[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 180 (Wednesday, November 1, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H5199-H5201]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            PEACE AND TOLERANCE IN PALESTINIAN EDUCATION ACT

  Mr. LAWLER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3266) to require the Secretary of State to submit annual 
reports reviewing the curriculum used by the Palestinian Authority, and 
for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3266

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Peace and Tolerance in 
     Palestinian Education Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) In 2016 and 2017, the Palestinian Authority published 
     modified curricula for school-aged children in grades 1 
     through 11.
       (2) Textbooks used by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the 
     West Bank and Gaza include graphics portraying violence 
     against Israeli soldiers, positive portrayals of individuals 
     who have committed attacks against citizens of Israel, and 
     references to Palestinian efforts to target the ``Zionists''.
       (3) PA textbooks are used at schools sponsored by the 
     United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) because UNRWA 
     schools use the textbooks of the host government.
       (4) On April 26, 2018, the Government Accountability Office 
     (GAO) published a report that found the following:
       (A) Textbooks in PA schools feature inaccurate and 
     misleading maps of the region and include militaristic, 
     adversarial imagery and content that incite hatred.
       (B) The Department of State raised with Palestinian 
     officials the objectionable content in textbooks, including a 
     specific math problem using the number of Palestinian 
     casualties in the First and Second Intifadas.
       (C) The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), in 
     its review of the textbooks, identified content not aligned 
     with United Nations values, the majority of which content 
     related to neutrality or bias issues, including issues 
     related to maps and references to Jerusalem as the capital of 
     Palestine.

     SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

       It is the sense of Congress that the Palestinian Authority 
     has not sufficiently eliminated content and passages 
     encouraging violence or intolerance toward other countries or 
     ethnic groups from the curriculum used in their schools.

     SEC. 4. REPORTS REQUIRED.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter for two 
     years in accordance with subsection (c), the Secretary of 
     State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
     House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 
     Relations of the Senate a report reviewing curriculum, 
     including textbooks, leaflets, pamphlets, magazines, and 
     other instructional materials, used in schools in areas 
     controlled by the Palestinian Authority or located in Gaza 
     and controlled by any other entity. Each such report shall 
     include the following:
       (1) A determination of whether there is content or passages 
     encouraging violence or intolerance toward other countries or 
     ethnic groups in such curriculum, and a detailed explanation 
     of the reasons for reaching such determination.
       (2) An assessment of the steps the Palestinian Authority is 
     taking to reform such curriculum at schools to conform with 
     standards of peace and tolerance in the Declaration of 
     Principles on Tolerance by the United Nations Educational, 
     Scientific and Cultural Organization (adopted November 16, 
     1995).
       (3) A determination whether United States foreign 
     assistance is used, directly or indirectly, to fund the 
     dissemination of such curriculum by the Palestinian 
     Authority.
       (4) A detailed report on how United States assistance is 
     being used to address curriculum that encourages violence or 
     intolerance toward other nations or ethnic groups.
       (5) A detailed report about United States diplomatic 
     efforts in the preceding five years to encourage peace and 
     tolerance in Palestinian education.
       (6) If any diplomatic efforts referred to in paragraph (5) 
     were stopped by the Secretary of State, the reasons for such 
     stoppages.
       (b) Public Availability.--The Secretary of State shall post 
     on a publicly available website of the Department of State 
     each report required under subsection (a).
       (c) Subsequent Deadlines.--Each report required by 
     subsection (a), other than the first such report, shall be 
     submitted not later than 90 days after the date on which a 
     new school year begins for schools controlled by the 
     Palestinian Authority.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Lawler) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schneider) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mr. LAWLER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to 
include extraneous material on this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. LAWLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3266, the Peace and Tolerance 
in Palestinian Education Act.
  I thank my colleague, Mr. Sherman, for introducing this important 
legislation to prevent the spread of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic 
hatred.
  We have known for decades that Palestinian children are taught from a 
young age to hate Israel and the Jewish people. Despite robust 
international discussion about these concerns, reports by 
nongovernmental organizations continue to show that Palestinian 
schoolchildren are being indoctrinated with deeply disturbing violent 
imagery.
  For example, a review of the textbooks used in Palestinian schools in 
2020 and 2021 showed that children are taught to read with passages 
that describe suicide bombings and the gruesome murders of IDF 
soldiers, to do math using numbers of martyrs and jihadists, and to 
learn history by asking them to discuss how the USA took advantage of 
the 9/11 attack.
  These textbooks propagate the lie that the Jewish people control the 
media and politics and explicitly refer to Jews as ``enemies of Islam 
in all times and places.'' Children are taught to glorify the founders 
of the jihad movement and learn that jihad is ``a private obligation 
for every Muslim.''
  We will never arrive at a peaceful solution for Israelis and 
Palestinians as long as Palestinian children are being taught hatred in 
textbooks.
  Look at the brutal attack that over 2,500 Hamas terrorists carried 
out against Israel on October 7. Why else would Hamas terrorists call 
home bragging that they murdered Jews? Why else would they live stream 
their barbaric attacks?
  That disgusting and gruesome cruelty is possible because these Hamas 
fighters were indoctrinated with hatred at a young age. They were 
taught to glorify terrorism and other so-called martyrs who killed 
Jewish people. This must end.
  The Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act takes a first 
step to firmly establish Congress' position that the Palestinian 
Authority has not sufficiently eliminated inciteful and violent content 
from their educational curricula. It also requires the State Department 
to report to Congress on educational materials used in schools run by 
the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, Hamas, and the Gaza Strip, 
and UNRWA.
  A United States Government assessment of the content of these 
educational materials will carry tremendous weight in international 
efforts to eliminate hateful content and promote peace.
  Since Hamas' attack, we have seen an appalling number of anti-Semitic 
and anti-Israel riots around the world and right here at home. I have 
condemned these in the strongest terms. I continue to speak out when 
they occur, and I have encouraged my colleagues to do the same.
  That is why, earlier this year, I introduced legislation to combat 
the rise in anti-Semitism on college campuses, the Stop Anti-Semitism 
on College Campuses Act, which would defund institutions of higher 
learning that allow, promote, or sanction anti-Semitic events on their 
campuses.
  That is why, just last week, Josh Gottheimer and I introduced the 
Antisemitism Awareness Act, which would amend the education law to 
require the Department of Education to use the IHRA definition of anti-
Semitism on its enforcement actions of discrimination laws.
  The commitment we made after the Holocaust, ``Never again,'' is being 
put to the test. We have a responsibility to prevent the teaching of 
anti-Semitism not just here in the United States but around the globe. 
This bipartisan bill uses the tools available to the United States 
Government to do just that.

