Hamas and Fatah refuse to allow any form of Holocaust education in UNRWA-run schools in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Hamas says doing so would be a “challenge to the feelings of the Palestinians.â€
They accused UNRWA of conducting a political agenda that is not conducive to the interests of Palestinians and “violates their culture and unchangeable values.â€
They also said it would pave the road for normalization with Israel.
“This is an attempt to impose on us the culture of normalization with the occupation…They want us to accept the tales and lies to win sympathy.â€
Hamas insists the Holocaust is a lie, concocted to win sympathy with the “usurping entity†at the expense of the rights of the Palestinians.
On the matter, the Hamas ministry warned UNRWA:
“This is a flagrant intervention in the internal affairs of the Palestinians and a violation of regulations that have existed since the establishment of UNRWA.”
Representatives said schools should dedicate classes to talking about the “occupation’s terror and racism†instead.
But it’s not just Hamas. Senior Fatah official and head of the PLO “refugee department,†Zakariya al-Agha, said he too is opposed to teaching the Nazi Holocaust in Palestinian schools.
Another Fatah representative, Salah al-Wadiyeh, said the Holocuast was a “big lie.â€
He said, the Palestinians, “know more than any other people the history of their enemies and their false claims and lies.â€
Despite their agreement on the big Holocaust myth, however, Fatah and Hamas will not be joining up to form a unity government. Fatah representatives have spoken out about their disapproval of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s plans to keep Hamas in control of Gaza.
Meanwhile, a new joint effort between the Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum and the Shas party’s Ma’ayan Hinuch Torani is working on enhancing the Holocaust education of the educational network’s haredi Sephardi students.
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