get a sense of the foundation of the conflict

that we are having today, that continues to until today.

[Video presentation.]

Mr. MARCUS. Again, I start with this because I think this is why

we still have a conflict today. This message, we have heard hundreds and hundreds of times, to Palestinians, both in formal and

informal structures, all of Jewish history is lies, everything belongs

to the Palestinians.

Interestingly, the new Prime Minister made this comment, which

appeared in a Palestinian daily just after President Bush had made

the speech in June of this year talking about the Palestinians recognizing Israel as Jewish state. And he said: ‘‘What is the meaning

and the concept of a Jewish state? Does this mean that this is a

Jewish state, this is Sunni, this is Shi’ite, this one is Christian?

These differences could plunge the region into a whirlpool.’’ Even

the new Prime Minister refuses to acknowledge that the Jews are

a nation having a right to a state. He puts this in the category of

a religion. And so we’re seeing that this message isn’t coming in

the formal education, it’s coming from the political leader. It permeates Palestinian society, and I feel this is the foundation of the

conflict that continues to date.

This message continues even in the new school books. And I will

beg to differ, it’s not just a sin of omission in the new school books;

the new schools books continue to de-legitimize Israel. And I have

a couple of items here that appear in the very new school books.

Israel is defined as a colony. And to the chapter on colonialism,

Palestine faced British occupation after the first world war, and

Israeli occupation in 1948. Israel is foreign. They are an occupier.

Referring to Israel cities and regions, like Beersheba and Negev,

they’re talked about Southern Palestine. The Sea of Galilee is referred to as part of Palestine. There is no recognition in the school

books. People look at the maps, as you see here, in the Palestinian

school books and say, it is because there is no borders, final borders. That is not the way they’re presenting it to their children.

They’re presenting it to their children that this is the Palestine.

These are all pictures from new school books.

Senator SPECTER. Mr. Marcus, you’re a minute over time. Could

you sum up at this point?

Mr. MARCUS. Yes.

I just want to put the two messages together with this final short

video that you will see. This is from a Palestinian graduation this

summer, and it combines the ideology, as well as the desire that

the children have—are being taught for the use of force to achieve

their goals. Again, this is Palestinian television, a film from a high

school graduation.

[Video presentation.]

PREPARED STATEMENT

Mr. MARCUS. Okay. This summarizes the essential conflict.

Israeli cities are still being portrayed to the children as Palestine,

and they will liberate it through their stone and their knife.

Thank you.
32

[The statement follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF ITAMAR MARCUS

Mr. Chairman, Senators, there is significant evidence documenting Palestinian

Authority [PA] incitement of its children to hatred, violence and Death for Allah—

the Shahada. This incitement is advanced by the PA through the entire social-educational structure, including sporting events and summer camps, the media including music videos for children and schoolbooks. Jews and Judaism are presented as

inherently evil, Israel existence as a state is de-legitimized and denied, and fighting

Jews and Judaism is presented as justified and heroic.

The PA Ministries of Education and Sport have turned the most abhorrent murderers of Jews into role models and heroes for Palestinian youth. A soccer tournament for 11-year-old boys was named for Abd Al-Baset Odeh—the terrorist who

murdered 30 in the Passover Seder suicide bombing. [Sports section, Al Hayat Al

Jadida Jan 21, 2003]. This past summer, during the period of the U.S. sponsored

Road Map, numerous summer camps were named for suicide bombers, including a

camp for teenagers named after a teenage suicide bomber, a 17 year old girl, Ayyat

Al Akhras. Another camp for girls was named after Wafa Idris, the first woman suicide bomber. Many schools, cultural events, educational programs, and trophies, are

named after terrorist murderers and suicide bombers. There can be no greater incitement to hatred and violence than the recurring portrayal of Palestinian terrorists as role models for children. As recently as September this year PA Chairman

Arafat and 13 PA Leaders jointly sponsored a soccer tournament honoring arch terrorists. The PA leaders included Saeb Erikat; Jibril Rajoub; the Minister of Sport—

Abdul Fatach Hamal; the Mufti of the PA Ikrama Sabri; and 10 other senior PA

officials. Each of the 24 soccer teams was named for a terrorist or other Shahids

[‘‘Martyrs’’] including some of the most infamous murderers like Yechya Ayash, the

first Hamas bomb engineer, who initiated the suicide bombings, and Dalal

Mughrabi, a terrorist woman who hijacked a bus killing 36 including American Gail

Ruben in 1978; [Al Ayyam, Sept. 21, 2003] At the completion of this tournament

Saeb Erikat distributed the trophies.

While Music videos around the world are used to entertain children, in the PA

they are used to indoctrinate children to hatred, violence, and Shahada. Regularly

broadcast PA music videos have actors depicting Israelis carrying out executionstyle murders of old men, woman and children, or blowing up mothers with their

babies. In one music video broadcast continuously in 2003, actors portray a woman

being murdered in cold blood in front of her daughter. In another, broadcast tens

of times in 2003, the image of young girl on a swing turns into a flaming inferno,

and a football blows up after being kicked by a child. Children are taught through

these videos not only to hate and to be violent, but are openly encouraged to aspire

to death through Shahada [Martyrdom]. Clips designed to offset a child’s natural

fear of death portraying child Shahada as both heroic and tranquil, have appeared

on PA TV thousands of times over three years. [2000–2003] One clip for children

ends with the words: ‘‘Ask for Death—the Life will be Given to you’’. In another,

a child writes a farewell letter and goes off to die. Children who have achieved

death through suicide missions have been turned into PA heroes and role models

by the PA leaders.

The hatred, anti Semitism and Shahada encouragement appear in the PA schoolbooks as well. The poem The Shahid [The Martyr] in a new PA schoolbook includes

the phrase: ‘‘I see my death, but I hasten my steps toward it’’ [Our Beautiful Language, grade 7, p. 97] The PA argument that some of the books are copies of Jordanian books is not relevant, as a child being taught that Jews are evil is not going

to be less influenced because of the identity of the publisher. Furthermore, even the

new PA-produced schoolbooks teach hatred, de-legitimize Israel, and include antiSemitic themes. This education will perpetuate the conflict into the next generation.

It is important to note that the PA is making use of foreign funding to promote

this hatred among its children. Summer camps named for suicide bombers this summer were funded by UNICEF. [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 22, 2003, Al-Ayyam July

18, 2003, Al-Quds, July 23, 2003]. Renovation of a school named for Dalal Maghrabi,

a terrorist who participated in the murder of 36 including an American, was funded

by USAID [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida July 30 2002]. And whereas the PA announced two

days later that they had changed the name, in order to receive the USAID funding,

PA press reports indicated that the name was still being used. [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida,

August 16, 2002]

Clearly, children are being incited to hatred, violence and Shahada, not merely

by fringe elements in the PA, but by the entire mainstream of PA leadership and
33

society. This incitement to hatred and violence penetrates the minds of the PA children and, after terrorism itself, is the single greatest long-term obstacle to peace.

Under the Oslo accords and subsequently under the Wye accords, the PA obligated itself to cease this incitement, but has ignored its own laws. In the interest

of achieving a lasting peace, pressure must be brought on the PA, through all available means, including temporary political isolation and the temporary freezing of financial support, in order to impress upon the Palestinians the importance of peace

education.

The following concrete steps should be taken by the PA immediately:

1. Music videos promoting hatred, violence, and Shahada must never again be

broadcast on PA TV.

2. The practice of naming schools, cultural events, educational programs, sport

events and trophies after terrorists and suicide bombers must cease. Educational institutions and cultural frameworks currently named for terrorists must be changed.

3. PA children must be taught that Israel is a legitimate country with a right to

exist.

4. There is no greater incitement against Israels legitimacy as a state, than to

mark the word Palestineor occupied Palestinein place of Israel on all maps in the

PA. These maps must be removed from Palestinian schools, schoolbooks and TV

broadcasting and be replaced by maps that show Israel by name in Arabic. This will

be the most important act of recognition of Israel by the PA, more important than

the signing of the Oslo Accords. To continue the current practice, makes the statements of recognition of Israel at Oslo irrelevant and sends a clear message to the

population that is was not said with integrity.

5. The hatred and anti Semitism in the PA schoolbooks must be removed. The

PA argument that many of the books are copies of Jordanian books is not relevant

to the issues at hand, which is, the educational damage being done to the children.

A child being taught that Jews are evil is not going to be less influenced because

of the identity of the publisher. In addition, even the new PA produced schoolbooks

educate to hatred, de-legitimize Israel, and include anti Semitic themes. The PA

schoolbooks must be reprinted without the hatred before the start of the next school

year.

Senator SPECTER. Thank you very much, Mr. Marcus.

STATEMENT OF HASSAN ABDEL RAHMAN, CHIEF REPRESENTATIVE,

PLO MISSION

Senator SPECTER. We now turn to Dr. Hassan Abdel Rahman,

chief representative of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and

the Palestinian National Authority in the United States. He attended universities in Puerto Rico before earning his Ph.D. from

the City University of New York.

Thank you for joining us, Dr. Rahman, and we look forward to

your testimony.

Dr. RAHMAN. Thank you, Senator Specter.

Let me, at the outset, start on a personal note. I have four children, three boys and a girl. The four of them attended the camp

of Seeds of Peace. I am a founder or co-founder, with John Wallach,

late John Wallach, of that organization, and my name was on the

board of that organization.

I am a believer in the coexistence between the Palestinians and

the Israelis. I have struggled for that objective since my beginning

as a representative of the PLO in New York at the United Nations

since 1974. I don’t need to establish my credentials as a supporter

of peace.

I have, on many occasions, on Arabic television as well as on

American television, objected, condemned suicide bombing. I am opposed to it. I am against it. And this is the official policy also of

the Palestinian National Authority.

Mr. Marcus lives on a settlement on the West Bank. It is stolen

from the Palestinian people. It is a territory that has been taken
34

away from Palestinians. In violation of the policy of the U.S. Government, which opposes the building of settlements in the Palestine territories, it is in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which considers the transfer of population of the occupying

power to the occupied territory as illegal and as a war crime.

Having said that, I really hesitated before coming to appear before this subcommittee for the very simple reason, there are two

parties to this conflict, Palestinians and the Israelis. And there is

incitement on both sides. I see only the Palestinians brought to a

task here, and no mention of what the Israeli media, what the

Israeli textbooks say or do not say about the Palestinians. I would

have liked, Mr. Chairman, in the spirit of fairness, to have a hearing on the incitement in both textbooks and both medias, Palestinians as well as Israelis, and then we would have not hesitated to

appear before this subcommittee. Because there are studies that

are made on Israeli textbooks, 1,600 textbooks, that never mentions the word Palestine or the history of the Palestinian people in

historic Palestine. Whenever there is a reference to Palestine, it is

called Israel.

Mr. Marcus and his colleagues, the 200,000 armed settlers in the

West Bank and Gaza who stole the land of the Palestinians, are

armed, and they call the West Bank and Gaza as Judea and Samaria. They never call it by its name.

No amount of education or teaching of the Palestinians how important it is will change certain realities, Mr. Specter. When there

is the generation of Palestinians who have been living under foreign military occupation, 35 years of brutal military occupation,

where bulldozers are used to demolish homes, where Apache helicopters given by the United States to the Government of Israel are

attacking civilians in Gaza and elsewhere, where the Israeli Army

sanctions the assassination, extra-judicially, of Palestine leaders

without what you cherish the most, the due process of law, in this

country, people are not—or do not need to be told that the Israeli

settlers and the Israeli soldiers are bad. They have to live in the

West Bank and Gaza in order to dislike and even hate the Israelis,

because the average Palestinian, Mr. Specter, do not see your civilian in Ramallah. The average Palestinian encounters two kinds of

Israelis, and both are armed, the soldier and the settler, and both

are there to humiliate, oppress, suppress the Palestinians.

If any American would live holed in his home for 20 or 30 days

under curfew, I am sure they would be angry, and anger is expressed by different people in different ways. I, personally, will express my anger in a different way. Others express it in a totally

different way, which we do not sanction.

But instead of cursing the darkness, we have to light a candle.

We have to stop Israeli from building more settlements. We have

to improve the conditions for the Palestinians so they can have a

stake in changing their attitudes. But when they see their parents,

their neighbors, their mothers, fathers, their sisters giving birth on

checkpoints, humiliated by Israeli soldiers, I assure you they will

be angry, and you would be angry.

I looked at those distorted tapes collected by Mr. Marcus, and I

can take an issue with every statement that was made there. But

that’s not really the objective and my goal today, because they are
35

taken out of context, they are translated out of the cultural meaning of what is said. I remember that the battle cry for Patrick

Henry, who wanted to freedom. He said, ‘‘Give me liberty or give

me death,’’ and that was the battle cry for the independence of this

country. Every society has its way of encouraging people to make

sacrifices for independence, for freedom, and for dignity.

We need an understanding from you and from the Congress of

the United States that the only way to end incitement is by drying

off the causes of incitement, freedom for the Palestinians so they

can live as equal neighbors to Israel. But I assure you that the continued occupation of the Palestinians, their denial of the God-given

right to live as a free, dignified people in their own country, is the

biggest source of incitement. Let’s deal with real issues, and not

with the effects. Let’s deal with the causes of incitement.

Thank you.

Senator SPECTER. Well, thank you, Dr. Rahman.

We invited you here today, and others, to speak on behalf of the

Palestinian Authority because of our interest in hearing what you

had to say.

Dr. RAHMAN. Yes, thank you.

Senator SPECTER. And when you asked for time to state the incitement by Israel, we’re prepared to give you that time. You spoke

for longer than the allotted time, but there was quite a bit on the

other side, and I thought, as a matter of fairness, to hear you out,

and I would have cared to hear you further——

Dr. RAHMAN. Thank you.

Senator SPECTER [continuing]. If you care to amplify as to the incitement on the part of the Israelis. We’re prepared to give you

whatever time that you’d like to have.

Dr. RAHMAN. No, Mr. Chairman, I know you are a fair person,

and I know that you want to help. But, again, what I wanted to

say, that after the Wye River Accords we established a trilateral

commission of the Israelis, Palestinians, and Americans to monitor

the media and monitor incitement on both sides. And a great deal

has been done in that regard. And we continue to express our readiness to work with the Israelis and with the Americans to monitor

incitement on both sides.

But I cannot accept that the basis for the position of the U.S.

Senate will be a distorted videotape collected by Mr. Marcus, who

is a settler on the West Bank. That is absolutely unfair to the Palestinians, because those are a collection of items taken out of context, Senator. They are not accurate translations of what has been

said.

Senator SPECTER. Well, Dr. Rahman, let’s examine that. Customarily, we go through the entire panel before questioning, but we’re

going to proceed just a little differently because of what you’ve

said. I’m going to take a few minutes, then yield to Senator Clinton

to give her an opportunity to raise questions.

Where you’re saying the comments were taken out of context——

Dr. RAHMAN. Right.

Senator SPECTER [continuing]. We just saw the videos, and I am

not in a position to have translated them, but we have seen teenagers, an 11-year-old girl——

Dr. RAHMAN. Yes.
36

Senator SPECTER [continuing]. Say that she was prepared to give

her life as a suicide bomber in order to go to heaven. Was that an

inaccurate translation of what she said?

Dr. RAHMAN. Well, what she was saying, she was making a religious statement, which every religion—if I go to the Torah, I will

find references that I may not like, and that—I have, in fact, a

statement here about what happened in Jericho after the invasion

of Jericho, and it really—it is—I may not like it. So we cannot

translate religious statements into policies. There is a difference

there, Mr. Chairman, and I’m sure that you are aware of that.

So we keep religious discussion out of it. When there’s a reference to the history, the—of history, who said something about

the war, that it did not exist. But if you ask the Jewish—followers

of the Jewish religion and ask them, ‘‘Did Mohammed—was he a

prophet,’’ they will tell you no. I don’t take that as an offense. That

is their religious belief. We have to put religion aside.