[[Page H5200]]

  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this 
measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the United States and many of our allies have long been 
concerned about Palestinian textbooks that contain blatant anti-Semitic 
and anti-Zionist references that incite hatred and violence toward the 
Jewish people.
  In May, the European Parliament went so far as to pass a resolution 
condemning the Palestinian Authority over the hateful content of its 
textbooks and conditioned future funding for education on the removal 
of that anti-Semitic material.
  The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, known as UNRWA, which 
administers many schools in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, is 
required by its mandate to use host country books.
  Let me say that again in another way. UNRWA does not write 
Palestinian textbooks, the Palestinians do, and UNRWA is required to 
use the host nation's book under its mandate.
  The bill before us tasks the Secretary of State to write a report to 
Congress that reviews the curriculum, including textbooks, leaflets, 
pamphlets, magazines, and other instructional materials used in UNRWA 
schools. This report will be important and will help both the Congress 
and the executive branch understand the full scope of the problems, 
work to improve these textbooks, and remove the content that is not 
only untrue but leads to further violence and instability in the 
region.
  I will add one more important comment about UNRWA. Despite the issue 
related to the Palestinian Authority's textbooks that we are discussing 
at this moment, thousands of UNRWA employees, many of whom have 
yearslong relationships with the U.S., remain in Gaza doing dangerous 
humanitarian work. Some have, sadly, lost their lives.
  Let's keep them in mind as this conflict continues, but let's also 
keep in mind that Israel must defeat Hamas.
  I am proud to cosponsor this legislation and ask my colleagues to 
vote in support of this important bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1530

