Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-01-31-Speech-3-118"
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"en.20010131.5.3-118"2
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". – Mr President, I hope this will not seem like an anti-climax after the excellent speech that we have just heard in response to the debate, but there is one point which has come up in a previous debate and in two speeches this evening that I would like to deal with once and for all.
At least one of the honourable Members who made the point today is in the Chamber and perhaps I can deal with it now, for the record, and we can regard it as having been sorted out. It is the question of textbooks, which I know has been of concern to a number of honourable Members of the House.
I want to make it clear that the Commission rejects any attempt to use the educational system to promote intolerance or hatred. It is worth noting that the main focus of the Commission’s assistance has always been to promote a culture of peace, tolerance and human rights in the Middle East. For example, in recent years we have financed several projects, worth about EUR 4.5 million, to foster dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian youth.
I want to make this point absolutely clear. The Commission has never allocated funds for the development of a new school curriculum nor for the printing and distribution of school textbooks. The development of school curricula and the preparation of textbooks are the responsibility of the Palestinian Centre for Curriculum Development. It was established in 1995 with the assistance of Member States through UNESCO. Since then the Centre has undertaken the charge of harmonising the hitherto separate educational systems – the Egyptian for the Gaza Strip and the Jordanian for the West Bank – and of organising a new curriculum that meets the needs of the new situation.
Only last year did the Palestinian Authority issue their own textbooks for Grades 1 to 6. No sign of anti-Semitic content has been found in these new books. Books used prior to that were, I am advised, the official textbooks in Jordan and Egypt and were authorised by Israel for the West Bank and Gaza until 1994 at least – after they had been subject to some editorial control.
I hope that has made clear the Commission’s position on this issue. The Commission has had nothing to do with textbooks and we deplore any promotion of intolerance particularly among young people and particularly through the education system. It was worth making the point at this stage, because it has been raised before."@en1
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