So—and we deal with politics here. If we want to take a statement that was made by a sheik in a mosque and base our policy

on that statement, we go nowhere, and we would reach the wrong

conclusions.

I am saying that we have textbooks that we have to deal with.

We have television stations we have to deal with. We have incitement, yes. But the incitement is the product of the conditions that

exist in the Palestinian territories.

Senator SPECTER. Well, Dr. Rahman, how about the part where

the young man had written a letter to his father saying, ‘‘Do not

grieve for me. I have given my life for my country, and I have sacrificed myself so that I can go to heaven.’’ Was that also a religious

statement or——

Dr. RAHMAN. Yeah, I would——

Senator SPECTER. Well, let me finish my question.

Dr. RAHMAN. Yes, I’m sorry.

Senator SPECTER. Or wasn’t that a statement by a young man

who had, in fact, been a suicide bomber?

Dr. RAHMAN. If I remember correctly what was said, the kid is

14 years old. He’s saying to his father, ‘‘When I become 18, I’m

going to fight for my country and be a shahid for my country.’’ He

did not do it, he was not a shahid yet.

Senator SPECTER. Well, Dr. Rahman——

Dr. RAHMAN. If I recall correctly what I saw.

Senator SPECTER. Well, Dr. Rahman, isn’t it true that there have

been very young people, Palestinians, who have become suicide

bombers——

Dr. RAHMAN. Yes.

Senator SPECTER [continuing]. Really in carrying out just exactly

the theme which we saw on the videos?

Dr. RAHMAN. Yes, sir. I believe that there has been, and there

is, and there may be going to be more suicide bombing. Because

you go today to Gaza, where 70 percent of the population are unemployed and hungry. Where do they turn to? They turn to God.

They turn to the mosque. And they are recruited there by the most

vicious people. So instead of—why did not in the year 2000, Senator Specter, did not have one suicide bombing? Why not? Because

there was a light at the end of the tunnel. People felt that finally
37

they will be free. Not one single suicide bombing in the year 2000

until the beginning of the intifada. Why? People felt there is a possibility for peace.

So instead of cursing the darkness, we have really to light candles, and candles are telling people: ‘‘Listen, no more Jewish settlement on Palestinian territories. There’s no apartheid wall in the

West Bank. There is no assassination, no demolishing of homes, no

destruction of crops, no, no, no.’’ Then people will have something

to look for. But as long as those things are continuing, I cannot

guarantee that there will not be suicide bombing.

Senator SPECTER. Well, Dr. Rahman, I agree with you totally

that, as you have articulated, instead of cursing the darkness, let

us light a candle. Where do we go from here? When former Prime

Minister Barak offered statehood at Camp David and it was declined by Chairman Arafat, where do we go from here? Where do

we light the candle? How?

Dr. RAHMAN. Well, sir, I happened to be a witness to the Camp

David, and I assure you that what Mr. Barak offered them was not

an independent Palestinian state. He offered a free—in the West

Bank that were not independent. We have the roadmap today that

is ahead of us. We agreed to it, we accept it, and I believe that it

can guide our efforts to achieve peace. If the Israelis are serious,

we are serious. We can get tomorrow into the implementation of

the roadmap.

What was offered in Camp David was unacceptable to the Palestinians, because it does not give back to them what—the minimum. The Palestinians then were asking for 22 percent of historic

Palestine, and they were, in exchange, conceding and recognizing

the right of Israel within 78 percent of historic Palestine.

Senator SPECTER. Well, Dr. Rahman, in articulating the view

that you accept the roadmap, the roadmap calls for the Palestinian

Authority to exercise its maximum efforts to stop violence.

Dr. RAHMAN. Yes.

Senator SPECTER. Wouldn’t that comprehend stopping the playing of these kinds of videos, which incite suicide bombing by teenagers?

Dr. RAHMAN. Yes, the roadmap asked both parties to do certain

things, asked the Palestinians to stop violence and do everything

within their power to do that, and we did achieve 51 days of total

calm; while, on the other side, it asked Israel to dismantle Jewish

settlements, outposts, in the West Bank. Did not. They asked Israel

to stop assassination of Palestinians. It did not. It asked Israel to

stop building the wall. It did not. So there were, on both sides, not

total compliance. But we had 51 days of total quiet, while on the

Israeli side, within 51 days, over 80 Palestinians were killed by

Israel.

Senator SPECTER. If you have something to add, fine. If not, let’s

turn to Dr. Ziad Asali, and we’ll come back to you, Dr. Rahman,

if you care to——

Dr. RAHMAN. Thank you, Senator.

Senator SPECTER [continuing]. Address the subject further.
38

STATEMENT OF ZIAD ASALI, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN TASK FORCE ON

PALESTINE

Senator SPECTER. Now, Dr. Asali is president and founder of the

American Task Force on Palestine. He has been a member of the

Chairman’s Council of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination

Committee since 1982, received his undergraduate degree from

American University at Beirut, and an M.D. from the American

University of Beirut Medical School.

Thank you for joining us, Dr. Asali, and we look forward to your

testimony.

Dr. ASALI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It’s an honor and a privilege to appear before you.

Senator SPECTER. Dr. Asali, they have just started a vote. And

before you testify, not to interrupt you, it would be a good time for

me to leave, and I will be back in a very, very few minutes. And

you can start at the beginning and—without interruption.

Dr. ASALI. Yes, we will gladly wait.

Senator SPECTER. We will recess for a few moments.

Dr. ASALI. Thank you.

Senator SPECTER. The hearing will resume. For those who are

uninformed about the interruption, when we have a vote, that

takes precedence over everything. Sometimes a group of Members

will be at the White House on some very important matter, talking

to the President. If the word comes through that there is a vote,

we all leave. The President can’t even come and vote. It’s kind of

impolite, in a sense, but when the vote is called, we all go to vote.

But I came back as soon as I could, because we want to proceed.

We have other witnesses, and we’re on a very important subject.

I saw Senator Clinton on her way to vote. She’s going to return.

So now, Dr. Asali, the floor is yours.

Dr. ASALI. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

It is an honor and a privilege to appear before you. I received an

invitation to this hearing the night before last while at an Iftar

dinner at the table of the President of the United States. At that

time, I learned that other Arab-American Palestinian leaders had

turned down this opportunity, and I, myself, was strongly advised

against accepting it. It is, however, my judgment that each and

every occasion should be explored to bring about peace and amity

to the longsuffering Palestinian and Israeli people.

Before—I appear here before you as a citizen, a man concerned

about the tragic and dehumanizing cycle in the Middle East, and

physicians who want to maintain the health and well-being of all

people and individuals, as an individual who was born and raised

in Jerusalem and was privileged to become an American citizen

and enjoy the attendant benefits such as testifying before this august body.

Fear, anger, despair, violence, and an almost exclusive sense of

victimization on both sides, the Palestinians and Israelis have their

most damaging consequences in narrowing the space needed for

policy options and rational debate. Public discourse is stunted, simplistic, and crude. It is easier in this climate to follow the safe

course of demonizing and dehumanizing ‘‘the other.’’ To assume the

worst, and to impugn the motives of ‘‘the other’’ is much safer than
39

to explore the possibilities of compromise and working out solutions.

This is the kind of atmosphere that makes it possible to advance

racist and fascist arguments, sometimes openly stated, but more

often felt and implied. They are not human, they understand nothing but force and violence, we should never show them any mercy,

because they will think it is a sign of weakness, a face for an eye.

In short, a prescription for more disasters and mayhem.

The problem with history is that it has been around for too long.

It has provided arguments based in fact, fiction, or perceived wisdom for each party to the conflict, and even for those who seem to

have no axe to grind. The difference between the Palestinian and

Israeli narratives continues to feed polarizing and centrifugal

forces that fail to see the existential need for compromise. Each

and every effort directed against divisional peace, the two-state solution so clearly stated by President Bush, is yet another tool to extend the violent and destructive realities of the status quo. It is in

this context that we should view all facets of this conflict, education included.

Because the time allotted for me is so brief, and because others,

I know, who have spent years studying this subject and writing

about it are not present on this panel, I’ll sketch briefly the contours of the argument, as I see them, for education.

I am, for the record, including what I think are useful and

thoughtful studies about the issue of Palestinian textbooks and

hope that people entrusted with making decisions about it, or are

serious students of it, will take time to read them.

Jordanian textbooks in the West Bank and Egyptian textbooks in

Gaza continued to be taught to students from 1948 through 1967,

and for decades, several decades, after that, under Israeli occupation, til the problem of their content was faced after Oslo by the

Palestinian Authority in 1994. At that time, the Curriculum Development Center, CDC, was established, and it began studying and

overhauling the educational system and started over to phase in a

new set of books, beginning with the academic year 2000/2001.

Much, if not all, of the criticism leveled at the Palestinian textbooks for incitement, anti-Semitism, or marginalizing Jewish history has, in fact, been directed at the Egyptian and Jordanian textbooks over which the Palestinians had no control. In fact, it was

the Palestinians who toiled for years after Oslo to give birth to reasoned and thoughtful solutions through the unique issues that face

a people under occupation and how they should educate their children.

No serious scholarly substantiated criticism has so far been directed against the new books, although strident, emotionally

charged, and factually challenged statements continue to be bandied about.

Akiva Eldar, the renowned Ha’aretz columnist, wrote, in January

2, 2001, ‘‘The Palestinians are punished twice. First, they are criticized for books produced by the education ministries of others. Second, their children study from books that ignore their own nation’s

narrative.’’ I have included his article for the record.

The European Union, in a statement issued in Brussels on May

15, 2002, concluded that quotations attributed earlier by the Cen-
40

ter for Monitoring the Impact on Peace, CMIP, are not found in the

new Palestinian Authority school books. New textbooks, although

not perfect, are free of inciteful content and improve on the previous textbooks, constituting a valuable contribution to the education of young Palestinians. It concluded: ‘‘Therefore, allegations

against the new textbooks funded by EU members have proven unfounded.’’ I have included that statement for the record.

The eminent scholar, Nathan Brown, professor of political science

and international affairs at George Washington University, issued

a 26-page report in November 2001, prepared for the Adam Institute, on democracy, history, and a contest over the Palestinian curriculum that made a most significant contribution to this subject.

He concluded by saying, ‘‘Harsh external critics of the PNA curriculum and textbooks have had to rely on misleading and contentious reports to support their claim of incitement.’’ A reading of his

full report that I included for the record is most compelling.

The daily life of the Palestinian children with occupation, closures, violence, demolitions, checkpoints, bravado, fear, suicide

bombing, air raids, humiliations, economic hardship, vengeance, religious extremism, as well as a breakdown of traditional values are

realities—realities that cannot be dissociated from the classroom. It

is those realities that we need to resolve by bringing about peace

and security for all.

Textbooks that Israeli students read can also be reviewed to

bridge the gap between their realities and their classrooms as we

improve on those realities, too.

PREPARED STATEMENT

In conclusion, I would like to say that history has been unkind

to the Jews, the Israelis, and the Palestinians. There are narratives of pogroms, ghettos, holocaust survival and achievement, on

the one hand, and dispossession, occupation, demolition, and humiliation, as well as resistance and persistence, on the other hand,

are but just sad tales of two people caught in the complex web of

history. Let us at least, those of us with hope for humanity, try

with our thoughts focused on the future of our children rather than

the past of our forefathers, work for peace and dignity for these two

courageous peoples. Let us not allow the demagogues, demagogues

of all sides, the violent elements and the ones with the least sense

of fundamental human values, dictate the agenda and undermine

peace.

Thank you for your attention.

[The statement follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DR. ZIAD ASALI

Mr. Chairman, Honorable Members of the Committee. It is an honor and a privilege to appear before you to testify about yet one more vexing problem of the Palestinian Israeli conflict, that of the Palestinian education.

I received an invitation to this hearing the night before last while at an Iftar dinner at the table of the President of the United States. I learned that other Arab

American and Palestinian leaders had turned down this opportunity, and I myself

was strongly advised by friends and people more experienced with the affairs of the

Hill than I against accepting it. It is, however, my judgment that each and every

occasion should be explored to bring about peace and amity to the long-suffering

Palestinian and Israeli people. Therefore I appear here before you as a citizen, a

man concerned about the tragic and dehumanizing cycle of violence in the Middle
41

East, a physician sworn to maintain the health and well being of all people and an

individual who was born and raised in Jerusalem and was privileged to become an

American citizen and enjoy the attendant benefits such as testifying before this august body.

Fear, anger, despair, violence and an almost exclusive sense of victimization on

both sides, the Palestinians and Israelis, have their most damaging consequences

in narrowing the space needed for policy options and rational debate. Public discourse is stunted, simplistic and crude. It is easier in this climate to follow the safe

course of demonizing and dehumanizing ‘‘the other’’. To assume the worst and to

impugn the motives of the other is much safer than to explore possibilities of compromise and working out solutions. This is the kind of atmosphere that makes it

possible to advance racist and fascist arguments sometimes openly stated but more

often felt and implied, ‘‘They are not human; they understand nothing but force and

violence; we should never show them any mercy because they will think it is a sign

of weakness; a face for an eye’’. In short a prescription for more disasters and mayhem.

The problem with history is that it has been around too long. It has provided arguments, based in fact, fiction or perceived wisdom, for each party to the conflict

and even for those who seem to have no axe to grind. The difference between the

Palestinian and Israeli narratives continues to feed polarizing and centrifugal forces

that fail to see the existential need for compromise. Each and every effort directed

against the vision of peace, the two-state solution so clearly stated by President

Bush, is yet one more tool to extend the violent and destructive realities of the status quo. It is in this context that we should view all facets of this conflict, education

included.

Because the time allotted to me is so brief, and because others I know who have

spent years studying this subject and writing about it are not present on this panel,

I will sketch briefly the contours of the arguments as I see them. I am for the record

enclosing what I think are useful and thoughtful studies about the issue of Palestinian textbooks and hope that people entrusted with making decisions about it; or

are serious students of it, will take time to read them.

Jordanian Textbooks in the West Bank and Egyptian Textbooks in Gaza continued to be taught to students from 1948 through 1967 and for several decades after

that under Israeli occupation till the problem of their content was faced after Oslo

by the Palestinian authority in 1994. At that time the Curriculum Development

Center (CDC) was established and it began studying and overhauling the educational system and started over to phase in a new set of books beginning with the

academic year 2000–2001. Much, if not all of the criticism leveled at the ‘‘Palestinian Textbooks’’ for incitement, anti-Semitism or marginalizing Jewish history has

in fact been directed at the Egyptian and Jordanian textbooks over which the Palestinians had no control. In fact it was the Palestinians who toiled for years after

Oslo to give birth to reasoned and thoughtful solutions to the unique issues that

face a people under occupation and how they should educate their children. No serious scholarly substantiated criticism has so far been directed against the new textbooks, although strident, emotionally- charged and factually- challenged statements

continue to be bandied about.

Akiva Eldar, the renowned Ha’aretz columnist wrote in January 2, 2001: ‘‘The

Palestinians are punished twice. First, they are criticized for books produced by the

education ministries of others. Secondly, their children study from books that ignore

their own nation’s narratives.’’ I have included his article for the record.

The European Union, in a statement issued in Brussels on May 15, 2002 concluded that ‘‘Quotations attributed by earlier Center for Monitoring the Impact on

Peace, CMIP, are not found in the new Palestinian Authority schoolbooks’’. ‘‘New

Textbooks, although not perfect, are free of inciteful content and improve the previous textbooks, constituting a valuable contribution to the education of young Palestinians.’’ It concluded, ‘‘Therefore, allegations against the new textbooks funded by

EU members have proven unfounded’’. I have included that statement in the record.

