Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act

IIB 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3266 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 2, 2023 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations AN ACT To require the Secretary of State to submit annual reports reviewing the curriculum used by the Palestinian Author- ity, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Nov 03, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3266.RFS H3266 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 HR 3266 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Peace and Tolerance 2 in Palestinian Education Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress finds the following: 5 (1) In 2016 and 2017, the Palestinian Author- 6 ity published modified curricula for school-aged chil- 7 dren in grades 1 through 11. 8 (2) Textbooks used by the Palestinian Author- 9 ity (PA) in the West Bank and Gaza include graph- 10 ics portraying violence against Israeli soldiers, posi- 11 tive portrayals of individuals who have committed at- 12 tacks against citizens of Israel, and references to 13 Palestinian efforts to target the ‘‘Zionists’’. 14 (3) PA textbooks are used at schools sponsored 15 by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency 16 (UNRWA) because UNRWA schools use the text- 17 books of the host government. 18 (4) On April 26, 2018, the Government Ac- 19 countability Office (GAO) published a report that 20 found the following: 21 (A) Textbooks in PA schools feature inac- 22 curate and misleading maps of the region and 23 include militaristic, adversarial imagery and 24 content that incite hatred. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Nov 03, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3266.RFS H3266 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 HR 3266 RFS (B) The Department of State raised with 1 Palestinian officials the objectionable content in 2 textbooks, including a specific math problem 3 using the number of Palestinian casualties in 4 the First and Second Intifadas. 5 (C) The United Nations Relief and Works 6 Agency (UNRWA), in its review of the text- 7 books, identified content not aligned with 8 United Nations values, the majority of which 9 content related to neutrality or bias issues, in- 10 cluding issues related to maps and references to 11 Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. 12 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 13 It is the sense of Congress that the Palestinian Au- 14 thority has not sufficiently eliminated content and pas- 15 sages encouraging violence or intolerance toward other 16 countries or ethnic groups from the curriculum used in 17 their schools. 18 SEC. 4. REPORTS REQUIRED. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 20 date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter 21 for two years in accordance with subsection (c), the Sec- 22 retary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign 23 Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Com- 24 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report review- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Nov 03, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3266.RFS H3266 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 HR 3266 RFS ing curriculum, including textbooks, leaflets, pamphlets, 1 magazines, and other instructional materials, used in 2 schools in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority 3 or located in Gaza and controlled by any other entity. 4 Each such report shall include the following: 5 (1) A determination of whether there is content 6 or passages encouraging violence or intolerance to- 7 ward other countries or ethnic groups in such cur- 8 riculum, and a detailed explanation of the reasons 9 for reaching such determination. 10 (2) An assessment of the steps the Palestinian 11 Authority is taking to reform such curriculum at 12 schools to conform with standards of peace and tol- 13 erance in the Declaration of Principles on Tolerance 14 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and 15 Cultural Organization (adopted November 16, 16 1995). 17 (3) A determination whether United States for- 18 eign assistance is used, directly or indirectly, to fund 19 the dissemination of such curriculum by the Pales- 20 tinian Authority. 21 (4) A detailed report on how United States as- 22 sistance is being used to address curriculum that en- 23 courages violence or intolerance toward other nations 24 or ethnic groups. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Nov 03, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3266.RFS H3266 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 HR 3266 RFS (5) A detailed report about United States diplo- 1 matic efforts in the preceding five years to encour- 2 age peace and tolerance in Palestinian education. 3 (6) If any diplomatic efforts referred to in para- 4 graph (5) were stopped by the Secretary of State, 5 the reasons for such stoppages. 6 (b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of State 7 shall post on a publicly available website of the Depart- 8 ment of State each report required under subsection (a). 9 (c) SUBSEQUENT DEADLINES.—Each report required 10 by subsection (a), other than the first such report, shall 11 be submitted not later than 90 days after the date on 12 which a new school year begins for schools controlled by 13 the Palestinian Authority. 14 Passed the House of Representatives November 1, 2023. Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Nov 03, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3266.RFS H3266 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB