I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2374 

To require the Secretary of State to submit annual reports reviewing the 

educational material used by the Palestinian Authority, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 5, 2021 

Mr. SHERMAN (for himself, Mr. ZELDIN, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. MAST, and 

Mr. TRONE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of State to submit annual reports 

reviewing the educational material used by the Palestinian Authority, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Peace and Tolerance 

5 in Palestinian Education Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) In 2016 and 2017, the Palestinian Author2 ity published modified curricula for school-aged chil3 dren in grades 1 through 11. 

4 (2) Textbooks used by the Palestinian Author5 ity (PA) in the West Bank and Gaza include graph6 ics portraying violence against Israeli soldiers, posi7 tive portrayals of individuals who have committed at8 tacks against citizens of Israel, and references to 

9 Palestinian efforts to target the ‘‘Zionists’’. 

10 (3) PA textbooks are used at schools sponsored 

11 by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency 

12 (UNRWA) because UNRWA schools use the text13 books of the host government. 

14 (4) On April 26, 2018, the Government Ac15 countability Office (GAO) published a report that 

16 found the following: 

17 (A) Textbooks in PA schools feature inac18 curate and misleading maps of the region and 

19 include militaristic, adversarial imagery and 

20 content that incite hatred. 

21 (B) The Department of State raised with 

22 Palestinian officials the objectionable content in 

23 textbooks, including a specific math problem 

24 using the number of Palestinian casualties in 

25 the First and Second Intifadas. 


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1 (C) The United Nations Relief and Works 

2 Agency (UNRWA), in its review of the text3 books, identified content not aligned with 

4 United Nations values, the majority of which 

5 content related to neutrality or bias issues, in6 cluding issues related to maps and references to 

7 Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. 

8 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

9 It is the sense of Congress that the Palestinian Au10 thority has not sufficiently eliminated content and pas11 sages encouraging violence or intolerance toward other 

12 countries or ethnic groups from the curriculum used in 

13 their schools. 

14 SEC. 4. REPORTS REQUIRED. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter 

17 for two years in accordance with subsection (c), the Sec18 retary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign 

19 Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Com20 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report review21 ing curriculum used in schools in areas controlled by the 

22 Palestinian Authority or located in Gaza and controlled 

23 by any other entity. Each such report shall include the 

24 following: 


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1 (1) A determination of whether there is content 

2 or passages encouraging violence or intolerance to3 ward other countries or ethnic groups in such cur4 riculum, and a detailed explanation of the reasons 

5 for reaching such determination. 

6 (2) An assessment of the steps the Palestinian 

7 Authority is taking to reform such curriculum at 

8 schools to conform with standards of peace and tol9 erance in the Declaration of Principles on Tolerance 

10 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and 

11 Cultural Organization (adopted November 16, 

12 1995). 

13 (3) A determination whether United States for14 eign assistance is used, directly or indirectly, to fund 

15 the dissemination of such curriculum by the Pales16 tinian Authority. 

17 (4) A detailed report on how United States as18 sistance is being used to address curriculum that en19 courages violence or intolerance toward other nations 

20 or ethnic groups. 

21 (5) A detailed report about United States diplo22 matic efforts in the preceding five years to encour23 age peace and tolerance in Palestinian education. 


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1 (6) If any diplomatic efforts referred to in para2 graph (5) were stopped by the Secretary of State, 

3 the reasons for such stoppages. 

4 (b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of State 

5 shall post on a publicly available website of the Depart6 ment of State each report required under subsection (a). 

7 (c) SUBSEQUENT DEADLINES.—Each report required 

8 by subsection (a), other than the first such report, shall 

9 be submitted not later than 90 days after the date on 

10 which a new school year begins for schools controlled by 

11 the Palestinian Authority. 

Æ 


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