The eminent scholar Nathan Brown, Professor of political science and international affairs at the George Washington University issued a 26-page report in November 2001 prepared for the Adam Institute on Democracy, History, and the Contest over the Palestinian Curriculum that made a most significant contribution to

this subject. He concluded by stating, ‘‘Harsh external critics of the PNA curriculum

and textbooks have had to rely on misleading and tendentious reports to support

their claim of incitement.’’ A reading of this full report that I included for the record

is most enlightening.

No full understanding of this issue can be claimed without reading the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information IPCRI Report I submitted to the Public

Affairs Office, US Consulate General in Jerusalem on March 2003. This scholarly,
42

1 I gratefully acknowledge the assistance and comments provided by the late Ibrahim Abu

Lughod, Sam Kaplan, A` li Jarbawi, Elie Podeh, Lara Friedman, David Matz, Khalil Mahshi,

Ismaı`l Nujum, Maher Hashweh, Rifa`t Sabah, and Fouad Moughrabi. This research was funded

by a Fulbright grant and a grant from the United States Institute of Peace. The opinions expressed are solely my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Fulbright or the USIP.

textured report grounded in a context, cannot be reduced to a concluding statement

but it sheds light on complicated issues that ought not be subjected to strident and

simplistic generalizations. A careful reading of this document that I submit for the

record is most informative.

The daily life of these children, with occupation, closures, violence, demolitions,

checkpoints, bravado, fear, suicide bombing, air raids, humiliation, economic hardship, vengeance, religious extremism as well as breakdown of traditional values are

realities that cannot be dissociated from the classroom. It is those realities that we

need to resolve by bringing about peace and security for all. Textbooks that Israeli

students read can also be reviewed to bridge the gap between their realities and

their classrooms as we improve on those realities too.

In conclusion I would like to say that history has been unkind to the Jews, the

Israelis and the Palestinians. Their narratives of pogroms, ghettos, Holocaust, survival and achievement on the one hand, and dispossession, occupation, demolition;

and humiliation as well as resistance and persistence on the other are but just sad

tales of two people caught in a complex web of history. Let us, at least those of us

with hope for humanity, try with our thoughts focused on the future of our children

rather than the past of our forefathers, work for peace and dignity for these two

courageous people. Let us not allow the demagogues of all sides, the violent elements, and the ones with the least sense of fundamental human values, dictate the

agenda and undermine peace.

Thank you for your attention and for the opportunity to speak.

Attachments.

DEMOCRACY, HISTORY, AND THE CONTEST OVER THE PALESTINIAN CURRICULUM

[By Nathan J. Brown, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, The George Washington

University, Washington, DC 20052] 1

Almost any discussion of education in the Middle East posits it as part of the

problem rather than part of the solution. Those who seek peace, democracy, or economic development generally claim that existing educational institutions and practices stand in their way. Palestinian education is particularly notable for the number and variety of its detractors. Outside the country, critics charge that it incites

rather than educates; Palestinian critics claim that education does little to foster

democratic and productive citizens.

The external and internal critics may be placing an unrealistic burden on what

any curriculum and cadre of teachers can accomplish. Palestinian political and economic realities are often grim, and schools hardly have a monopoly on communicating ways to interpret such realities, especially in matters that are so deeply

felt and encountered on a daily basis. Still, the critics charge, the Palestinian educational system, and especially the curriculum, exacerbates existing problems.

This paper is devoted to an examination of the Palestinian curriculum, especially

as it approaches issues of history and identity. More specifically, the paper is broken

into four sections:

—First, it will be necessary to clear up some misconceptions prevalent about the

curriculum and the textbooks: the Palestinian curriculum is not a war curriculum; while highly nationalistic, it does not incite hatred, violence, and antiSemitism. It cannot be described as a ‘‘peace curriculum’’ either, but the charges

against it are often wildly exaggerated or inaccurate.

—Second, the treatment of history in the Palestinian curriculum will be examined

in some detail. The purpose will be to present patterns both in what it covers

and what it declines to cover.

—Third, the goals that motivate this coverage of history will be examined. Two

primary goals—inculcation of identity and respect for authority—will receive

special attention. While the curriculum can thus be presented as authoritarian

in some respects, it will also be observed that it is simultaneously democratic

in its determination to reflect the national consensus rather than develop an

elitist approach.

—Fourth and finally, the paper will examine an alternative educational vision

that has been crystallizing among Palestinian educators and the effect of that

alternative on the existing curriculum. That alternative vision—that the educational system should promote the development of active learners, critical
43

2See the Center’s website, www.edume.org.

3 An Israeli resident of the West Bank settlement of Efrat, Marcus previously lobbied to keep

West Bank aquifers under Israeli control. His work on textbooks led Prime Minister Binyamin

Netanyahu to appoint him to a joint committee with the Palestinians on incitement. He then

Continued

thinkers, and democratic citizens—has yet to approach issues of identity directly. Yet it is increasingly influential and has had some impact on the current

curriculum.

Before turning to these four sections, a brief overview of the history of the Palestinian curriculum is necessary in order to clarify the context in which current efforts

are occurring.

INTRODUCTION: A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF PALESTINIAN EDUCATION

After 1948, the West Bank was annexed to Jordan and Gaza was administered

by Egypt. Accordingly, West Bank schools followed the Jordanian curriculum, while

Gazan schools adopted the Egyptian. In 1967, Israel occupied both areas and maintained the existing curricula for Palestinian schools. It did attempt unsuccessfully

to bring its own curriculum into Jerusalem, and it also reviewed Jordanian and

Egyptian books, censoring material that it found objectionable. In 1994, Palestinian

education in the West Bank (including, to a limited and unacknowledged extent, Jerusalem) and Gaza was transferred to the new Palestinian National Authority

(PNA). The PNA immediately established a ‘‘Curriculum Development Center’’ to

formulate its own approach. While the Center was working, two interim measures

were taken. First, the Jordanian and Egyptian curricula were restored temporarily

in their entirety. Second, a supplementary series of texts covering National Education was hastily written for grades one through six to compensate for the nonPalestinian nature of the temporary curriculum.

The Curriculum Development Center completed its work in 1996 and presented

a 600-page report that amounted to a stinging indictment of current educational institutions, practices, and pedagogy. The Ministry of Education drew back from some

of the radical proposals of the report in developing its own plan, which it presented

in 1997 to the cabinet and the Palestinian Legislative Council. After receiving approval from both bodies, the Ministry established a new Curriculum Development

Center to write new books, which were to be introduced two grades at a time, beginning with the 2000/2001 school year. As of this writing, the plan has proceeded on

schedule, with the new curriculum and textbooks in effect in grades one, two, six,

and seven. The other grades will shift over to the new curriculum and books over

the next three years.

THE INCITEMENT CHARGE

Any treatment of Palestinian education must confront at the outset the oft-repeated claims that Palestinian textbooks instill hatred of Israel and Jews. In a

sense, this issue is at most tangential to this paper, which focuses on internal Palestinian politics and portrays textbooks as outcomes of domestic struggle more than

producers of international conflict. But virtually every discussion in English on Palestinian education repeats the charge that Palestinian textbooks incite students

against Jews and Israel. It may therefore come as a surprise to readers that the

books authored under the PNA are largely innocent of these charges. What is more

remarkable than any statements they make on the subject is their silence—the

PNA-authored books often stubbornly avoid treating anything controversial regarding current Palestinian national identity, forcing them into awkward omissions and

gaps. The first generation of Palestinian textbooks written in 1994, the National

Education series, make no mention of any location as Palestinian outside of the territories occupied by Israel in 1967; those books go to some lengths to avoid saying

anything about Israel at all and the few exceptions are hardly pejorative. The second generation of books—issued beginning in 2000—breaks some of that silence but

with neither the consistency nor the stridency that critics of the textbooks allege.

Then where do persistent reports of incitement in Palestinian textbooks come

from? Virtually all can be traced back to the work of a single organization, the ‘‘Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace.’’ The Center claims that its purpose is ‘‘to

encourage the development and fostering of peaceful relations between peoples and

nations, by establishing a climate of tolerance and mutual respect founded on the

rejection of violence as a means to resolving conflicts.’’ 2 Critics charge that the Center’s real purpose is to launch attacks on the Palestinian National Authority, and

it would be difficult to contest such a conclusion. They point to the identity of the

Center’s first director, Itamar Marcus, to support their suspicions.3
44

went on to found an organization that searches Palestinian media for anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish statements, following a similar method to that followed for textbooks.

For an example of a criticism of the Center’s work that focuses on Marcus personally, see the

document submitted by the PLO to the Mitchell Commission, ‘‘Third Submission of the Palestine

Liberation Organization to the Sharm El-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee,’’ 3 April 2001,

www.nad-plo.org/eye/Response%20to%20Israeli%20Submission.5.pdf, p. 22. 4The report’s method of listing large number of statements from the books led it to include

all sorts of material under the anti-Israel rubric. For instance, any mention of a Palestinian

character to Jerusalem was listed as questioning the Israeli nature of the city. Since Jerusalem

was designated as a matter for final status negotiations, the idea that the Palestinians questioned Israeli annexation should have been unsurprising. What is more surprising—and

unremarked in the report—is that all mentions of locations in Jerusalem in the Palestinian-authored books refer only to the Old City and a few Arab neighborhoods. If textbooks are taken

as indications of negotiating positions—an implicit assumption of the report—then the Palestinians showed far more willingness to compromise on Jerusalem than Israel. 5The Center’s report does include some excerpts from the 1994 Palestinian-authored books

but none can fairly be viewed as hostile to Israel or to Jews. The texts are examined in more

detail below.

The Center’s own reports suggest such suspicions are well-founded. The Center

began operation by issuing its first report in 1998 on Palestinian textbooks that

might best be described as tendentious and highly misleading. When the PNA

issued a new series of books for grades one and six in 2000, the Center rushed out

its second report that passed over significant changes quite quickly before presenting its allegations of ‘‘delegitimization of Israel’s existence,’’ implicit ‘‘seeking of

Israel’s destruction,’’ ‘‘defamation of Israel,’’ and ‘‘encouraging militarism and violence.’’ However, in contrast to the alarm and alacrity with which it studied Palestinian textbooks, the Center’s work on Israeli textbooks showed a far more generous

spirit and proceeded at a far more leisurely pace, taking years rather than months.

The report on Israeli books followed a very different method: rather than quoting

example after example of offending passages with little historical context or explanation (a method that would have produced a very damning report indeed), the report on Israeli textbooks is nuanced and far more careful. Incendiary quotations are

explained, analyzed and contextualized in the report on Israeli books; they are listed

with only brief and sensationalist explanations in the reports on Palestinian books.

In short, the Center is fair, balanced, and understanding for Israeli textbooks but

tendentious on Palestinian books.

The Center’s work has been widely circulated: its reports are the source for virtually any quotation in English from the Palestinian curriculum. Indeed, its influence has begun to be felt in policy circles, and has informed congressional and presidential statements in the United States, numerous newspaper columns, and—more

recently—a decision by some external donors to cut off funds for Palestinian education. Recently some European parliamentarians have begun to press their governments and the European Union as a whole, and an Israeli cabinet minister has spoken of taking the issue to the United Nations. Since the Center’s reports have dominated the public debate with considerable effect and little contestation, it makes

some sense to examine them.

While often highly misleading and always unreliable, most of the contents of the

Center’s reports are not fabricated. Clearly false statements are rare, though when

they do occur they are far from minor. For instance, the Center’s first report on Palestinian textbooks, issued in 1998, included the statement that: ‘‘PA TV is a division

of the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education,’’ which allowed the report to

saddle the Palestinian educational establishment with any statement broadcast on

Palestinian television. The statement was false, however. In its second comprehensive report on Palestinian textbooks, issued in 2000 on the new books for the first

and sixth grades, the Center claims that ‘‘the PA has rejected international calls’’

to modify books for the other grades. In fact, as will become clear, the plan to replace the textbooks in question was as old as the PNA itself and was proceeding

according to a well-published schedule when the Center’s report was issued. Several

lesser errors occur throughout the Center’s work.

But the real problems with the Center’s reports lie elsewhere. In particular, three

sets of flaws characterize its work (and much of the public debate about Palestinian

textbooks more generally). First, the Center generally ignores any historical context

in a way that renders some of its claims sharply misleading. In its 1998 report, the

Center adduced numerous incendiary statements about Israel and Jews from books

in use in Palestinian schools. The statements quoted were accurate. Some indeed

were highly offensive to Jews and sharply anti-Israeli.4 Yet they came not from

books authored by Palestinians but from Egyptian and Jordanian books used in

Gaza and the West Bank, respectively.5 The books were distributed by the PNA, to

be sure, but they antedated its establishment. (The Center’s report does hold the
45

6http://www.edume.org/news/news1.htm

7My son attended a Tel Aviv school which celebrated ‘‘tolerance day,’’ assuring all students

that Israelis can be religious or secular, light-skinned or dark-skinned, and Jewish or Arab. Following the Center’s methodology, such a unit might be lambasted for failing to include Palestinians who do not hold Israeli citizenship and for denying Palestinian identity (by not mentioning

it).

PNA responsible for distributing the Egyptian and Jordanian books and therefore

holds Palestinians responsible for the content. Here it displays an odd double standard: it does not note that Israel has distributed the exact same books in East Jerusalem, removing only the cover. The only books that the Israelis refused to distribute after 1994 were those authored by the PNA—the National Education series—even though those books were free of the content that Israel objected to. The

likely reason for this odd policy is that Palestinian sovereignty in Jerusalem—implied by using PNA-authored books—was far more problematic for Israel than antiSemitism.)

By sharp contrast to the Egyptian and Jordanian books, the 1994 National Education series, actually authored by the PNA, verged on blandness. The first generation of books made no mention of any Palestinian area within the 1967 borders (the

second generation of books—written after the Center’s first report—reversed this

policy). Indeed, the 1994 books went to some length to avoid any controversial matter whatsoever. An organization claiming to ‘‘monitor the impact of peace’’ might be

expected to compare the older, non-Palestinian books with the newer, Palestinian

ones. Indeed, such a task would seem basic to its mission. The Center goes beyond

failing to live up to its name; its reports are written to obfuscate the distinction between the old and new books. It does not simply fail to note the change, but, in one

of its rare falsehoods, the Center claims that in the 1994 series, Israel does not

exist.6 (The treatment of Palestinian history in the 1994 books is extremely brief,

but Israel is indeed referred to; remarkably, the 1994 texts resorts to awkward

phrasing to avoid citing Israel in some negative contexts.) It is difficult escape the

conclusion that the Center was far more interested in criticizing the PNA than in

an honest assessment of the changes produced in Palestinian education by the Oslo

Accords.

The second problem with the Center’s work is its prosecutorial style. Its reports

offer little more than brief themes and then list statement after statement purporting to prove the point. Any evidence that contradicts the Center’s harsh message is ignored, obscured, or dismissed, such as maps that clearly draw Palestinian

governorates as covering only the West Bank and Gaza, an extended and laudatory

treatment of Gandhi’s nonviolence, or a tour of Palestinian cities that includes only

those under PNA rule. Other evidence is interpreted inaccurately. For instance, a

topographical map of Palestine (inserted most likely to avoid drawing any sensitive

political issues regarding borders) is presented as a denial of Israel’s existence.

Many of the selections included are presented in a highly tendentious manner: a

unit on tolerance is criticized for omitting Jews, while a reading of the entire unit

makes perfectly clear that its topic is tolerance within Palestinian society.7 I

`zz alDin al-Qassam is mentioned in texts as a Palestinian national hero; the Center’s

2000 report explains:

‘‘The primary terrorist organization operating against Israel since the signing of

the Oslo Accords is the Hamas, whose members terrorized Israeli citizens with suicide attacks, primarily on buses. The terror wing of the group is called the ‘‘Az Aldin

Al Kassam’’ squad, named after the terrorist who fought the British and Jews before

the establishment of the State of Israel. The new PA schoolbook glorifies

Kassam . . .’’

