Talk of peace on the Middle East slips off the lips of the famous and infamous. All think they have the answer.
Marc Garneau wrote in his recent Huffington Post blog that “It’s really about the children.” He talked about a recent visit to Israel and speaking to Palestinian children at Mohamed Ben Rachid School in Ramallah.
“I spoke about my astronaut experience and their eyes burned brightly. Those kids were sharp. They were still young enough to dream. It’s about the children. It should always be about the children. Those Palestinian children, like Israeli children deserve a safe and peaceful country for their dreams.”
I couldn’t agree more. The future always lies with our children. There are those who say that we come into this world with original sin. There are those who say we come into this world a tabula rasa, a blank slate. Then there are those who say we are born neither good nor evil, but evil seems to come easily so let’s teach goodness. Sounds so easy and rational. Unfortunately, teaching goodness is not endemic to all cultures.
Hate is being taught to the children in the Palestinian territories-Judea and Samaria. It is fed to them on their televisions in their classrooms. It is part of everyday culture.
In 2007, then US Senator Hillary Clintonsaid:
“These textbooks do not give Palestinian children an education; they give them an indoctrination. When we viewed this [PMW] report in combination with other media [from other PMW reports] 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.”
A report to the Parliament in the United Kingdom in 2007 concluded:
“The new PA schoolbooks are guaranteeing that the next generation will grow up seeing Israel as an illegitimate state, an enemy to be hated, fought, and destroyed, rather than as a neighbor to negotiate with, and to ultimately live beside in peace.”
This saddens me. How are these chldren to know any differently about the Jewish people when they are fed a diet of hate? And if they are fed that hate, why would they ever want to talk about peace? That requires amongst other things, mutual respect.
There will be no end to hate on the Middle East as long as hate for the Jews is taught from birth. For many of us, here in Canada, this is difficult to believe. We don’t teach hate here. We go out of our way to teach tolerance, inclusion and accommodation. We want our children to be open to others. We do not allow hate to be taught.
These beautiful children are being brainwashed.The videos coe from PMW, Palestinian Media Watch.
