Last week the Commission announced that EU funding to the Palestinian Authority will be resumed and disbursed rapidly.

While we are firm supporters of assistance to vulnerable groups in general, and aid channelled to education in particular, we are surprised by this unconditional move by the Commission. The use of hateful and antisemitic school material is a widespread practice in Palestinian schools, and has also been acknowledged in a study by the Georg Eckert Institute. Schoolbooks have been found to encourage violence, reject peace and demonise both Israel and the Jewish people. Parliament has repeatedly expressed its deep concerns about the continued failure to take effective action against hate speech and incitement to violence.

Given that the Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has stated that ‘all the difficulties are gone’, can the Commission:

• 1.clarify how ‘all the difficulties’ have been addressed;
• 2.ensure that school material used in Palestinian schools no longer contains antisemitic material and fully adheres to the UNESCO standards of peace, tolerance, coexistence and non‑violence;
• 3.disclose what action it intends to take if/when problematic material is found again in Palestinian Authority school material?

Answer given by High Representative/Vice-President Borrell i Fontelles on behalf of the European Commission here.