In essence, the Center provides a context for the mention of al-Qassam that, while

accurate, is irrelevant to the text: it deliberately obscures how the text itself presents al-Qassam or how Palestinians would understand a reference to him. AlQassam was killed at the beginning of his attempt to organize a rebellion against

the British mandate. Subsequent generations of Palestinians have been able to read

various dimensions into his short career: for mainstream nationalists, he is a rebel

against the British, for Islamists, a warrior for Islam, and for leftists, he is a

mobilizer of the popular classes. To imply that mentioning al-Qassam is an implicit

endorsement of suicide attacks and bus bombings is thus based on a hostile, inaccurate, and even dishonest reading—what matters is not whether the textbooks cite
46

8To follow the Center’s methodology, an American textbook from the late 1930s mentioning

Abraham Lincoln might be seen as carrying a pro-Communist message because of the role of

the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War. Certainly the Center’s logic could be

used to cite any Israeli textbook mentioning Yitzhak Shamir as encouraging massacres of Palestinians and political assassinations of British and U.N. officials.

him but how they present him. Palestinian texts mention him only as a martyr in

the struggle against British imperialism.8

CLERK’S NOTE: The full report can be found on the web.

WHAT DID YOU STUDY IN SCHOOL TODAY, PALESTINIAN CHILD?

[By Akiva Eldar]

After the sovereignty on the Temple Mount and the Palestinian right of return,

the debate is now turning to the textbooks, the poisonous material brainwashing the

young minds of school children in the territories. Even the firmest supporters of the

left have a problem with the anti-Semitic quotes that Jewish organizations and

right-wing research institutes find in the textbooks used by our partners in peace.

Their huge advertisements, published in newspapers in Israel and the United

States, remind us week after week who we are dealing with. What fool will hand

over vital territory and holy sites to a neighbor who teaches his children that the

neighbor across the street is a cruel and evil enemy? How can one build a relationship of trust with regimes that educate their sons and daughters to hate Israel and

the Jews?

And who, dear children, is taught in the first grade that the Jews are treacherous

people and the Israelis are evil enemies? Please circle the correct answer: Egyptian

President Hosni Mubarak’s grandson, Jordanian King Abdullah’s nephew, or Yasser

Arafat’s daughter (when she is not in Paris with her mother?) The answer: These

anti-Semitic and racist stereotypes are taken from Jordanian and Egyptian textbooks. For the past 33 years, these books have also been used by the Palestinian

schools in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Every prime minister, military governor and Jerusalem mayor knows that to this day the Palestinians have not had any impact on the contents of the textbooks their children learn

from in class (due to budgetary problems, the students are required to leave the

books in school).

The harsh abuse against Israel included in the various Jordanian and Egyptian

textbooks has for years starred in the Foreign Ministry’s public relations material,

as well as in ‘‘the white paper’’ recently published by the Prime Minister’s Office.

But these book critiques have not been directed against the charming king to the

east, nor against the important president to the south. There are no such things

in their countries. And if there are, ‘‘the fundamentalist opposition’’ is surely to

blame. Not their narrative.

On the other hand, the Palestinians are punished twice. First, they are criticized

for books produced by the education ministries of others. Secondly, their children

study from books that ignore their own nation’s narrative. The Arab states are uncomfortable with Palestinian children born in their countries knowing that they did

not make much of an effort to help the refugees. Even today, the Jordanians do not

allow national aspirations to be cultivated among the children of the refugees living

under the Hashemite rule. Their textbooks simply skip over the insignificant event

of the creation of the refugee problem in 1948.

The Palestinians are being rebuked where they should in fact be praised. For this

school year the Palestinian Authority has, for the first time ever, printed its own

textbooks. A research team from the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the

Advancement of Peace, led by Dr. Ruth Firer, has established that the new books

are ‘‘freer of negative stereotypes of Jews and Israelis, compared to Jordanian and

Egyptian books.’’ The defense establishment has investigated and confirmed this

finding.

The Truman team compared the new Palestinian books with Israeli textbooks

from the 1930s and 1950s that were then used by the state as a tool for political

indoctrination. ‘‘We were surprised to find how moderate the anger directed toward

Israelis in the Palestinian textbooks is, compared to the Palestinian predicament

and suffering,’’ Firer says. ‘‘This surprise is doubled when you compare the Palestinian books to Israeli ones from the 1950s and 1960s, which mentioned gentiles

[only] in the context of pogroms and the Holocaust.’’

The study, performed in compliance with universal criteria for textbook analysis,

took five years to complete and will soon be published. The researchers examined

the narrative of the Israeli-Arab conflict from the end of the 19th century until
47

present days, through 20 books on both sides of the conflict. The team reviewed history and civics textbooks, as well as some literature books, for junior high and high

school students in the territories. According to Firer, ‘‘the Palestinian narrative describes Jews, Israelis and Zionism in a negative way, as part of Western colonialism

in the Middle East. The Arabs, and especially the Palestinians, are portrayed as victims. This narrative follows through to the new books published by the Palestinian

Authority, but these books are freer of negative stereotypes compared to their Jordanian and Egyptian equivalents.’’

A comparison between Palestinian textbooks and Israeli ones also astounded the

scholars. ‘‘Israeli books, especially those published from the 1980s and on, include

almost no derogative stereotypes of Arabs or Palestinians,’’ Firer says, ‘‘but the basic

narrative is still the same, at least until the mid 1990s. The change in the Zionist

narrative which portrayed Israelis as a heroic, pioneering people, was prompted by

the publications of the New Historians. Wherever this does occur, it is usually on

a very small scale, and sometimes as an afterthought to the traditional narrative.

New history books stirred such public debate that some were even taken off the curriculum (as happened with ‘‘A World of Changes: History for Ninth Grade’’ (1999),

edited by Danny Ya’akobi).

KIDS CAN’T BE DUPED

This Thursday at the Truman Institute, Firer will be the last speaker at the seminar on the image of the other in textbooks on Middle East conflicts. Before that,

Itamar Marcus, who runs the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace (CMIP),

will be speaking about how Palestinians perceive Jews. In recent years Marcus has

been making a living translating and disseminating defamatory communications

against Israel, extracted by his staff from Palestinian publications. Marcus, a settler, used to work for David Bar Illan, Benjamin Netanyahu’s PR chief, and served

on the Joint Israeli Palestinian Anti-Incitement Committee. Marcus’s center routinely feeds the media with excerpts from ‘‘Palestinian’’ textbooks that call for

Israel’s annihilation. He doesn’t bother to point out that the texts quoted in fact

come from Egypt and Jordan.

In an executive summary he published for Thursday’s seminar, Marcus makes a

report of the 14 new textbooks published by the PA’s ‘‘Center for Developing the

Palestinian Curricula,’’ replacing the old books. Marcus concedes there were ‘‘a few

changes,’’ like the fact that ‘‘The open calls for Israel’s destruction found in the previous books are no longer present’’ and that ‘‘references defining Jews and Israelis

as ‘treacherous’ or ‘the evil enemy,’ common in the previous books, are likewise not

present.’’ But this, to Marcus, is not enough. He complains that the new books ‘‘continue to teach non-recognition of Israel,’’ and that the maps portray greater Palestine, with no boundaries separating the territories and Israel (just like the official

textbooks and maps used by most Israeli institutions). ‘‘A chapter in ‘National Education for Grade Six’ is dedicated to ‘Tolerance.’ Yet the PA schoolbook does not

mention Jews or Israelis in the entire chapter. A prominent picture shows a Christian shaking hands with a Muslim,’’ Marcus complains.

Firer’s co-researcher, Prof. Sami Adwan, of Bethlehem University, can’t make up

his mind whether to laugh or cry at Marcus’s grievances. ‘‘How does he expect my

child to interpret a Jew’s handshake, the same hand that causes my child daily suffering. Textbooks become a dead letter if the message is too far removed from reality. The teacher has to be able to answer a child’s question, ‘Why should I love

Israelis?’ Can your textbooks decree that you must love Germans? I know it isn’t

the same, but suffering is suffering. What am I supposed to tell my kids after settlers attack us on the way to visit their 85-year- old grandfather? Kids can’t be

duped.’’

The educator from Beit Jala says that what children see on the street, on TV and

on the Net has a far greater impact than any textbook. ‘‘How can a Palestinian

write in a textbook that Israelis or Jews should be loved, while what he is experiencing is death, land expropriation, demolition of homes and daily degradation?

Give us a chance to teach loving. [That will happen] when they stop seeing Israelis

as soldiers or bulldozer operators. Let us breathe. Give us a chance to love you.’’

Adwan will not be attending the seminar on Mount Scopus. His village is under

closure. Only Israelis will be speaking at the seminar on the image of the other,

and all the presentations will be in Hebrew.

PALESTINIAN SCHOOLBOOKS

In September 2000 Palestinian Authority and UNRWA schools introduced the

new Palestinian school curriculum and a first set of textbooks (grades 1 and 6) pub-
48

lished by the Palestinian Authority, that were to replace the previous textbooks. At

the beginning of the 2001 academic year, books for grades 2 and 7 were introduced.

This replacement process will be gradually implemented over the coming years.

Parallel to this process, allegations of anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish bias and incitement contained in Palestinian textbooks were made, directly or indirectly based on

documentation prepared by the CMIP (Centre for Monitoring the Impact on Peace).

CMIP based those claims on specific quotations from these books inciting anti-Semitism and urging the destruction of Israel.

A number of EU donors support the Palestinian education sector and a few of

them sponsored the preparation of the first Palestinian curriculum and the production of new textbooks.

Information gathered by the EU missions on the ground, as well as independent

studies carried out by Israeli and Palestinian academics and educators that have

examined the new textbooks, show that:

1. Quotations attributed by earlier CMIP reports to the Palestinian textbooks are

not found in the new Palestinian Authority schoolbooks funded by some EU Member

States; some were traced to the old Egyptian and Jordanian text books that they

are replacing, some to other books outside the school curriculum, and others not

traced at all. While many of the quotations attributed to the new textbooks by the

most recent CMIP report of November 2001 could be confirmed, these have been

found to be often badly translated or quoted out of context, thus suggesting an antiJewish incitement that the books do not contain.

2. New textbooks, though not perfect, are free of inciteful content and improve the

previous textbooks, constituting a valuable contribution to the education of young

Palestinians. Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education has accepted the need for

ongoing review, revision and improvement.

Therefore, allegations against the new textbooks funded by EU members have

proven unfounded.

In the line with the EU’s political and financial commitment to help establish a

sovereign, peaceful, democratic and viable Palestinian State, continued support to

the Palestinian education sector is essential.

EU missions on the ground will keep the issue under review and assist in the task

of monitoring the content of Palestinian Authority textbooks as they are published.

In the framework of the UNESCO Executive Board Resolution of June 2001, Israeli

and PLO representatives agreed to undertake a joint review of Israeli and Palestinian textbooks.

REPORT I.—ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF THE NEW PALESTINIAN CURRICULUM

REVIEWING PALESTINIAN TEXTBOOKS AND TOLERANCE EDUCATION PROGRAM—SUB- MITTED TO: THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE, U.S. CONSULATE GENERAL, JERUSALEM, MARCH 2003

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Palestinian Authority (PA) established the Curriculum Development Center

(CDC) in 1994. It was commissioned with formulating a Palestinian vision of a national educational policy and of a national curriculum. Work on a comprehensive

framework was completed in 1996. Shortly after that, the PA’s Ministry of Education (MOE) established a new curriculum center commissioned with writing new

school textbooks. The curriculum plan assumed concrete form during the 2000–2001

school year.

In the past three years, the Palestinian MOE introduced a number of new textbooks and a few teachers’ guides for grades 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8. The production of

these textbooks involved hundreds of authors, reviewers, supervisors, teacher trainers, illustrators and technical support personnel.

The present investigation is an earnest attempt to present a professional analysis/

evaluation of the new Palestinian curriculum, especially as it relates to the principles of civil society, peace, tolerance and diversity. It covers all textbooks that relate to the objectives and tasks of the investigation. However, a special focus is

placed on language arts, religious education, history, civil education, and national

education curricula.

The major goals of the new Palestinian educational system are nationalistic, cognitive and social in nature. A review of the new textbooks revealed that the major

goals of the history, national education, civil education, religious education and language arts textbooks are to reinforce the Palestinian national, civic and religious

identity and to promote respect for authority (local and national government, family

and religious and civic institutions). The curriculum attempts, among other things,
49

to promote national aspirations and condemn occupation practices. In doing so, it

briefly and inadequately addresses some of the conflictive and sensitive issues that

relate to the prevailing political situation.

Another interesting dimension of the curriculum is its focus on promoting students’ faculties of critical thinking, creative thinking, decision-making and problem

solving. Moreover, the innovative instructional strategies recommended (role-playing, simulation, case studies, and other cooperative learning techniques) point to the

national interest in promoting the principles of human rights, democracy, diversity,

tolerance and pluralism which, in turn, help in the development of active learners

and democratic citizens.

The curriculum, moreover, attempts to (re)shape students’ perceptions, beliefs and

attitudes toward a number of concepts and issues, many of which relate to the

Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Thus, one finds references in almost all disciplines to the

concepts of loving peace, openness to and respect for other cultures, and promotion

of peace, global and environmental awareness. Most of these instances, however, fail

to reflect a much-needed practical dimension of a truly regional and global multicultural perspective that promotes mutual understanding, respect, and tolerance.

The curriculum undoubtedly bears the marks of unresolved (historical and contemporary) controversies both among Palestinians and with the neighbors of the

emerging Palestinian state. As such, the textbooks do not openly or adequately reflect the multiethnic, multicultural and multi-religious history of the region. Furthermore, they do not present a multi-perspective account of several of the formative

historical events and several of the still-unresolved issues (Jerusalem, water, borders, settlements and refugees). According to a MOE position paper (December

2002), ‘‘The new curriculum, politically speaking, and as reflected in the textbooks

already produced, remains to be a tentative and transitional attempt to account for

the political complexities at this political juncture.’’

Educationally speaking, the curriculum adopts a student-centered pedagogy that

acknowledges and utilizes the pluralism of intelligence and a diversity of learning

styles in the learning process. It is also an activity-based and issue-oriented curriculum that encourages cooperative learning, and is structured to assist learners

in viewing all subject-matter content in the context of their own communities and

the surrounding ones.

Peace and Tolerance.—The overall orientation of the curriculum is peaceful despite the harsh and violent realities on the ground. It does not openly incite against

Israel and the Jews. It does not openly incite hatred and violence. Religious and political tolerance is emphasized in a good number of textbooks and in multiple contexts. Some textbooks devote whole units or lessons to talking about these values

and encourage students to adopt them. Inter-religious tolerance towards the followers of the other monotheistic religions, traditionally referred to as ‘‘Ahl al-Kitab’’

(the People of the Book), is emphasized in the framework of the teachings of Islam.

In principle, these calls apply to both Christians and Jews. However, the textbooks

fail to extend these principles and concepts to include Jews and to the State of

Israel. In addition, and although the curriculum provides the opportunity for students to recognize and respect beliefs and practices of ‘‘others,’’ the concept of the

‘other,’’ in most cases, is limited to Christians.

Civil Society.—Although many concepts, principles and skills that relate to civil

society and democracy figure prominently in the new Palestinian textbooks (human

rights, freedom of speech, the justice system, pluralism, the role of central and local

government, the legislative council, elections, voluntary work, teamwork, fair resolution and fair competition, a sense of right and wrong, respect for law, and accepting

responsibility), other essential ones are lacking. These include ethical and moral

judgment, community understanding, independence of thought, genuine understanding and respect for differences, information management, and taking action.

