An EU spokesperson told European Jewish Press that the implementation of the PA textbooks reform ‘’ is still ongoing. ”The PA has started to revise education materials accordingly by making extensive revisions to Grades 1-4 textbooks. PA has taken meaningful steps to align the school curricula for these grades more closely to international education standards, including UNESCO standards.,” he said.
According to the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), ‘’the claims of reform simply are not supported by the material. ‘’Core content promoting hate, violence, antisemitism and the earsure of Israel remains intact, and in mqany cases the changes are merely cosmetic,’’ it said.
The European Commission convened on Monday in Brussels the second meeting of the Palestine Donor Group.
The meeting, which was co-chaired by European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica and Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, saw the participation of 65 delegations. On this occasion, the meeting increased a financial pledge to the Palestinian Authority through the PEGASE mechanism, which finances among others the salaries of Palestinian education-sector civil servants responsible for drafting, teaching, disseminating, implementing, and delivering the Palestinian curriculum.
Since its creation, PEGASE channelled support to Palestinian people for a total of €3.8 billion.
The PA was due to present at the meeting the progress achieved on implementation of its Reform Agenda 2025-2027, under the agreed Reform Matrix with the EU on a whole range of areas, including in the education sector.
According to an EU spokesperson,’’ this was outlined in the PA’s Development Education Strategy (2025-2027) and aim to improve the quality of the education system overall, align the Palestinian education sector with UNESCO standards, modernise teaching and learning methods by introducing a shift towards an innovative, research-oriented approaches and interactive teaching methods.’’
‘’The EU-PA Reforms Matrix includes a progressive and full revision of textbooks by the end of 2026 – through all school years, from grades 1 to 12. Milestones are clear and sequential: grades 1-4 to be revised first, followed by grades 5-9 and grades 10-12 by the end of 2026,’’ the spokesperson added.
Last May, the European Parliament voted several resolutions calling for the removal of the hate content in the Palestinian textbooks and for future EU funding for the PA to be conditioned upon this.
In May, a U.S. State Department report to Congress concluded that incitement in Palestinian textbooks continues and that changes were insufficient.
The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), an international research and policy organization that monitors and analyzes education around the world, said he has just completed an in-depth review of the actual revised’ Palestinian textbooks the Europea, Commission has shared with the members of the European Parliament as evidence of reform.
Direct financial support to the Palestinian Authority is based on the implementation of its Reform Agenda.
According to IMPACT-se, ‘’the claims of reform simply are not supported by the material. ‘’Core content promoting hate, violence, antisemitism and the earsure of Israel remains intact, and in mqany cases the changes are merely cosmetic,’’ it said.
The review identified over 280 instances of content violating UNESCO standards for peace and tolerance across the entire curriculum corpus of the Grade 1-4 and 12 textbooks examined.
It noted : ‘’Across grade levels, the curriculum presents violence, martyrdom, and armed struggle as moral ideals. Grade 1 pupils read a poem opening with “I will sacrifice myself.” Grade 2 students are called to sing “I will give it [my land]my soul” and “water it with my blood.” Grade 4 students are instructed to memorize the line “immortalize the memory of the martyr.”
‘’In Grade 12, Dalal al-Mughrabi, responsible for the 1978 Coastal Road massacre in which 38 Israelis were killed, including 13 children, is praised in a grammar exercise as “a Palestinian martyr.” Another lesson suggests refugees return to Haifa “with a weapon in [their]hand.”
The EU spokesperson told European Jewish Press that the implementation of the reform ‘’ is still ongoing. ”The PA has started to revise education materials accordingly by making extensive revisions to Grades 1-4 textbooks. PA has taken meaningful steps to align the school curricula for these grades more closely to international education standards, including UNESCO standards.’’
He added that the available revised material is currently being assessed in full by experts contracted by the EU.
At the Palestine Donor Group meeting, the agreed reforms of the textbooks were discussed, also on the basis of an independent audit report and with a view to finalise the reforms by the end of 2026, the spokesperson said.
During a press point with Commissioner Šuica , the PA Prime Minister didn’t specifically address the issue of revised education material. He only said he was ‘’very proud’’ of the reforms conducted by the PA.
But asked by a journalist about the ‘’Pay for Slay’’ system of rewarding families of terrorists with payments and incentives, the so-called, which was denounced by the EU, Mohammed Mustafa rejected the term “pay for slay”, which he said was “not correct”. He described it as a “social care system” to provide for families in need with payments made in a “very transparent way” and based on “actual needs”.
Known as the ”Martyrs’ Fund”, the system guaranteed the Palestinians who are imprisoned by Israel – including those convicted for involvement in terror attacks — monthly “salaries” on a sliding scale depending on sentence length, with an additional stipend for their families, and grants available for things such as health insurance and education.
Israel claims that the system is still working, despite previous commitments to end the system in the framework of the reform agend, and that it might involve EU funds in payments through “bypass channels”.
Šuica called for Israel to release withheld Palestinian clearance revenues ”needed to pay salaries and maintain public services.” Clearance revenues consist of taxes and customs duties collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. Israel has cited the PA’s ”pay for slay” system for witholding these revenues.
Monday’s meeting, which saw the participation by video of U.S. President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, also agreed on coordinated international efforts to provide enhanced financial support for early recovery efforts in Gaza. ‘’This is in line with the Gaza Peace Plan and the United Nations Security Resolution 2803, and complementary to other international efforts in this area,’’ Šuica said, officially launching the “Team Gaza Initiative” bringing together €883.6 million of financial contribution to support early recovery actions in various sectors, to the benefit of civilians in Gaza.
The governments of Spain, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Japan, Switzerland, Sweden and Belgium, together with the European Commission, the European Investment Bank and the World Bank, are participating.
During her recent visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Commissioner Šuica reached agreement with the Israeli authorities on next steps for the implementation of two major projects in the areas of waste and water management in Gaza. The Brussels meeting included a first exchange and alignment on these projects.
Israel was not invited to the Palestine Donor Group meeting. ”The EU continues to have a frank and open dialogue with Israel. This was reconfirmed by Commissioner Šuica’s recent visit to Israel and Palestine in June 2026,” the EU spokesperson told EJP.
”This dialogue is essential to move forward on key topics of the PDG, including the economic situation of the PA and the transferof Palestinian tax revenues, PA reforms, and the need to ensure early recovery efforts in Gaza,” he added.
This article was updated.