  Mr. LAWLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Mast), chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on 
Oversight and Accountability.
  Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I want to speak specifically, as both sides 
have mentioned, as to what goes on in this education within these 
UNRWA/Palestinian Authority-run schools. People can find images of 
these. Nobody is going to be able to see them on camera. Let's read 
them specifically.
  An example of a fourth grade Palestinian math problem: ``The number 
of martyrs in the First Intifada is 2,026 martyrs, and the number of 
martyrs of the Al-Aqsa Intifada is 5,050 martyrs. The number of martyrs 
in the two intifadas is_____ martyrs?''
  This is another example, a seventh grade physics problem people can 
look at, and we can find many examples of this. This is on Newton's 
second law: ``During the first Palestinian uprising, Palestinian youths 
used slingshots to confront the soldiers of the Zionist occupation and 
defend themselves from their treacherous bullets. What is the 
relationship between the elongation of the slingshot's rubber and the 
tensile strength affecting it?'' This is their physics work.
  Another example, again, from Palestinian Authority-run schools in 
conjunction with the United Nations, a geography question. This one 
asks sixth graders to define the borders of Palestine which completely 
erase the existence of Israel.
  They are not interested in a two-state solution. I agree. I don't 
think a two-state solution is a good idea, but they are interested in a 
one-state solution in which no Israel exists at all. That is what is 
being taught in the schools, and that is what no U.S. taxpayer dollars 
should be sent to support at all. That is the purpose of the request 
for the information on what is going on with this U.N.-funded 
education.
  I just offer the reminder that these are not Hamas-run schools. They 
are not Palestinian-Islamic Jihad-run schools. They are not Al-Aqsa 
Martyrs Brigade-run schools. They are not Lions' Den-run schools. They 
are Palestinian Authority-run schools, what we could consider the 
Palestinian government; the Palestinian government that at one point 
has been a majority of Hamas members in that government.
  In these Palestinian authority-run schools, this is their government 
teaching. It is the U.N. teachings. This is what the teachers--maybe 
not considered Hamas, but let's consider them rank-and-file 
Palestinians--are teaching the students. This is what the rank-and-file 
students across the area are learning. This is what their parents are 
seeing them taught. I think this is what we are seeing be professed by 
extremists across Times Square, Harvard, Tulane, and other places, and 
I consider it extremely anti-Semitic and dangerous.
  Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Sherman), a senior member of the Foreign Affairs 
Committee and, importantly, the author of this legislation.
  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have been working on this bill for a long 
time. I introduced it in the 116th Congress and the 117th Congress, and 
both times it passed unanimously in the Foreign Affairs Committee. Now, 
finally, in the 118th Congress, we have it to the floor. I thank Mr. 
Mast from Florida for being the Republican lead on this bill and 
speaking for it here on the floor. Now, as I said, this bill passed 
unanimously three times through our committee, and I hope it passes 
unanimously by voice vote here on the floor.
  Let us reflect on what has happened recently in Israel. Our Secretary 
of State, Tony Blinken, I think, summarized it well in his testimony 
yesterday: Young people chased down and gunned down at a dance party. 
Children executed in front of their parents. Parents executed in front 
of their children. Families in final embrace burned alive. People 
beheaded.
  There was a family of four, a boy and a girl of 6 and 8 years old and 
their parents, around the breakfast table. The father's eye was gouged 
out in front of his children, the mother's breasts were cut off, the 
girl's foot was amputated, and the boy's finger was cut off before they 
were executed. Then the executioners sat down and had a meal.
  We heard an intercepted telephone call where a terrorist called his 
mother and said gleefully: ``I have killed 10 Jews with my own hands. 
I'm using the dead Jewish woman's phone to call you now.''
  How does such a horror occur? It occurs when generations are raised 
to hate, to kill, to behead, to murder, and it is a product of the 
schools that we have seen for decades on the West Bank and the Gaza 
Strip.
  I point to a particular fifth grade textbook which glorifies a 
terrorist who in 1978 went forward and killed 38 Israeli civilians, 
including 13 children, many of them pictured here. This is who is 
glorified. This is who is held up to Palestinian children as the model 
for them to follow.
  We should not be surprised that there is, therefore, significant 
support for the Hamas doctrine: ``From the river to the sea . . . '' 
All Jews must be killed; that is their position. That is what holds 
their organization together.
  I know the scenes that come now from Gaza are horrific. People say: 
``Let's stop the fighting. Let's have a cease-fire.'' Well, what would 
happen then? We don't have to wonder, because just today, Ghazi Hamad, 
a high-ranking official of Hamas, said exactly what would happen. He 
said: We will repeat October 7 one, two, three, four, five times, as 
many times as it takes, until Israel is annihilated.