Also prominent in the new curriculum are attempts to enhance students’ social

interaction and communication skills such as enquiry and communication, participation and responsible action, active listening, decision-making, problem solving and

conflict resolution. These concepts, principles and skills are introduced as they relate to the national and local levels and do not clearly or adequately reflect regional

and global dimensions. In addition, the curriculum fails, in crucial instances, to

make the connection between local, regional and global concerns, especially as it relates to environmental awareness, community involvement, and global social and

moral responsibility.

Cultural Literacy.—The curriculum also falls short in its attempt to promote the

concept of ‘‘cultural literacy’’ as presented by Hirsch (1987). Although the principles

that embody ‘‘cultural literacy’’ are included in the curriculum framework, the authoring teams have failed to adequately translate the principles and concepts into

subjectmatter content and activities. Thus, one finds few references that focus on
50

the inclusion of people, places, events or any ideas that reflect both a broader nature

of multiculturalism and a more international perspective, thereby giving credence

to contributions coming from other ethnic and religious groups.

Coverage of Historical Events.—Generally speaking, coverage and presentation of

history and historical facts can be characterized as being selective. History textbooks, one cannot fail to notice, treat the ancient and modern history of the region

and that of Palestine in a selective way, ignoring some historical events while depicting others from one perspective. In particular, one notices a number of cases in

which Judaism and the Jews are inadequately and inappropriately represented in

relation to their presence in the region. Different dimensions of region’s positive and

intercultural history are sometimes missing, thus giving the impression of insignificance of other cultures, religions and political institutions in the development of the

region’s present-day profile.

One also notices the lack of a sustained account of the recent history of Palestine

and the absence or the peripheral treatment of some of the formative events in the

region’s history. The focus, moreover, is on the national Palestinian narrative. The

materials do not openly reflect readiness to consider the Jewish and Israeli narratives.

The history curriculum, however, does not show signs of ‘‘misuse of history.’’ Although some may feel that history is being used as an instrument of ideological

anipulation, there are very few instances in which texts are implicitly exploited to

promote intolerance and ultra-nationalistic or racist issues.

National, Civil, and Religious Identity.—In the National Education and the Civic

Education textbooks, one notices a focus on Arab and Palestinian ethnic, national,

civil and religious identity. The same applies to the focus on the Arab character of

East Jerusalem. It does not deny the Israeli and Jewish character of, for example,

the Jewish holy places or Jewish history in the city, but does seem to ignore their

existence or their importance to Jews and to the State of Israel. One also notices

an emphasis on the duty of students to love their land, family, towns, state, the

Arab world and the Islamic world.

Palestine/Homeland, Jerusalem.—The concept of ‘‘Palestine’’ is used in both historical and modern contexts, the former being in a general geo-historical sense and

the latter in reference a political entity in the making. Generally speaking, ‘‘Palestine’’ is mostly presented in its historical context. References to ‘‘Palestine’’ are

mostly made to reflect the Palestine of pre-1948 War, the pre-Partition plan. The

concept of ‘‘The Homeland,’’ in almost all instances refers to the West Bank and the

Gaza Strip. This creates significant confusion particularly when maps are presented

showing towns and cities that are located within the State of Israel while indicating

a map of Palestine.

Jerusalem is portrayed (historically, religiously, culturally, socially, demographically) in relation to its Arab and Islamic nature. Several references are made of the

Christian presence in Jerusalem. All illustrations and photos of Jerusalem reflect

those found in the Eastern or Arab part of the city (mostly, the old city). It is also

almost always referred to as the ‘‘Capital of Palestine.’’ References reflect the national, political, cultural, economic, religious and historical importance of the city

and its Arab and Islamic characteristics. However, there is no mention of its religious and historical significance to Judaism and to the Jews, or that of the State

of Israel for which Jerusalem is its capital.

Israel/Israelis/Judaism/Jews.—Israel, as a sovereign state (political and geographic entity), is not clearly or adequately represented in the textbooks. Israel is

referred to indirectly using different terms such as ‘‘the Land of the 1948’’, ‘‘the Interior’’, etc. In some contexts, Jews, in historical and modern-day contexts (occupation, Zionism, settlers) are negatively represented in Palestinian textbooks.

References to the ‘‘other/Israel/Israelis’’ are also presented in excerpts from the

modern Palestinian literature. Most references reflect pain, suffering and bitterness

experienced by Palestinians as a result of the ongoing Israeli-Arab conflict. In several instances, the State of Israel is presented as a usurper, an occupation force and

a foreign occupier of Palestine. Israel is blamed for the suffering of the Palestinian

people.

There are several references to Jews relating to the life and death of Jesus Christ.

Jews are also presented in reference to Jesus’ teachings on marriage and divorce

in the Jewish and Christian traditions. These instances reflect that state of affairs

that prevailed in the Holy Land at the time of Jesus, especially as it related to religious and social sects, such as the Sadducees and the Pharisees.

Holy Places.—Holy sites in Palestine do not include those of Jews except for the

ones that are holy to both Muslims and Jews (Al-Buraq Wall/the Wailing Wall, the

Sanctuary of Abraham/Al-Haram al-Ibrahimi as-Shareef, Jacob’s Well and Joseph’s
51

Tomb). When mentioned, no reference is made to their significance to the Jewish

tradition.

Maps.—Several books contain and make reference to maps of historical Palestine

as a geographical and historical entity. Some of the maps show Palestine as part

of the Arab world (regional maps), whereas others show it in isolation. Some maps

highlight the location of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza

Strip. In all cases, the maps are not labeled in any way. In some maps the boundaries of the West Bank and Gaza Strip are contoured. This is the case when reference is made to the demographic distribution of Palestinians and to the administrative breakdown of the PA territory in terms of governorates.)

Jihad and Martyrdom.—References to jihad and shahadah or istishad (martyrdom) are made in historical and modern contexts. References are made in militant as well as peaceful and constructive contexts. Along the same lines, the concepts of defending and liberating Palestine as the ‘‘homeland’’ are presented both

in historical and present-day contexts (Crusaders, Ottoman Empire, British Mandate, and Israeli occupation). In several instances, jihad and martyrdom are presented both as a ‘‘religious’’ and a ‘‘national’’ duty. There are also few examples (linguistic and other) that praise the use of violence against others. These examples are

present in the framework of talking about the duty to defend and liberate the homeland.

The Right of Return.—The right of return of the Palestinian refugees to their

homeland, as stipulated in the U.N. resolutions, is emphasized in several texts. It

is also an important part of the Palestinian national anthem, the words of which

carry the meanings of sacrifice for the homeland and the determination to reclaim

it.

Bilateral and International Agreements.—There is not much mention of or many

references to the international and bilateral agreements signed between the Israeli

government and the PLO. The Oslo Accords, the Declaration of Principles, the Taba

and Hebron agreements are not frequently mentioned and not adequately discussed.

When, mentioned, the reference is usually made in the context of talking about

the PA, demographic and economic issues.

CLERK’S NOTE.—The full report can be found on the web.

Senator SPECTER. Well, Dr. Asali, thank you very much for joining this subcommittee today and for that very profound statement.

When you talk, as you did at the opening, about: ‘‘fear, anger, despair, violence, and almost an exclusive sense of victimization on

both sides,’’ very poignant, very profound. And your conclusion

about the unkindness of history to the Jews, Israelis, Palestinians,

and your call to prohibit the demagogues and the violent elements

and the ones with the least sense of fundamental human values

dictate the agenda and undermine peace, again, profound and right

to the point.

What would your suggestion be as to where we go from this point

forward?

Dr. ASALI. It has been a most frustrating problem to me that the

collective will of people who do want peace, who want a two-state

solution, as expressed in polls showing that 70 percent of the

American people, 70 percent of Jewish Americans, 65 percent of

Israelis, are all for a two-state solution, as we understand it with

the general two-for-two based—two states share Jerusalem, et

cetera, et cetera. That collective will has been undermined, vetoed,

and prevented from fruition by more strident voices, more energetic

and polarizing forces that appeals to the lower instincts of people

on all sides. It is time to redefine this conflict, in my mind, as not

one between the Israelis and the Palestinians, between the Arabs

and the Jews, between the Muslims and the Christians. It is, rather, between those who are for peace from all these categories, who

are for a peaceful resolution of this long conflict, to establish a twostate solution, as defined by so many people, and those who oppose

it vehemently. It is time to have those bridges established and have
52

fundamental relations and political forces realigned courageously

and publicly, and take the credit or the blame for these stands in

order to thwart the forces that have used demagoguery, violence,

and whatever political or military clout that they could to frustrate

the rest of us.

Senator SPECTER. Thank you, Dr. Asali.

Dr. ASALI. Thank you.

Senator SPECTER. Senator Clinton, would you care to make an

opening statement at this time, or question?

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

Senator CLINTON. Well, I thank you very much, Senator Specter,

for holding this important hearing, and I will submit my entire

statement for the record.

I wholeheartedly agree with what I heard as I came in, from Dr.

Asali’s testimony about advocating for a two-state solution that is

premised on security and peace and opportunity. And it’s long been

my position that’s the only option available for people of good faith.

It is troubling, though, and that is something that I think we

have to recognize, that with the testimony and the documentary

evidence concerning the—actually, the glorification of suicide killers and the incitement of young people to aspire to that position

and the martyrdom that it may, in their minds, offer them, that’s

very hard, for any of us who believe there has to be some resolution

of the ongoing dispute, to understand. And I don’t believe that

there has been an adequate and consistent repudiation of the rhetoric of hate and the incitement of young people by the authorities

in the Palestinian Authority. And I think that’s so important, and

I think it needs to be not just done once, but over and over and

over again.

The position that I bring to this is that for, you know, many

years I’ve tried to do what I could to help children and to provide

better opportunities for them. And my heart goes out to the Palestinian children, as well as the Israeli children, who had nothing to

do with creating the conditions in which this violence occurs, and

yet are having to grow up fearful, having to grow up and see the

losses of loved ones, for whatever reason. You know, let’s not talk

about who did what to whom and what the history is. But the fact

is, we owe our children better than that. And I think that it is just

heartbreaking to see the portrayal of martyrdom as something that

a young child should be encouraged to hope for and aspire to. It’s

not just in the testimony and the evidence presented today, but in

many other settings. I’ve seen similar messages, and they are

broadcast on the Palestinian Authority TV, played over and over

again, children playing death games, children, you know, being

interviewed and kind of rote-ly reciting that death by Shahada is

good. It is a chilling example, and it’s a real distortion of childhood

and of adult responsibility.

I mean, we can have all the arguments we want, and we can accuse each other of all the wrongdoing that goes back as far as the

mind can remember, but we should not do it at the expense of, you

know, further undermining the opportunities and the futures of

these children.
53

So I just have to say that what is happening now, and what

seems to be endorsed and supported by the Palestinian leadership

through the P.A. TV is troubling, and that has to end. I mean,

there are many other arguments still to be had. And as we all remember, you know, many people thought that we were very close,

in the year 2000, from Camp David forward, and we couldn’t. We

couldn’t continue the negotiations, we couldn’t get a responsive

partner on the other side. It was very discouraging.

But, from my perspective, no matter what the ongoing political,

diplomatic, historical arguments must be worked out, these horrible examples of encouraging young people to be tools in this adult

conflict is just not to be condoned or permitted to continue.

You know, I saw reports of a recent book called ‘‘Army of Roses’’

by Barbara Victor about women suicide bombers. You know, that’s

a new development. Now, you know, I believe in women’s participation in societies as fully as possible. It’s just tragic that that is now

a way in which some women are choosing to conduct themselves.

But in this book, the author has very compelling evidence about

the fact that suicide bombers often are trained and brainwashed

into seeing themselves as these martyrs.

The author did something which I found, as a mother, very

touching. You know, oftentimes you see the mothers of the suicide

bombers, both young men and young women, and they are appearing fearless and very devoted to the cause and very proud of their

daughter or their son who’s gone off to blow themselves up and kill

others with them. But this author went behind the scenes and actually talked to these mothers when the cameras were off, and they

were reduced to tears, and they shared the feelings that any mother would about. ‘‘What is happening? Why would my child do this?’’

And often these are children with some of the very best futures for

a Palestinian state. These are children who are going to college.

These are children who have the opportunity to contribute to building a strong Palestinian state. And, instead, they are, in my view,

brainwashed into committing suicide for reasons that have very little to do, other than the continuing desire by those who encourage

them to pursue a path of terrorism and violence.

PREPARED STATEMENT

So there must be a way out of this on the diplomatic and political

front. But, in the meantime, all adults, no matter what our political

position, no matter what the grievances that we may carry toward

another, should be at least united in saying, ‘‘Let our children live

to make their own decisions in the future.’’ And it would be extremely beneficial to achieve the goals that I think many of us, or

at least I’ll speak for myself and what I heard from Dr. Asali share,

of someday seeing the children of Israel and Palestine living in

peace, to, without equivocation, repudiate and condemn this continuing abuse of children and this incitement to hatred that we

have much more evidence of than just what has been presented by

Mr. Marcus.

[The statement follows:]
54

PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

Thank you, Senator Specter, for the opportunity to join you today for this important hearing. I look forward to continuing to work with you to advance this issue.

I have been speaking out against the incitement of hate and violence in Palestinian textbooks for years. In September of 2000, I had the honor of joining Nobel

Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel in New York to denounce the lessons of hatred and

violence that were part of the core curriculum in Palestinian schools.

And a year and a half ago my colleague, Senator Schumer, and I wrote a letter

to President Bush urging his Administration to do everything in his power to persuade the Palestinians to reverse their hateful rhetoric and embrace the opportunity

to move toward a strong and lasting peace in the region. We know that if there is

to be real peace between Israelis and Palestinians, there must be a full and immediate cessation of hateful rhetoric on the part of the Palestinian Authority.

In our letter, we noted that the rhetoric of hate was mounting daily. At the time,

Yasser Arafat delivered a speech ‘‘commemorating the ‘catastrophe’ of Israel’s creation in 1948, in which he reiterated his theme that the violent Palestinian struggle

will continue ‘until the flag of Palestine is raised over holy Jerusalem.’ A book that

was required reading for Palestinian six graders actually starts off stating, ‘There

is no alternative to destroying Israel.’ When Palestinian children are brought up to

hate Israel, how can we ever expect a commitment to a lasting peace?’’

What we see evidence of today is even more alarming. According to research done

by the Palestinian Media Watch organization, the Middle East Media Research Institute, the American Jewish Committee and others, we are seeing children being

indoctrinated to yearn for Shahada—or martyrdom. And according to the evidence

presented here, this is a clear strategy by the Palestinian Authority.

I recently met with Itamar Marcus of Palestinian Media Watch who is here to

testify. He presented me with some horrifying stories of the messages the Palestinian Authority is conveying to its children.

As you saw in the opening videos, one film clip broadcast daily on Palestinian Authority TV (PATV) called the ‘‘Farewell Letter,’’ portrays the martyrdom as blissful

and tranquil. A young boy leaves a farewell letter explaining his choice to achieve

shahada. The words ’How sweet is shahada when I embrace you, oh my land!’ are

sung as the child actor falls dead on the ground.

Messages like this on official PATV, played over and over, have had an effect. In

some Palestinian polls as many as 80 percent of Palestinian children desire death

as martyrs. Children play death games, in which they take turns playing the prize

role—that of the martyr. And in an interview last year, one 11-year old girl, stated

that ‘‘. . . death by Shahada is very good. Every Palestinian child aged, say 12,

says ‘Oh Lord, I would like to become a Shahid.’ ’’

These chilling examples demonstrate how deeply these impulses have seeped into

the culture and into the hearts and minds of Palestinian children; and it is shameful and reproachful that these lessons come from the public officials whose aim

should be to protect children—not send them to their graves.

