Clinton slams Palestinian textbooks

U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton condemned new Palestinian Authority textbooks. The New York Democrat joined with Palestinian Media Watch to criticize the books, which encourage high school students to see Israel as an enemy and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as religious in nature. According to Palestinian Media Watch, the books describe the United States and the West as human rights violators who have forced “a clash of civilizations” onto the Arab world, barely mentioning U.S.-driven peace initiatives or the fact that the United States has given the Palestinian Authority some $1.5 billion in aid over the years. The founding of Israel is described as a “catastrophe that is unprecedented in history.” Clinton said she was dismayed by the textbooks, which were published by members of the relatively moderate Fatah party. “Ever since we first raised this issue some years ago, there still has not been an adequate repudiation of this incitement by the Palestinian Authority,” she said. “It’s even more disturbing to know that this problem appears to have gotten worse. These textbooks don’t give Palestinian children an education, they give them an indoctrination.”