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Gingrich on Palestinian textbooks

jimtron

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jimtron
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Last night during the GOP debate Newt Gingrich said:
These people are terrorists. They teach terrorism in their schools. They have textbooks that say, ‘If there are 13 Jews and nine Jews are killed, how many Jews are left?’ We pay for those textbooks through our aid money.
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Does anyone know of any evidence to back up this specific claim? Wapo says: "The issue of Palestinian textbooks is controversial, one the Palestinian Authority says it is addressing. We cannot immediately find evidence of the statement claimed by Gingrich, and it is not clear if he is referring to a statement in one of the newer textbooks."

(I'd like to keep the subject of this thread to the Palestinian textbook issue specifically to avoid getting into general Israel/Palestine discussions, of which there are already plenty of)
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Sec. of State Clinton agrees:
Hillary Clinton said:
I have been speaking out against the incitement of hate and violence in Palestinian textbooks for years. In 2000 I joined Nobel peace prize winner Elie Wiesel in New York to denounce the lessons of hatred and violence that are part of the curricula in Palestinian schools. I wrote, with my colleague Senator Schumer, a letter to President Bush, urging his Administration to do everything in its 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.

I joined with Itamar at a Senate hearing, where I reiterated the importance of our country making it clear in every way - these children deserves an education that instills respect for life and peace instead of glorifying death and violence. The videos we viewed at that Senate hearing were a clear example of child abuse. I said that at the time and I repeat it again today. Children were encouraged to see martyrdom and armed struggle and the murder of innocent people as ideals to strive for.

Today, we are here once again to release a report that is deeply disturbing, particularly for the denial of Israel's existence and the historical omissions of the Holocaust, to cite just two examples.

These textbooks do not give Palestinian children an education; they give them an indoctrination. When we viewed this report in combination with other media that these children are exposed to, we see a larger picture that is disturbing. It is disturbing on a human level, it is disturbing to me as a mother, it is disturbing to me as a United States Senator, because it basically, profoundly poisons the minds of these children.
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http://palwatch.org/site/modules/print/preview.aspx?fi=92&doc_id=101
 
At what point did it appear in the debate?

I am trying to find it now on You Tube.

By the way, is there any thread about the invented Palestinians?

I guess the point with that one is that all nationalities are invented but what does he imply by making that point?
 
Puppycow said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textbooks_in_the_Palestinian_territories
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Here's the full quote from that page:

The allegations surfaced in reports compiled by the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace, an NGO, which had claimed that the books contained statements such as "Treachery and disloyalty are character traits of the Jews and one should be aware of them".[24] In January 1999, the State Department reported that "The methodologies employed by UNRWA make it difficult to draw firm conclusions about the extent of anti-Semitic content in host authority textbooks used in UNRWA schools. At the same time, UNRWA's review did reveal instances of anti-Semitic characterizations and content in those host authority texts."[25]
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I think an interesting question in turn would be, what do Israeli textbooks say about Palestinians?
 
citizenzen said:
I think an interesting question in turn would be, what do Israeli textbooks say about Palestinians?
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I'd love to see direct quotes from actual textbooks in current use by both Israelis and Palestinians.

eta:

Gingrich's specific claim, again:
They have textbooks that say, ‘If there are 13 Jews and nine Jews are killed, how many Jews are left?’ We pay for those textbooks through our aid money.
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Anyone know if that can be backed up?
 
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jimtron said:
Anyone know if that can be backed up?
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I don't know. According to this article:

Palestinian officials said Gingrich's allegations were based substantially on material produced by an Israeli organisation, Palestinian Media Watch, which has published a long list of entries on its website under the heading "Promoting Violence for Children". An article from 2007 describes Palestinian textbooks paid for with US aid money that deny Israel's right to exist.

But Xavier Abu Eid, a senior adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said the website and Gingrich's allegations were groundless.

"[Gingrich] is welcome to come to Palestine so he can stop speaking from talking points and speak about reality. If he can produce a Palestinian textbook that proves his point, then he should do it. But they don't exist in our schools -- he's quoting propaganda. It's very cheap what he's doing and not behaviour appropriate for a presidential candidate.
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So, I guess we'll have wait for Newt or Palestinian Media Watch to back up his claim.
 
I don't have a link to the textbook but Nazi-grade antisemitism has been taught in Palestinian schools for decades. Most Arab countries do it.
 
jimtron said:
I'd love to see direct quotes from actual textbooks in current use by both Israelis and Palestinians.
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Got 30 minutes? This video deals with Israeli textbooks, although the emphasis is on imagery rather than quotations:


(Side note: If anyone knows about the research she refers to on the psychological impact of scene colors, please help me out with some names or titles. I've known about this phenomenon, exactly as she describes it, for several years now but I've never found any academic discussion of it.)
 
jimtron said:
Last night during the GOP debate Newt Gingrich said:


Does anyone know of any evidence to back up this specific claim?​
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This would be a very tricky question. One wonders which of the following answers would be considered correct:

1. Four Jews
2. Millions of Jews
3. Too many Jews

I say we should be paying for textbooks that clear up that question. We could call it No Palestinian Left Behind. Although they might misinterpret that to mean something along the lines of #3.​
 
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Virus said:
"Your enemies seek life while you seek death"

http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=122
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But do you have any links to support Newt's claims?

Virus said:
Is true.
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Then where are the links?

Virus said:
I don't have a link to the textbook but Nazi-grade antisemitism has been taught in Palestinian schools for decades. Most Arab countries do it.
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But you have no evidence? Hmmm... Okay!

Brainster said:
This would be a very tricky question. One wonders which of the following answers would be considered correct:

1. Four Jews
2. Millions of Jews
3. Too many Jews

I say we should be paying for textbooks that clear up that question. We could call it No Palestinian Left Behind. Although they might misinterpret that to mean something along the lines of #3.
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Yes, but the boring bits about evidence still apply.

As it happens, I wouldn't be surprised if these things do exist. There are plenty of places that do have textbooks like this. However, the claims need to be supported because if they turn out to be untrue then the tables are turned: "Did you know that in America, in order to get the vote, you have to say the most balls-out ******* insane load of crap about the Palestinians before you will even be allowed to run as one party's candidate? You didn't know that? It's true! Vitriolic lies are de rigeur! Oh, and you have to claim personal friendship with Bibi!"
 
I don't think anyone denies that anti-semitic hatred is taught through Palestinian textbooks.

However, the question is: Is there any evidence to back up Gingrich's claim they teach: ‘If there are 13 Jews and nine Jews are killed, how many Jews are left?’.

If not, he's just carelessly made up something about an incredibly volatile situation which is beneath a candidate for President of the United States.
 
Undesired Walrus said:
I don't think anyone denies that anti-semitic hatred is taught through Palestinian textbooks.

However, the question is: Is there any evidence to back up Gingrich's claim they teach: ‘If there are 13 Jews and nine Jews are killed, how many Jews are left?’.

If not, he's just carelessly made up something about an incredibly volatile situation which is beneath a candidate for President of the United States.
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Newt's maths problem and the Nazi propaganda Palestinians are raised on is a distinction of little difference.
 
Gazpacho said:
Got 30 minutes? This video deals with Israeli textbooks, although the emphasis is on imagery rather than quotations:


(Side note: If anyone knows about the research she refers to on the psychological impact of scene colors, please help me out with some names or titles. I've known about this phenomenon, exactly as she describes it, for several years now but I've never found any academic discussion of it.)
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She tells fibs:

http://www.impact-se.org/docs/reactions/individuals/NuritPeled2006.pdf
 
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