As an advocate for children for over 25 years, I have worked to fight abuse and

neglect of children wherever I saw it. I worked with doctors and nurses to help them

identify abuse and worked within the legal system to protect children whose lives

were at risk. What is happening in the Palestinian Authority now is frightening.

It is an abdication of adult responsibility of the highest order. Instead of working

to find an end to the violence, this propaganda from the Palestinian Authority appears to be taking advantage of young, supple minds and encouraging children to

see the beauty of their own deaths.

Yasser Arafat has demonstrated a manifest unwillingness to address this issue.

He speaks to the international community as a victim, and then encourages the children of his people to desire the ultimate sacrifice. Instead of filling young minds

with the promise of their futures, Palestinian leadership—through PATV—is fabricating a deceit based on hate and destruction. The ramifications go well beyond the

Middle East.

Anti-Semitism, of course, is not a new phenomenon, but it seems to have gathered

new life of late as witnessed by the recent statements of the outgoing Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. History has taught us how important it

is to condemn anti-Semitism as early and as strongly as we can—which is why I

co-sponsored a resolution urging President Bush to condemn Dr. Mohamad’s hateful

words. The continuing rise of anti-Semitic acts and statements around the world is

shocking and disturbing and must be met with clear and immediate condemnation.

We cannot stand by and tolerate these kinds of remarks, especially from a Head

of State.
55

However, Dr. Mohamad s vicious words were not isolated. His attacks on Jews

came from the same bitter well of hatred that informs a growing anti-American and

anti-Western fervor worldwide, which is stoked by leaders who offer few positive solutions to their people’s problems. Mort Zuckerman recently noted in U.S. News

‘‘That rhetoric is the product of careful calculation by Arab political leaders who recognized the popular appeal of scapegoating Israel for their failure to provide for

their own people while legitimizing their regimes.’’

What we are seeing in today’s hearing is a frightening foreboding of violence and

danger to come—not only against Israelis, but against any institution of progress,

freedom and democracy. This indoctrination must be stopped.

I’d like to say a final word about the effects of this indoctrination on the fabric

of Palestinian families and the larger society.

I have seen reports recently about a book called Army of Roses by Barbara Victor

about women suicide bombers. The author spoke about the fact that suicide bombers

‘‘training’’ begins ‘‘from the cradle on . . . . From the age of six years old, they talk

about their desire to die and their desire to be a martyr.’’ She went on to discuss

the mothers of suicide bombers, who appear fearless on television as they tout their

child’s bravery and heroism, only to be reduced to waves of tears and weeping moments later—like any mother who lost a child. She recently said ‘‘People think these

aren’t like other mothers. They don’t have the same feelings. And of course, they

have.’’

Only when we have a Palestinian leadership that chooses to enhance the lives of

its children, rather than inciting hate and the desire for death, and a Palestinian

leadership that allows mothers to mourn their lost babies, instead of putting on a

show of heroism, will we have a Palestinian leadership with which we can work towards peace in a meaningful way.

The U.S. Government must deliver this message loud and clear to the Palestinian

Authority: the Palestinian Authority must reverse its hateful rhetoric and embrace

the opportunity to move toward a strong and lasting peace in the region. This has

to be the top priority of all people who care about children, who care about peace,

who care about the kind of stability, safety, and security that Israel should be guaranteed, and who care about the future of the Palestinian people. It cannot be done

if we don’t take a strong stand against hateful rhetoric.

Senator SPECTER. Thank you very much, Senator Clinton.

STATEMENT OF MORTON KLEIN, PRESIDENT, ZIONIST ORGANIZATION

OF AMERICA

Senator SPECTER. We now turn to our final witness on the panel,

and that is Dr. Morton Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America, a member of the Executive Committee of the

American Israeli Public Affairs Committee. He has led successful

campaigns against anti-Israel bias in leading textbooks, travel

guides, and the media. He served as an economist in the Nixon,

Ford, and Carter administrations, and has been an outspoken advocate against terrorism and ways of bringing Palestinian terrorists to justice in the United States under our Terrorist Prosecution

Act.

Thank you for joining us, Dr. Klein, and the floor is yours.

Mr. KLEIN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to address this panel, and I would ask that my remarks be placed as

part of the record.

Thank you——

Senator SPECTER. Your full statement will be made part of the

record, as will all other full statements, without objection.

Mr. KLEIN. And thank you, Senator Clinton, for being part of this

important discussion.

First of all, I want to make a few opening remarks. I was troubled by—I didn’t understand Dr. Rahman initially stating that

these translations were incorrect and incorrect. And without telling

us what they really said, he then went on to say that they’re sim-
56

ply religious statements, so they don’t matter anyway. Well, it can’t

be both ways.

He also talked about the fact that Palestine—that this was Palestine-Arab land all these years. In fact, we should understand

that Palestine was never a country. It was only a region controlled

by Turkey and the British until 1948. And, in fact, even Mark

Twain wrote an essay in 1868 saying he went through the length

and breadth of Palestine, and there was virtually no people there;

it was just marshes and swamps. He didn’t understand why Jews

even wanted to come and live there. And I would ask Dr. Rahman,

you know, can he name any Palestinian kings and queens. I mean,

this was not a country of Palestinian Arabs. And, in fact, of all the

censuses done in Jerusalem, the majority of people living in Jerusalem since the mid 1800s was Jewish.

Also, about Barak, President Clinton and Dennis Ross, our lead

negotiator, made it clear that this was a real offer of 97 percent

of Judea and Samaria. Contiguous land was emphasized, that this

was contiguous, billions of dollars in aid, all of Gaza and half of Jerusalem. And instead of having even a counter offer, the Palestinian Authority simply launched a terror war. And the reason that

the Jews in Judea and Samaria are armed are not to intimidate

Palestinian Arabs or to hurt them; it’s because they are constantly

threatened by terror. It’s to defend themselves. There’s been virtually no terror attacks or killings, with rare exception, of Palestinian Arabs by Jews who live in Judea and Samaria. And I find

it utterly racist, frankly, to ask Jews not to live in Judea and Samaria. Why can’t 200,000 Jews live among 21⁄2 million Arabs in

Judea and Samaria and Gaza, when 1 million Arabs live among 5

million Jews in Israel proper? I think we have to understand that.

By the way, there are many other polls. Mr. Asali mentioned

some polls—McLaughlin Group, Hannock Smith, who’s the Gallup

Poll of Israel—showing a clear majority of Americans and Israelis

against the state, a Palestinian state, because they believe it will

be a terrorist state.

Tragically, in the last 10 years, there’s not been a halt to antiJewish and anti-Israel incitement in the schools, media, and children’s camps. An entire culture of hatred has developed. Finally,

with the suicide bombers, the P.A. pays for such posters of killers.

This is one of the suicide bombing killers posted all over the

schools, universities, high schools, the streets, honoring suicide

bombers, paid for by the Palestinian Authority. It’s just awful.

The children’s camps teach Arab youngsters how to kidnap and

murder Jews. Streets, cities, schools, summer camps are named

after the suicide bombers, honoring them. It’s just a tragic situation.

If the Palestinian Authority was serious about peace, not only

would they end this culture of hatred and murder, they would confiscate the tens of thousands of illegal weapons in the hands of terrorists, they would get rid of Hamas Islamic Jihad. Instead, they

refuse to do anything. They’ve arrested virtually no terrorists over

this 10-year period. And as Madeleine Albright said, it’s a revolving

door, justice. The few times they’ve arrested terrorists, they were

released within a matter of weeks or months. Even Mahmoud

Abbas and the current Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia have vowed
57

they will not fight against Hamas and Islamic Jihad. This is not

how we can get the peace.

The human rights abuses in the region in the Palestinian Arab

territories are legion. Human Rights Watch, Palestinian human

rights monitoring group, have said that there is large-scale torture

of dissidents perpetrated by the Palestinian Authority regime, and

dozens of people have been tortured and murdered in P.A. prisons.

Christians are persecuted so ruthlessly by the P.A. regime that

several U.S. courts have granted Christians asylum in American on

the grounds that they would be persecuted for their religion if they

returned to P.A.-controlled territories.

The P.A. continues to engage in actions hostile to the United

States. It shelters dozens of terrorists who have been identified as

murderers of Americans. It refused, only recently, to permit the

FBI to investigate the recent terrorist murders of three U.S. diplomatic personnel. The P.A. vociferously supported Saddam Hussein

and other enemies of the United States and constantly distributes

vicious anti-America propaganda in the official P.A. media. It pays

salaries to imprison terrorists who have murdered Americans, and

named streets and parks after killers of American citizens. The

P.A. runs bomb factories and smuggles weapons through tunnels

from Egypt into Gaza, and the violence, of course, continues.

How should we respond to this? Until now, I believe tragically

and mistakenly, the U.S. policy has been focused on trying to appease the P.A. regime. Dennis Ross said recently that they made

a serious mistake ignoring this incitement for all these many years.

The present administration is offering the P.A. a sovereign state

and has more than doubled the annual aid allotment to $213 million. The assumption is that offering funds in the state, they would

agree to live in peace. But recent studies show that suicide bombers are better educated and more affluent than their fellow Palestinians, and a recent survey shows a majority of Palestinians

today want violence against Israelis to continue even if a Palestinian state is established. That survey was done only this past

week. And, remember, Syria, Libya, Iraq, and North Korea are sovereign states; they’re not lovely places. Sovereignty will not ensure

a lovely, civilized, democratic situation.

Throughout history, appeasement has never worked. Professor

Donald Kagan, of Yale, a distinguished classicist and historian, in

his book on, ‘‘The Origins of War,’’ wrote that in studying 3,000

years of international treaties, appeasement has always failed in

those 3,000 years, and it hasn’t worked with the P.A. either.

The message given in speeches to Arab audiences by P.A. officials constantly say that all of Palestine includes Israel, and we

must destroy Israel. The message of wiping out Israel is reinforced

in the maps, in the offices, and even on P.A. official letterhead.

I happen to have an actual letterhead that Hassan Abdel

Rahman has used in his own testimonies in the past. At the top,

there’s an emblem of the Palestinian Authority, with a map—if you

see the black there, the small—it’s all of Israel is Palestine, on

their official stationary used in testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Foreign Operations. And that is the message that’s

being sent, that all of Israel is Palestine. The same in their atlases.

The yellow there, which is Israel within the green line, is described
58

as Palestine, not as Israel. The name Israel doesn’t appear on any

of the atlases whatsoever.

The time has come for a new approach. It’s time to come to recognize that P.A. is not a partner for peace; it is a corrupt terrorist

regime that must be dismantled, just as the Saddam Hussein was

dismantled. Saddam’s loyalists are not allowed to serve in a new

Iraqi Government, and neither should those who are officers or officials in the present regime be allowed to participate in any new regime that will be moderate and peaceful.

There is strong precedent for cutting off relations with the Palestinian Authority. The previous President Bush undertook an experiment to test the PLO’s intentions in 1988. When it failed, Bush

acknowledged the failure. The first President George Bush cut off

relations. I believe we must do this yet again.

Second, Congress must take immediate action with regard to the

P.A.’s educational system. Raising children to hate Jews, Israel,

and America dooms any hope in the region for any serious peace.

If you educate for violence, you’re going to get violence.

We should make U.S. aid to the Palestine Arabs conditional, and

only if they completely reform their educational system with serious new textbooks, new teachers, new maps, and other classroom

materials.

Paul Johnson wrote, in his history of the Jews, ‘‘One of the principal lessons of Jewish history is that repeated verbal slanders are

sooner or later followed by violent physical deeds.’’ And how true

that statement is.

The aid should be linked not just to the small portion that goes directly to the P.A. The bulk of the $213 million aid package is not

sent directly to the P.A., but does assist the P.A. since money is

fungible, as we all understand.

Finally, in addition, Congress should make further U.S. contributions to UNRWA conditional on changes in the Palestine Arab

schools that UNRWA administers. American public opinion supports suspension of U.S. aid. Seventy-six percent of Americans oppose financial aid to the Palestine Arabs, according to a recent poll

by McLaughlin Associates.

Making the aid conditional in this way will accomplish three crucial objectives. It’ll put meaningful pressure on the P.A. to change

its educational system, it’ll send a message to all regimes which

promote hatred that they may forfeit American assistance or

friendship if they fail to change their educational systems, and it

will create the first real hope of raising a generation in Gaza and

Ramallah that will be willing to live in peace with Israel. We must

stop rewarding terrorism by funding this regime.

Fouad Ajami, the great scholar at Hopkins, wrote: ‘‘We buy no

friendship in Arab lands with pro-Palestinian diplomacy. We ward

off no Arab-American terrorism.’’

I will end by saying I used to work for Professor Linus Pauling,

the great two-time Nobel prize-winning chemist, as a biostatistician. I was responsible for analyzing the data at the end of experiments, and he would say to me: ‘‘Mort, I’m not interested in your

hopes and dreams. Tell me what the data requires us to believe.’’

I want peace, all of us want peace, but we must look at the evidence. The evidence shows the Palestinian Authority, tragically, is
59

not interested in peace. It’s interested in working to destroy Israel

as a Jewish state. And, at this point, we should do everything at

our disposal to end aid to the Palestinian Authority until it

changes, and to end relations until it changes. This would have an

electric effect by saying, as we haven’t said, that there is a price

to be paid for the constant outrages against Israelis. It will not go

by simply saying: ‘‘We’re sorry about the deaths. Let’s continue the

negotiations.’’ If we end the negotiations, it would send the message that the P.A. would have to make a serious choice. Either negotiate and end terrorism, or there will be no hope of them achieving anything.

PREPARED STATEMENT

So I urge this panel to consider ending aid to the P.A., ending

relations until there’s a dramatic transportation of the P.A. authority. Stop rewarding terrorism.

Thank you very much.

[The statement follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MORTON A. KLEIN

The Palestinian Authority’s policy of educating children to hate Jews, Israel, and

America is just one part of a much bigger problem: the continuing refusal of the

Palestinian Arabs to give up violence and their goal of eventually destroying the

State of Israel.

The process which began with the signing of the Oslo accords in 1993 was based

on the assumption that the Palestine Liberation Organization, under the leadership

of Yasir Arafat, could be trusted when it claimed that it would stop all violence and

live in peace with Israel. But events have proven that assumption was terribly mistaken.

Both the Oslo accords and the Bush Road Map plan require the PLO and the Palestinian Authority, which it created, to undertake a number of steps to facilitate

peace and demonstrate that they would peacefully coexist with Israel. They failed

to take any of those steps.

They failed to outlaw terrorist groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad. They failed

to confiscate the terrorists’ tens of thousands of weapons, to arrest terrorists, and

to dismantle the terrorists’ infrastructure of training camps and arms depots. Their

leaders, including past prime minister Mahmoud Abbas and current prime minister

Ahmed Qurei, have vowed that they will never fight against Hamas and Islamic

Jihad.

Instead of halting anti-Jewish and anti-Israel incitement, as the accords require,

they increased the incitement. They developed an entire culture of hatred. The textbooks used in official PA schools teach that Jews are ‘‘treacherous,’’ ‘‘enemies of the

prophets,’’ and ‘‘foment wars.’’ PA summer camps train Arab youngsters how to kidnap and murder Jews. Streets in PA cities are named after suicide bombers, and

posters glorifying suicide bombers appear on the walls of PA schools and universities. PA-appointed Muslim clergymen regularly preach sermons of hate, which are

broadcast on PA radio and television. In one recent sermon, Sheikh Ibrahim Madhi

declared, ‘‘O Allah, annihilate the Jews,’’ while Sheikh Ibrahim Abu-Awkal urged

his followers to ‘‘cleanse the land from the filth of the Jews.’’