  That is what happens if we have a cease-fire, unless we have the kind 
of cease-fire that we should have, one in which Hamas releases all the 
hostages and disarms. Then we can have a cease-fire.
  In the years to come, after the actions being taken in Gaza, we will 
again wonder: Is another generation being educated to repeat these 
crimes in future years?
  How are these students educated? They are educated in schools run by 
UNRWA, the U.N. organization, and paid for in large part by the United 
States. While we have responsibilities

[[Page H5201]]

around the world, the oil-rich Arab states contribute only a portion, a 
small portion of what UNRWA spends. America contributes half and more 
than half.
  When we resumed funding for UNRWA in 2021, it was with the 
understanding that the schools would change, and we reached the 2021 
framework for cooperation. So far, not so good. It appears as if the 
books continue.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the 
gentleman from California.
  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, what this bill does is requires a formal 
report to tell us what, unfortunately, we know informally, and that is 
that education for terrorism has continued.
  With this formal report on its way, UNRWA will understand that what 
is happening in its schools will be exposed and that the American 
Congress will not continue to fund them if they don't meet the 
responsibilities.
  Now, it is said that they have to rely on Palestinian Authority 
textbooks. No, they simply have to change their policy.
  I look forward to meeting the humanitarian and educational needs of 
the Palestinian people in a way that builds toward peace, not in a way 
that holds out to Palestinian fifth graders as an example someone who 
would kill 38 civilians, including 13 children.
  Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Ms. Manning), the vice ranking member of the House 
Foreign Affairs Committee.
  Ms. MANNING. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, Representative Brad 
Schneider, for yielding me time.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support H.R. 3266, the Peace and Tolerance 
in Palestinian Education Act, bipartisan legislation I cosponsored, 
introduced by Representatives Brad Sherman and Brian Mast.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill is necessary because we continue to see the 
use of textbooks and other educational materials in schools run by the 
PA and UNRWA containing anti-Israel content which perpetuates anti-
Semitism, victimhood, and martyrdom, erases Israel from the map, and 
even glorifies violence and terrorism.
  Children in the West Bank and Gaza deserve the chance to learn 
without using textbooks that are biased, promote intolerance, and 
demonize or mischaracterize Israel.
  That is why this bill would require the State Department to 
investigate, report to Congress, and make publicly available important 
information about the content of the curriculum used in these schools.
  The PA and UNRWA have a responsibility to address and remove 
problematic content in textbooks that violates the U.N.'s own 
principles of neutrality and tolerance.
  We know that no child is born to hate. They have to be carefully 
taught. Educational materials that teach them hate by demonizing Israel 
only make it harder to resolve the conflict and achieve lasting peace.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this 
important bipartisan bill that I am proud to cosponsor.
  Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume 
for the purpose of closing.
  Mr. Speaker, my colleague Mr. Sherman made mention of the stated 
intent of the terrorist scheme to destroy Israel, to try again and 
again. I want to share an email I got today talking about what is going 
on right now.
  It says: Among the IDF soldiers killed in Gaza yesterday, eight were 
in a single armored personnel carrier that was hit by a rocket-
propelled grenade. They were part of the Givati infantry brigade. One 
of them, 2nd Lt. Pedayah Mark, lost his father in a terror attack on 
their family car near Otneil 7 years ago. Pedayah, who was 13 years old 
at the time, was injured along with his mother. His uncle was among 
those murdered in Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7.
  The terrorists continue to attack and attack, oftentimes striking the 
same family. We need to make sure we change what the kids are learning.
  H.R. 3266 is an important tool in our fight against the hatred and in 
support of peace in Palestinian education, the education of the 
children.
  Let me add one more statistic. In the attack on October 7, 20 
children under 18 were orphaned, both their parents were killed. 
Eighteen young people between the age of 18 and 25 lost both parents. 
Ninety-six children under 18 lost one parent.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues, every one of them, to support 
this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LAWLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  We must continue to stand against anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias. 
It is essential that we ensure children are not taught to hate, and 
this starts with the materials they learn in school.
  The first step is passing the bipartisan Peace and Tolerance in 
Palestinian Education Act, to ensure we have transparent, valid, and 
authenticated information.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to join me in support of this 
bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Lawler) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 3266.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________