Palestinian Authority textbooks continue to glorify terror, demonize Israelis, traffic in antisemitic themes and advance exclusivist nationalist rhetoric despite promises to implement reforms, a comprehensive study of the authority’s teaching materials has found.
The report was released by the Israel- and UK-based IMPACT-SE watchdog, which monitors educational content. It alleges that textbooks from grades 1-4 and 12, meant to be updated recently to comply with international demands to scrub inciting content, in fact contain no significant changes.
Altogether, across 290 textbooks and 71 teachers’ guides serving those grades and others, researchers cited 210 examples of problematic content. Subjects covered included history, Islamic and Christian religious instruction, Arabic, science, mathematics, civics, social studies and geography.
PA-produced texts have been flagged for years for containing content that critics say is a key factor in inculcating hate among Palestinian youths, fueling extremism and undercutting efforts to foster peaceful coexistence with Israelis. The materials are used widely across the West Bank and Gaza, including in classrooms run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
Now, the report says the content of the textbooks has remained unchanged despite explicit commitments by the PA to reform the curriculum — and despite European officials’ public claims that such reforms were underway. IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff said the findings “expose a stark and disturbing reality.”
“Virulent antisemitism, the glorification of jihad and incitement to violence remain deeply embedded across all grades of Palestinian Authority textbooks,” he said.
Reform of the Palestinian educational curriculum is also a central component of the US peace plan for the region following the war in Gaza. There was no immediate PA or EU response to the report upon its publication.
Despite assurances earlier this year that books for grades 1–4 and 12 would undergo reform by September 2025, problematic content persists, according to a litany of examples presented in the report.
In 1st-grade Arabic, a reading exercise introduces the word “shaheed,” or martyr, to teach about a letter. In Palestinian society, the word martyr typically refers to someone who is killed in a conflict with Israel.
In 2nd-grade Arabic, a poem is presented to students, reading, “We give our souls for the revolution. We carry the flame of the revolution — to Haifa, to Jaffa, to Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock.”
Haifa and Jaffa are within Israel’s internationally recognized borders, and Israel annexed East Jerusalem, which contains the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, more than four decades ago. The poem appears with an illustration of a boy and girl in Palestinian scout uniforms gazing toward Jerusalem.
An illustration accompanying an audio segment about the use of hands, in a 1st-grade Arabic textbook, depicts an armed soldier holding a weapon and the Palestinian flag. The book presents illustrations for each of the activities mentioned, such as playing or planting a tree, but the illustration of the soldier is larger than all the others — underscoring its importance.
In a 12th-grade Islamic education book, Jews are presented as manipulators and liars through a traditional Islamic account in which Jewish leaders tried to persuade Muhammad to betray his faith by promising to convert if he ruled unjustly in their favor.
The characters, explicitly labeled “Jews,” are portrayed as immoral and hostile to Islam — with no attempt to contextualize the story in its historical period.
In addition, according to the study, references to Jewish history and Israeli-Arab diplomatic efforts, which appeared in earlier editions, have been removed. Mentions of the Camp David and Annapolis peace processes — as well as any content promoting non-violence or compromise — remain absent in the 2025–2026 textbooks.
In fact, any acknowledgement of Jewish history is absent, with the Holocaust ignored. Likewise, the persecution and expulsion suffered by Jewish communities in Arab countries upon the establishment of Israel is entirely absent.
Even in fields unrelated to Israel, textbooks fall short of UN educational standards, the report found, saying Islamic education books continue to present women as weak and subordinate to men.
The study showed that textbooks across the intervening grades also continue to depict Jews as manipulative, inherently corrupt, or as enemies of Islam. This includes the use of classic conspiracy motifs — such as Jewish greed, control of the media, and dominance over financial institutions.
According to the study, in some cases, Israelis are portrayed as demonic figures, accused of atrocities, and portrayed as inherently evil. Poems and songs grant legitimacy to violence and teach that Israel’s very existence is illegitimate.
The Palestinian Authority’s teacher guides — which were also examined — expand on the problematic and violent content, instructing educators on how to frame it in the classroom.