They were obligated to implement the rule of law, to hold democratic elections,

and to respect human rights. Instead they became, as one newspaper put it, ‘‘the

world’s smallest police state.’’ Newspapers that failed to toe Arafat’s line are shut

down. Critics of the regime are routinely jailed. Even pro-Arab groups such as

Human Rights Watch and the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group have

documented what they called ‘‘large scale torture’’ of dissidents by the PA regime.

At least 18 people have been tortured to death in PA prisons. Christians are persecuted so ruthlessly by the Muslim PA regime that several U.S. courts have granted them asylum in America on the grounds that they would be persecuted for their

religion if they return to PA-controlled territories.

Moreover, the PA has continued to engage in actions hostile to the United States.

It shelters dozens of terrorists who have been identified as murderers of American

citizens. It refused to permit the FBI to investigate the recent terrorist murders of
60

three U.S. diplomatic personnel. The PA vociferously supporting Saddam Hussein

and other enemies of the United States. It constantly distributes vicious anti-American propaganda in the official PA media. It pays salaries to imprisoned terrorists

who have murdered Americans; and naming streets and parks after killers of Americans.

Most of all, the PA refused to abide by the most basic obligation of the Oslo accords and the Road Map: to halt the use of violence. In October 2000, the PA

launched a terrorist war against Israel that continues to this day. Arafat’s own

Fatah movement carries out the majority of the terrorist attacks. The PA itself runs

bomb factories and smuggles weapons through tunnels from the Sinai, into Gaza.

The PA’s central role in the violence that began in 2000 has been amply proven by

thousands of documents discovered by Israeli forces during counter-terror raids over

the past year.

How should the United States respond?

Until now, U.S. policy has focused on trying to appease the PA regime. The Clinton administration bent over backwards to avoid acknowledging the PA’s violations,

and it gave the Palestinian Arabs $100 million each year. The Bush administration

went even further. It has offered them a sovereign state, and more than doubled

the annual aid allotment to $213.5 million. The assumption was that by offering

them funds and a state, they would agree to live in peace.

But throughout history, appeasement has never worked. Professor Donald Kagan

of Yale, in his book On the Origins of War, wrote that in studying 3,000 years of

international treaties, appeasement has never worked. And it hasn’t worked with

the PA either, because the PA has made it clear that its goal is not the creation

of a small state next door to Israel, but rather to eventually destroy all of Israel.

Americans understand this. Recent polls show that by a 2-to-1 margin, we Americans believe that a Palestinian state will be a terrorist state.

In their speeches to Arab audiences, PA officials constantly invoke two models for

their political strategy. First, they cite a treaty that Mohammed signed, in the 7th

century CE, with an enemy tribe, which promised peace; but ten years later, when

Mohammed’s forces had improved their military position, he tore up the treaty and

slaughtered his enemies. Second, they cite the PLO’s own ‘‘Strategy of Phases,’’

adopted in 1974, according to which the PLO will first create a small state next to

Israel, and then use that as a launching pad to destroy the rest of Israel. This message of eventually wiping out Israel is reinforced every day in the maps that appear

in PA schoolbooks, in the PA’s offices, even on the PA’s official letterhead—maps

that show all of Israel labeled ‘‘Palestine.’’

What this means is that the appeasement approach cannot work.

The time has come for a new approach.

First, the time has come to recognize that the Palestinian Authority is not a partner for peace. Not just Yasir Arafat, but the entire PA is a corrupt terrorist regime

that must be dismantled, exactly as the regimes of Hitler and Saddam Hussein were

dismantled. Hitler’s aides were not permitted to become officials of the postwar German government. Saddam’s loyalists are not allowed to serve in the new Iraqi government. Arafat’s regime is evil from top to bottom.

There is strong precedent for cutting off relations with the PA. The previous

President Bush undertook the first experiment to test the PLO’s intentions, and

when the experiment failed, Bush acknowledged the failure. In December 1988, he

opened U.S. negotiations with the PLO, based on Arafat’s promise to stop engaging

in terrorism. After 18 months, in the spring of 1990, the evidence of the PLO’s continued involvement in terrorism was so overwhelming that the Bush administration

announced it was canceling all contacts with the PLO. It did so after just 18

months. It has now been 10 years since the United States renewed contacts with

the PLO, and once again the PLO has demonstrated that it never changed. The current president Bush should follow in his father’s footsteps.

Second, Congress should take immediate action with regard to the PA’s educational system. Raising children to hate Jews, Israel, and America dooms any hope

for Middle East peace and undermines everything the United States has been trying

to accomplish in the region for the past decade.

Congress should make U.S. aid to the Palestinian Arabs conditional on the complete reforming of their educational system. New textbooks, new teachers, new maps

and other classroom materials.

All the aid should be linked, not just the small portion that goes directly to the

PA. The bulk of the $213 million aid package is not sent directly to the PA but in

fact it does assist the PA, since it frees up PA money that would have otherwise

been used for the projects that the indirect aid is paying for.
61

In addition, Congress should make further U.S. contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, conditional on changes in the Palestinian Arabs schools that UNRWA administers.

American public opinion will strongly support a suspension of U.S. aid to the Palestinian Arabs. A poll earlier this year by McLaughlin & Associates found that 76

percent of Americans oppose U.S. financial aid to the Palestinian Arabs; only 11.5

percent favor it. Making the aid conditional in this way will accomplish three crucial

objectives:

—It will put meaningful pressure on the PA to change its educational system.

—It will send a message to all regimes which promote hatred that they too may

forfeit American assistance if they fail to change their educational systems.

—And it will create the first real hope of raising a generation in Gaza and

Ramallah that will be willing to live in peace with Israel.

As you may know, I formerly worked as biostatistician for the two-time Nobel laureate Linus Pauling. I was responsible for analyzing the data of experiments, and

after each experiment, Professor Pauling would say, ‘‘I am not interested in what

your hopes and dreams for this experiment were, I am only interested in what the

data shows.’’ In the same way, when you look at the evidence you must conclude

that the Palestinian Arabs are not interested in peace with Israel.

Senator SPECTER. Thank you, Dr. Klein.

Before going to a round of questioning, 5 minutes, by other members of the panels here, we’ll give Dr. Rahman an opportunity, if

he chooses to, to respond to any of the comments made by Dr.

Klein.

Dr. RAHMAN. I honestly don’t know where to start, Senator. But

I can assure you——

Senator SPECTER. You can take your time, Dr. Rahman. We have

allowed overtime here because of the importance of the subject and

also because of the passion of the subject.

Dr. RAHMAN. I think, at the outset of my intervention, I made

it clear that I’m one of those who believe in the two-state solution.

I have struggled for it. I continue to believe that’s the only way to

achieve an end to the tragic situation that we both live in.

I just want to—first of all, Mr. Klein showed a poster, and he

said this is a suicide bomber, and it is paid for by the Palestinian

Authority. First of all, the name on that poster is that of Yechya

Ayash, who was assassinated in 1999, and it is a Hamas poster,

and it is not a Palestinian Authority poster. This shows you the example of the distortions that I’m talking about.

Second, I have here in my hand a map that was published just

a few days ago by the Israeli Minister of Defense. I don’t see the

name Palestine on it, and I don’t see a delineation of the West

Bank and Gaza. On the contrary, what I see here is the wall, separating wall. So if Israel has not told us where its borders end and

where the Palestinian state starts, how can we do it unilaterally?

Listen, I acknowledge, and I said that from the very beginning,

that there is incitement on both sides. On the Palestinian side

there is incitement, which we call nationalistic. I may agree or disagree, but that is the explanation that is given. On the Israeli side,

there is not only incitement, but actions on the ground that instigate violence, which I totally oppose—the violence as well as the

actions by Israel.

Let’s take some of the statement—part of the statement that Mr.

Klein made. He never referred to Palestine. He never said he recognizes the rights of the Palestinian people to have a state. In fact,

all his arguments were against an independent Palestinian state.
62

He referred to it as Judea and Samaria, rather than the West

Bank and Gaza, the name which is known by everyone.

So what I’m here to say, that the demagogues on both sides,

whether it is on our side or on this side, are the dangerous elements. They are really confiscating our agenda. What we are trying

to do is to bring back the agenda to the people. That’s why we support efforts like those made by Mr. Ayalon, with Sari Nusseibeh.

We support efforts that are made by the group that went to Geneva, the Geneva document that was laughed at by Yosi Beilin and

Yasser Abed Rabbo and groups that really sanctioned by the Palestinian Authority with the hope to tell both sides that there is an

alternative to this quagmire that we live in and that there is a possibility. And, Mr. Chairman, I really would like to see an effort

supporting those efforts made by those people, by the people who

are pushing peace and not taking us back to the confrontation like

we see today here.

I am making speeches around the country of the United States

to the Palestinian Arab community telling them that we have an

option, and the option is—that was worked out in Geneva—the option is the roadmap, the option is the statement that was made by

Sari Nusseibeh and Ayalon. Those are the kind of efforts that we

want really to highlight and encourage and show that—both Palestinians and Americans that—and the Israelis—that there is a

way out. And we seek your support in those efforts.

Senator SPECTER. Well, Senator Clinton has another commitment, so we’ll yield to Senator Clinton at this point for questioning.

Senator CLINTON. I thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Dr. Rahman, can I just focus on the issue before us? And perhaps

it is a narrow issue, but I think it’s a fundamental and profound

one. Will the Palestinian Authority direct the P.A. TV to remove

any reference to martyrdom, Shahada, and the glorification of suicide bombers from the television?

Dr. RAHMAN. Senator Clinton, there was an effort made by the

previous government of Mahmoud Abbas, and there was a meeting

held between Nabil Amre, who is the Minister of Information, and

Mr. Shalom, the Foreign Minister of Israel, working towards that

end, How can we improve the coverage in both areas, in the Palestinian as well as on the Israeli television? And even Mr. Shalom

acknowledged then that progress was made. Yes—the answer to

your question, yes, we are making an effort.

But, again, I mean, I understand that you are—you want to focus

on this issue, but I, personally, honestly cannot separate this from

the wider context.

Senator CLINTON. I understand that.

Dr. RAHMAN. Yes.

Senator CLINTON. And I——

Dr. RAHMAN. And, therefore, we cannot really, Senator—and I

hate to interrupt, but we cannot overlook the situation on the

ground, because this will do an injustice——

Senator CLINTON. I understand your position, and I can only say

that there are many—in fact, myriad of issues of importance to be

discussed between Israelis and the Palestinians if there is to be

any hope of resolution. But on this issue, I do not understand why

the Palestinian Authority cannot separate out a legitimate perspec-
63

tive on what is happening—and, look, we all see everything

through the prism of our own experience, so the news coverage on

the Palestinian TV is certainly going to be very different than the

news coverage on Israeli TV or on American TV. We all understand

that. But I’m talking about the affirmative support that the Palestinian Authority is giving in rhetoric and in propaganda and

through the media to this phenomenon of suicide bombing.

Now, to me, that is separable. I’m not asking that you would in

any way abdicate what you view as your rightful perspective to say

that you disagree with settlements or you disagree with, you know

other policy of the Israeli Government. Of course. That is part of

the dispute that has to be resolved.

But on this issue, it was, for many years, not a part of the repertoire of either incitement or violence by those who are influenced

or directed by any group in Palestine. Now it has become the weapon of choice. And it seems to me that there is a very big difference

from people arming themselves, however much I may disrespect

that or disagree with it, and going forth to do battle with whomever they see as the enemy, and having young people strap bombs

on themselves, going forth killing themselves, killing other innocent people, and then being glorified. Now, that, to me, is a separate issue that should be addressed in order to demonstrate what

you are telling us, which is that the Palestinian Authority does

wish to engage in an ongoing effort, they do wish to create circumstances for a two-state solution, and they do wish to be separated from the demagogues and the terrorists. This would be a very

strong piece of evidence that that is not just rhetoric, but action.

I don’t see where it undermines the Palestinian position. In fact,

I think it strengthens the legitimate Palestinian Authority position

to be separate from those who would engage in such incitement

and, in fact, in my view, brainwashing of young people for such

horrible purposes.

Why can’t we just focus on that one thing? We will never, in this

forum, resolve the other issues that separate the parties.

Dr. RAHMAN. Senator, I appreciate your outrage about suicide

bombers, because I am outraged by it, too, personally, and I believe

that the majority of the Palestinian people, notwithstanding what

has been stated here.

I agree that suicide bombing is unacceptable. It has to be rejected, et cetera, et cetera. Everything—anything that you want to

say against it, I would say it even more and harder, because I will

never support a culture of death. We want our children to live like

I want my children to be productive and live as a productive citizens.

I have said that, and I believe that we also have to be careful

about what we saw here today. There is a difference, Senator. And

I don’t want to be put in the position where I have to make explanations for things that I do not believe in and I don’t agree with.

But there’s a difference between Shahada and suicide bombing.

You have really to realize this. Shahada is really to sacrifice for

your own country. And you say this to your people, and Americans

said it, and the Israelis call on their young people to do it every

day, to sacrifice in order to protect their homeland. That is

Shahada. But suicide bombing is totally—something totally dif-
64

ferent, and we cannot confuse the two, and we cannot accept the

confusion between the two.

So, please, what I’m trying to explain here, that what we saw

today here, when you speak Shahada, that does not mean suicide

bombing. It does not.

Senator SPECTER. Dr. Rahman, as we have seen the videos,

Shahada has been equated with suicide bombing. Why do you say

that there is a difference?

Dr. RAHMAN. I’ll tell you why. Because when President Arafat

was shown here, and he—the reporter asked him, he said—asked

him, ‘‘What message do you give to the people?’’ And he said that:

‘‘This young 14-years-old kid is facing an Israeli tank with a stone,

and he was shahid,’’ meaning that the Israelis shot him and they

killed him. He was not a suicide bomber. And this boy, yes, he was

14-years-old, and he was killed by the Israeli Army.

Senator SPECTER. But when——

Dr. RAHMAN. So he was not a suicide bomber. He was standing

in front of a tank with a stone. So does that mean that he was a

suicide bomber?

Senator SPECTER. But we have—we have seen on the videos repeatedly, an 11-year-old, a 14-year-old, a 12-year-old, say that they

wished Shahada, and they plan to be—to give their life as a martyr

in a suicide bombing.

Dr. RAHMAN. Not in a—with suicide bombers. I did not hear it

once, and I’m willing to listen to it again.

Senator SPECTER. Well, I think that Senator Clinton has——

Dr. RAHMAN. I want to listen to it again. It does not say suicide

bomber, Senator.

Senator SPECTER. Well, let’s see it again.

Dr. RAHMAN. Let’s see it.

Senator SPECTER. I think, before you do, just let me say that I

think Senator Clinton has put her finger on the critical point about

the Palestinian Authority repudiating suicide bombing and acting

to take it off of television. And what I will do is, I’m going to send

a transcript of this hearing to Chairman Arafat and to the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister with the question: Will they act to

stop Palestinian television carrying these messages?

But let’s take a look at it again.

Mr. MARCUS. If I may say something, the film that was—that we

saw, the two girls expressed the desire to achieve the Shahada, the

death for Allah. And the end, there was a caller who called in, and

they spoke about a 17-year-old girl who actually did go and was a

suicide bomber, Ayyat al-Akhras.

Senator SPECTER. Let us turn to the films themselves. And if you

care to make a commentary after you show the film, that would be

the appropriate time.

[Video presentation replayed.]

Senator SPECTER. Right there, Mr. Marcus. Would you stop it?

Right there——

Mr. MARCUS. Yes.

Senator SPECTER [continuing]. Where you say ‘‘The Shahadas go

to paradise,’’ isn’t that in the context, Dr. Rahman, of a suicide

bombing?
65

Dr. RAHMAN. Not necessarily. I may become a Shahid even praying—praying, not fighting. Going to Mecca as a pilgrim, I can die

and become a Shahid.

