Indoctrinating Palestinian kids

I was shocked by the details in Earl Cox’s “Palestinian textbooks teach war, not peace” (Comment & Features, March 14), which outlines the misuse of foreign funding meant for educational purposes mainly because of the quotes from officials justifying the salaries paid to terrorists, and the curriculum of incitement in the educational system, which inevitably leads to more terrorism.

The next day, reporter Ilanit Chernick (“Israel-Apartheid Week on South African campuses,” March 15) quoted the ANC as saying that the continued imprisonment of 17-year-old Ahed Tamimi “is an example of the extreme and unacceptable abuse of child rights, human rights and international law by the Israeli government.” Having seen footage of attacks by Tamimi at various ages against soldiers who apparently were not involved in any dubious behavior, it is obvious that she was trained to behave this way by her family.

On to Lior Akerman’s “PA education and the future of peace” (Observations, March 16), in which he describes in detail the content of the latest editions of textbooks used in Palestinian classrooms. The horrifying glorification of violence and indoctrination to Jew-hatred is depressing.

All of this begs the question as to why organizations such as UNICEF and Save the Children are not badgering the Palestinian Authority to stop the indoctrination of a million and a half Palestinian children. These children really do have rights – the right to be brought up in a hate-free environment; the right to be educated to a high standard without discrimination against other people or religions; and the right to be able to develop socially without prejudice and indoctrination.

As Cox mentions, there was a US-Palestinian-Israeli committee to monitor incitement, but this has obviously not been effective. For everyone’s sake – particularly the children on both sides of the divide – something must be done quickly. ROBERT HICKINBOTHAM Tel Aviv