II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3209 

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

educational material used by the Palestinian Authority in schools, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 15, 2021 

Mr. KENNEDY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of State to submit annual reports 

reviewing the educational material used by the Palestinian Authority in schools, 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 in the West Bank and Gaza include graphics por6 traying violence against Israeli soldiers, positive por7 trayals of individuals who have committed attacks 

8 against citizens of Israel, and references to Pales9 tinian efforts to target the ‘‘Zionists’’. 

10 (3) Palestinian Authority textbooks are used at 

11 schools sponsored by the United Nations Relief and 

12 Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near 

13 East because the schools use the textbooks of the 

14 host government. 

15 (4) On April 26, 2018, the Government Ac16 countability Office published a report that found the 

17 following: 

18 (A) Textbooks in schools in areas con19 trolled by the Palestinian Authority feature in20 accurate and misleading maps of the region and 

21 include militaristic, adversarial imagery and 

22 content that incite hatred. 

23 (B) The Department of State raised with 

24 Palestinian officials the objectionable content in 

25 the textbooks, including a specific math probVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:48 Nov 16, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3209.IS S3209

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1 lem using the number of Palestinian casualties 

2 in the First and Second Intifadas. 

3 (C) The United Nations Relief and Works 

4 Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near 

5 East, in its review of the textbooks, identified 

6 content not aligned with United Nations values, 

7 the majority of which content related to neu8 trality or bias issues, including issues related to 

9 maps and references to Jerusalem as the cap10 ital of Palestine. 

11 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

12 It is the sense of Congress that the Palestinian Au13 thority has not sufficiently eliminated content encouraging 

14 violence or intolerance toward other countries or ethnic 

15 groups from the curriculum used in schools in areas con16 trolled by the Palestinian Authority. 

17 SEC. 4. REPORTS REQUIRED. 

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

19 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter 

20 for 2 years in accordance with subsection (c), the Sec21 retary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign 

22 Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign 

23 Affairs of the House of Representatives a report reviewing 

24 curriculum used in schools in areas controlled by the PalVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:48 Nov 16, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3209.IS S3209

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1 estinian Authority or located in Gaza and controlled by 

2 any other entity. 

3 (b) ELEMENTS.—Each report required by subsection 

4 (a) shall include the following: 

5 (1) A determination of whether the curriculum 

6 reviewed contains content encouraging violence or in7 tolerance toward other countries or ethnic groups, 

8 and a detailed explanation of the reasons for reach9 ing such determination. 

10 (2) An assessment of the steps the Palestinian 

11 Authority is taking to reform curriculum containing 

12 such content at schools to conform with standards of 

13 peace and tolerance in the Declaration of Principles 

14 on Tolerance adopted by Member States of the 

15 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural 

16 Organization on November 16, 1995. 

17 (3) A determination of whether United States 

18 foreign assistance is used, directly or indirectly, to 

19 fund the dissemination of such curriculum by the 

20 Palestinian Authority. 

21 (4) A detailed report on how United States as22 sistance is being used to address curriculum that en23 courages violence or intolerance toward other nations 

24 or ethnic groups. 


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1 (5) A detailed report on United States diplo2 matic efforts, during the 5-year period preceding the 

3 date on which the report is submitted, to encourage 

4 peace and tolerance in Palestinian education. 

5 (6) If any diplomatic efforts referred to in para6 graph (5) were stopped by the Secretary of State, 

7 the reasons for such stoppages. 

8 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of State 

9 shall post on a publicly available website of the Depart10 ment of State each report required by subsection (a). 

11 (d) SUBSEQUENT DEADLINES.—Each report re12 quired by subsection (a), other than the first such report, 

13 shall be submitted not later than 90 days after the date 

14 on which a new school year begins for schools in areas 

15 controlled by the Palestinian Authority. 

Æ 


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