Despite the upheaval within the Labour Party over its leader Jeremy Corbyn’s blatant antisemitism, a handful of Labour MP’s are opposing the use of British tax dollars to fund the training of Palestinian children to wage jihad against Israel.
UK aid ostensibly helps 24,000 children in the West Bank attend school. Labour MP’s Joan Ryan and Dame Louise Ellman, who serve as Chair and Vice-Chair of Labour Friends of Israel, respectively, have called upon the UK to cut its aid to the Palestinians by 14 percent. Corbyn was once accused of referring to Dame Louise Ellman “the Honourable Member for Tel Aviv.”
A “Ten-Minute Rule Bill” has now been introduced in Parliament, “arguing that British taxpayers are funding the teaching of a curriculum that preaches martyrdom and jihad.”
The UK government should pass this bill, and governments who claim to be committed to fighting antisemitism should be following suit.
“Government urged to stop paying Palestinian teachers over incitement in schools,” Jewish News, January 8, 2019:
A Labour MP has called for the Government to stop paying Palestinian teachers over concerns that children in the West Bank are being taught incitement against Israel.
Dame Louise Ellman MP, who is the vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel, presented a Ten-Minute Rule Bill in parliament on Tuesday arguing that British taxpayers are funding the teaching of a curriculum that preaches martyrdom and jihad.
The Bill is supported by a handful of MPs, including Conservative Friends of Israel chair Stephen Crabb, and LFI director Jennifer Gerber said it was being pushed because the Government had “failed to act” on concerns.
UK aid helps 24,000 children in the West Bank attend school but LFI chair Joan Ryan MP has called for the UK to cut its aid to Palestinians by 14 percent, and led a parliamentary debate on the topic in June last year.
In it, she alleged that “children of ten are asked to calculate the number of martyrs in Palestinian uprisings in a maths textbook” and “children of eleven are taught that martyrdom and jihad are the most important meanings of life”.
A Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and the Palestinian Authority (PA) requires the PA to “take action against incitement to violence, including addressing allegations of incitement in textbooks” introduced in 2016.
Middle East Minister Alistair Burt said concerns are raised “directly” with Palestinian education chiefs and that an independent review of Palestinian textbooks, conducted jointly with other international donors, is due to be completed by September.
However Gerber accused the Government of unnecessary delays….