Senator SPECTER. Go ahead, Mr. Marcus.

Dr. RAHMAN. So there’s—this is a religious connotation. It has

nothing to do with suicide bombing.

Senator SPECTER. Mr. Marcus, proceed with the——

Mr. MARCUS. Yes.

Senator SPECTER [continuing]. Video.

Mr. MARCUS. In the context of—oh, continue with the video? In

the context of this video, the two first girls were talking about their

desire for the Shahada. The third girl who was speaking was specifically applying this to a 17-year-old suicide bomber. And the

moderator said: ‘‘Is this natural, for a 17-year-old girl to blow herself up?’’ And she said: ‘‘Yes, it is natural.’’ And the two girls, in

the continuation, which wasn’t shown, for time limitations, were

actually asked about this, and then expressed similar sentiment.

So Shahada definitely can mean anyone who has died in the conflict. The Palestinians define all of the suicide bombers as shahids,

as martyrs——

Senator SPECTER. Let us proceed with the video and ask Dr.

Rahman or Dr. Asali if they agree with other portions, that it

equates with suicide bombers.

[Video presentation continued.]

Mr. MARCUS. Okay. So that was it: ‘‘Is it natural for the 17-yearold to blow herself up to become a shahid?’’ And the answer was:

‘‘It is natural.’’ So that is the way it’s presented.

Senator SPECTER. What do you think, Dr. Asali?

Dr. RAHMAN. Yes, this is a talk show, Senator, somebody expressing. It is not—he is—the reporter is not telling her that—but

she is saying that: ‘‘I want to sacrifice for my country,’’ and I—they

asked—in fact, even al-Jazeera network, every single Arab network

refers to the suicide bombers as Shahada. That is—it is a religious—whether he is Shahid or not, I am not a God to really make

a judgement on him. I, personally, call it suicide bombers. Others

call it Shahid. But Shahada is not exclusive to suicide bombers.

That’s what I’m trying to say.

Senator SPECTER. Dr.——

Dr. RAHMAN. They——

Senator SPECTER. Go ahead, Dr. Rahman. I don’t want to cut you

off.

Dr. RAHMAN. No, no. What I’m trying to say here is, we—this is

an inclusive. Anyone who sacrifices for his country is a Shahid. So

we cannot tell people, ‘‘Don’t sacrifice for your country.’’

Dr. ASALI. If I may?

Senator SPECTER. Dr. Asali?

Dr. ASALI. Actually, the literal translation, if there is such a

thing for a word that exists only in Arabic, of Shahid or Shahada

is the one who dies for the sake of God. It is a religious concept.

Anybody who dies in conflict, for instance, at a war, would be a

Shahid. Anybody who would be killed by an enemy who is fighting

the Arabs or the Muslims, et cetera, would be a Shahid. Somebody

who would be at prayer and he would be killed without lifting a
66

finger, he would be a Shahid. So we need to understand it in that

context.

Actually, the—you know, we may run the risk of trying to get

bogged down in minutia. I think those videos do show a level of—

a highly developed level of frustration that these young people have

achieved in their own life of complete frustration with the way they

live, that they do, in fact, condone and consider it natural for a 17-

year-old person to die like this. You know, I——

Senator SPECTER. To die as a martyr.

Dr. ASALI. As a martyr. As a martyr. I do want to mention something. You know, the day-to-day life of the Palestinians under their

present circumstances is really rather unbearable. You know, there

are 160 checkpoints in Palestine. There are, you know, like, 5,000

houses demolished. There are 128 Palestinian women who gave

birth at checkpoints, 70 percent malnutrition, terrible way of life.

These people are, by definition, liable to be exploited by those who

would have appealed to their sense of frustration to do things like,

you know, suicide bombing or others.

We do need to get back into a—in geopolitical context to resolve

this question, and not focus very, very narrowly on these people.

They’re actually—the whole problem for suicide bombing, if I may

say, is two problems that are lumped together. One is for the young

people, themselves, who blow themselves up; and another is for the

people who send them to do that. These young kids just don’t go

off, you know. They have to have a support system somewhere that

exploits their sense of frustration.

They are, by and large, perhaps innocent, and somehow—sometimes privileged kids who feel so absolutely desperate and losing

their dignity and their future, so the others, who are much more

calculating, and none of them is young, and none of them would

send their own kids to do this, would take advantage of that situation. That puts the whole problem in a political context that we

cannot avoid.

Senator SPECTER. Well, I think we’ve gone about as far as we can

go on this particular interpretation. It’s now noon. It’s been a very

long hearing, and we thank you all for staying. I know people want

to make additional comments, so what I would like to do is give

each of you 2 minutes to sum up.

Mr. Marcus, you had asked for an opportunity to reply to some

of the things which had been said. If you could limit it to 2 minutes, we’d appreciate it.

Mr. MARCUS. Okay.

Senator SPECTER. We’re going to have another vote here within

the hour, and there are a number of other things which have to be

taken care of. So to the extent you can hold yourself to 2 minutes,

we’d appreciate it.

Mr. MARCUS. The Palestinian Authority has been giving active

promotion to suicide bombings. When teenage children participate

in a summer camp named after Ayyat al-Akhras, a 17-year-old girl

who was a suicide bomber, there is no greater promotion and no

greater role-modeling for teenagers than telling them this is the

person who we’re admiring.

The fact that Dr. Rahman is arguing about the nuance of a film

does not erase the entire society’s promotion of the suicide bombing
67

as well as the Shahada, as well as the Shahada especially among

children, as well.

Dr. Rahman commented on the religions nature of this belief,

and that is not an excuse. That is, in fact, even worse. These children are taught—and we’re talking about a very religious society,

the Palestinian society—these children are taught that they have

the religious achievement. This is not true that these children are

frustrated and that’s why they’re blowing themselves up. They are

blowing themselves up because they want to aspire to the afterlife.

They have been convinced, because of their religious beliefs that

they have been ingrained with, that doing this, this type of a suicide bombing, or just achieving the Shahada, will actually give

them great rewards in this future.

So the religious component actually compounds the problem, and

that’s why 11-year-olds are talking about, ‘‘We don’t care about this

life. We only care about the afterlife.’’

Senator SPECTER. Dr. Rahman, would you care to sum?

Dr. RAHMAN. Well, I’m listening, and I cannot really believe what

I heard, because Mr. Marcus is on the West Bank because he believes that God gave him that land. That’s a religious statement,

and he is opposing Palestinians for being religious? What else of an

argument that he has to be on the West Bank except that he is

Jewish?

Listen, I would say the following. We do not support suicide

bombers. We, the Palestinian Authority, made itself very clear on

this issue over and over again. We are looking for the opportunity

to take action when the Israeli Army withdraws from the West

Bank, because while we have 50,000 Israeli soldiers in the West

Bank and in Gaza, it is impossible for the Palestinian security

forces to take action.

We are ready to do that. Our new Prime Minister just made a

statement yesterday. He said: ‘‘We are ready to declare a unilateral

cease fire.’’ He is engaged in the Palestinian organizations. We

hope that the Israeli Government will reciprocate and accept an

overall cease fire. That will end the violence between the two people so we can really put things on the track of political negotiations.

Senator SPECTER. Would that cease fire bind Hamas and Islam

Jihad?

Dr. RAHMAN. Yes, absolutely. That’s what he said. He said: ‘‘I am

negotiating with Hamas and Jihad Islam, and every other organization for a unilateral cease fire, which I’m going to take it to the

Israelis and I hope that the Israelis will reciprocate and we can

turn it into a permanent cease fire and move on political negotiations.’’ And I hope that Israelis will reciprocate.

Senator SPECTER. Dr. Asali, would you care to sum up?

Dr. ASALI. Yes. I think it is always helpful in this conflict to tone

down the rhetoric, and I think we should focus on the grand political objective. A two-state solution cannot be achieved to be negotiated between the Israelis and the Palestinians, left on their own

devices. Political will, political muscle has to be applied, especially

in this country, which is the only country that is in a position to

do so, to make it happen by applying the needed incentives, rewards, and disincentives to both parties.
68

Senator SPECTER. Thank you, Dr. Asali.

Dr. Klein, would you care to sum up?

Mr. KLEIN. Yes. First of all, I wanted to mention, Israel has

handed over to the Bush administration literally thousands of documents showing that the Palestinian Authority has paid for the

types of posters that I just showed here. This has been written up

and shown in Time magazine and many other major publications

the actual documents.

In addition, the schools, camps, and streets are named after suicide bombers who have murdered Israelis, not martyrs who have

died in some other way.

The polls, by the way, by—their own Palestinian Authority pollsters show that 60 to 90 percent of Palestinians tragically and

shockingly support suicide bombings. And, in fact, when Joseph

Lelyveld, the former editor-in-chief of the New York Times wrote

an article about suicide bombers’ families, he wrote that he was

shocked and stunned that when he interviewed the families they

said how proud they are of their children, who have killed themselves while murdering Jews.

Finally, the checkpoints are there to stop terrorists from coming

into Israel. If there was no terrorism, there would be no more

checkpoints, it would be the end of checkpoints. And I find it really

tragically and disappointingly racist statements to say that Jews

shouldn’t live in Judea and Samaria. This was—is uninhabited

land where the Jews have moved into.

The cease fire? We don’t need a temporary cease fire. That would

be pleasant. It didn’t work before, and cease fires are something

that will not work in any long-term situation. We must have the

P.A. arrest the terrorists and outlaw Hamas and Islamic Jihad,

and we must have Hassan Abdel Rahman and others in the territories and ask him to stop showing all of Israeli as Palestine on

their official stationary, on their maps, on their atlases. Do I’d ask

Dr. Rahman to change this stationary and stop sending the message that all of Israel is Palestine.

Thank you very much.

Senator SPECTER. Gentlemen, thank you very much.

I intend to send this transcript to Chairman Arafat and the

Prime Minister of Palestinian Authority, with the request that they

stop showing these videos on Palestinian television.

ADDITIONAL SUBMITTED STATEMENT

We have received a statement from The American Jewish Committee that will be made part of the hearing record.

[The statement follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE

Thank you, Chairman Specter, for allowing me this opportunity to submit a statement for the record.

I wish to express appreciation to the Subcommittee for investigating the current

nature of the Palestinian education system so that we can better understand how

to further the process of replacing the teaching of hatred and violence in Palestinian

schools with the teaching of principles of coexistence, democracy, and mutual understanding.

The American Jewish Committee welcomes your initiative in holding a vitally important hearing on October 30 to bring to light the rampant teaching of hatred and

glorification of violence in Palestinian schools, and the concomitant incitement to vi-
69

olence and hate that permeates the broader Palestinian culture and is aimed in particular at young people. We encourage the Subcommittee to continue to press all

American authorities that deal with the Palestinian Authority, as you strongly did

at the hearing, to demand of the Palestinian Authority Ministries of Education and

Sport a revamping of the educational curricula that they disseminate. The basis for

shared trust must begin with clear messages from the Palestinian leadership to its

children that indeed there is a bright future for pluralism and coexistence in the

Middle East, precisely the opposite of what is being taught today. The celebration

of hate and violence that encourages children to commit acts of terrorism, including

homicide bombings, is, as Senator Clinton noted at the hearing, a form of child

abuse. The cessation of such incitement must not await a resolution of the political

issues underlying the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. It is a sine qua non of that resolution.

Of additional concern, such incitement is by no means a problem limited to the

Palestinian territories, but a malevolent trend to be found in far too many parts of

the Muslim world. We are familiar with the vile anti-Semitic speech delivered by

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to the Organization of the Islamic

Conference last month, at which, to the everlasting shame of those attending this

largest of gatherings of Muslim national leaders, his words were greeted not with

condemnation, but with a standing ovation. And, as in the Palestinian Authority,

one finds teaching of hatred that is directed at the young in other places as well.

This past February, the American Jewish Committee and the Center for Monitoring Peace jointly released the most comprehensive survey ever prepared of the

official Saudi worldview to which students between the ages of six and sixteen are

exposed through the medium of subject textbooks. In analyzing the 93 school textbooks published by the Saudi Ministry of Education and in circulation between 1999

and 2002, the report reveals the widespread presence of contempt towards Western

civilization and followers of other religions.

Here are the main findings from our report:

—Islam is taught as the only true religion and Saudi Arabia is the leader of the

Muslim world.—Islam is presented as the only true religion, while all other religions are presented as false. Consequently, Muslims are portrayed as superior

to followers of all other religions. Islam plays the dominant role in state and

society, in the judicial and educational systems, and in everyday life. Saudi Arabia assumes, in turn, a leading role in the Muslim world and sees itself as the

champion of Islam.

—Christians and Jews are denounced as infidels.—Christians and Jews are presented as enemies of Islam and of Muslims. Therefore, Muslims may not befriend them nor emulate them in any way, lest that lead to love and friendship,

which is forbidden.

—The West is a decaying society on its way to extinction, and is the source of past

and present misfortunes of the Muslim world.—Western civilization is presented

in a state of cultural and religious decline, the symptoms of which are the absence of spirituality, the practice of adultery, and the large number of suicides

in Western society. The West is also blamed for desiring world domination and

targeting the Muslim world by aggressively promoting Western practices,

ideologies, and lifestyle habits among Muslim society. In addition, Saudi school

children are taught to reject all notions of Western democracy.

—Peace between Muslims and non-Muslims is ostensibly rejected.—Saudi Arabian

schoolbooks, even grammar books, are full of phrases exalting war, jihad, and

martyrdom. And though all forms of terror are rejected by the Saudi Arabian

schoolbooks, it appears that such prohibitions do not apply to cases that fall in

the categories of jihad and martyrdom.

—The Jews are a wicked nation, characterized by bribery, slyness, deception, and

aggressiveness.—According to the Saudi schoolbooks, the present Jewish occupation of Palestine constitutes a danger to the neighboring Muslim countries. Zionism is presented as an evil movement, based on ancient Jewish notions.

—Israel is not recognized as a sovereign state in Saudi Arabian schoolbooks, and

its name does not appear on any map.—All maps in Saudi schoolbooks bear only

the name Palestine. Palestine is presented as a Muslim country occupied by foreigners who defile its Muslim holy places, especially the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. The occupation of Palestine is portrayed as the most crucial problem

of the Arabs and the Muslims, who should all join forces for the total liberation

of Palestine.

So that Members of the Subcommittee may familiarize themselves with our findings in greater detail, I am submitting for the record our comprehensive study, The

West, Christians and Jews in Saudi Arabian Schoolbooks.
70

The Saudi Government has responded to criticism of its shameful education policies by claiming that it is working to bring about constructive reform in its curriculum and education system, but it is now high time for the Saudis to match deeds

with words. As one of the strongest allies of the United States, the Saudi government needs to take a hard look at its educational system and introduce immediate

reforms that remove hate and promote genuine tolerance of and respect for other

faiths.

To this end, we urge that Congress move quickly to adopt a Congressional initiative spearheaded by Senators Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Charles Schumer (D-NY)

in the Senate and Representatives Jim Davis (D-FL) and Doug Bereuter (R-NE) in

the House. The resolution, S. Con. Res. 14/H. Con. Res. 242, calls on the Saudi government to ‘‘reform its education curriculum in a manner that promotes tolerance,

develops civil society, and encourages functionality in the global economy.’’

As always, the American Jewish Committee stands with all people of good will,

regardless of their race, nationality, or religion, in an effort to promote peace, democracy, and mutual understanding. My thanks go again to the Subcommittee, and

to its Chairman, for their continued attention to these matters of utmost importance.

CONCLUSION OF HEARING

Senator SPECTER. Thank you all very much for being here. That

concludes our hearing.

[Whereupon, at 12:07 p.m., Tuesday, October 30, the hearing was

concluded, and the subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of the Chair.]

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