I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2343 

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

educational material used by the Palestinian Authority or the United 

Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near 

East in the West Bank and Gaza, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 18, 2019 

Mr. SHERMAN (for himself, Mr. ZELDIN, Mr. TRONE, Mr. MAST, Mr. 

GOTTHEIMER, and Mr. WEBER of Texas) 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 or the United Nations Relief and Works 

Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East in the 

West Bank and Gaza, 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 curriculums for school-aged 

3 children in grades 1 through 11. 

4 (2) The new Palestinian curriculums fail to 

5 meet the international standards of peace and toler6 ance in educational materials established by the 

7 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural 

8 Organization. 

9 (3) Textbooks used by the Palestinian Author10 ity and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency 

11 for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) 

12 in the West Bank and Gaza demonize Israel, encour13 age war, and teach children that Palestinian state14 hood can be achieved through violence. 

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

17 that textbooks in UNRWA schools do not mention 

18 Israel or Judaism, feature maps of the region that 

19 exclude Israel, and include content that incites vio20 lence. 

21 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

22 It is the sense of Congress that the Palestinian Au23 thority and UNRWA have not sufficiently worked to elimi24 nate all content and passages encouraging violence or inVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Apr 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2343.IH H2343

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1 tolerance toward other nations or ethnic groups from the 

2 curriculum used in their respective schools. 

3 SEC. 4. REPORT REQUIRED. 

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

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

6 for ten years in accordance with subsection (c), the Sec7 retary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign 

8 Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Com9 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report review10 ing curriculum used in schools controlled by the Pales11 tinian Authority or UNRWA in the West Bank and Gaza 

12 that includes the following: 

13 (1) A determination whether all content and 

14 passages encouraging violence or intolerance toward 

15 other nations or ethnic groups has been removed in 

16 such curriculum, and a detailed explanation of the 

17 reasons for reaching such determination. 

18 (2) An assessment of the steps the Palestinian 

19 Authority and UNRWA are taking to reform such 

20 curriculum at schools to conform with standards of 

21 peace and tolerance in the Declaration of Principles 

22 on Tolerance by the United Nations Educational, 

23 Scientific and Cultural Organization (adopted No24 vember 16, 1995). 


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1 (3) A determination whether United States for2 eign assistance is used, directly or indirectly, to fund 

3 the dissemination of such curriculum by the Pales4 tinian Authority or UNRWA. 

5 (b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall 

6 make each report submitted pursuant to subsection (a) on 

7 a publicly available website of the Department of State. 

8 (c) SUBSEQUENT DEADLINES.—Each report required 

9 by subsection (a), other than first, shall be submitted not 

10 later than 90 days after the date on which a new school 

11 year begins for schools controlled by the Palestinian Au12 thority or UNRWA schools in the West Bank and Gaza. 

Æ 


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