The Palestinian Authority Aims to Prevent Young Palestinians from Getting the Education They Want

While Palestinian schools in east Jerusalem uniformly receive funding from the Israeli government, only 10 percent of them offer the Israeli curriculum; instead, most employ the one produced by the PA. Both the Israeli government and many Palestinians would like to see this change, writes Ruthie Blum:

While the PA continually poisons the minds of young Arabs with jihad against Jews, Christians, and other infidels, Israel has been trying to meet a growing and openly expressed need among Palestinian students in its capital city. . . .

A recent news feature on one of Israel’s television networks included a visit to a Palestinian high school in east Jerusalem in which the pupils are given a choice of whether to study and be tested on Israel’s core curriculum or that of the PA. A show of hands in the classroom indicated that most had decided to go with the former, so as to be prepared for the Israeli matriculation exams. One teenager said he wanted to attend medical school; another said he wanted to become an engineer; others gave similar answers. Those who opted to stick with the Palestinian curriculum . . . shrugged when asked about their ambitions in life. . . .

It is for this reason that the Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Ministry is going to provide a special 20-million-shekel ($5.2 million) bonus to the schools already offering the Israeli curriculum and to incentivize others to follow suit. The money will go toward improving the physical conditions of the schools and building extra facilities, such as computer rooms and gyms. . . . [T]he PA considers [this initiative] an outrage. . . .

To prevent Israel from helping Palestinian students get ahead, the PA is calling on Arab and Islamic NGOs to raise money for the purpose of “thwarting Israeli attempts to Judaize Palestinian schools.”

Read more at Algemeiner

More about: East Jerusalem, Israel & Zionism, Israeli education, Palestinian Authority, Palestinians

To Stop Attacks from Yemen, Cut It Off from Iran

On March 6, Yemen’s Houthi rebels managed to kill three sailors and force the remainder to abandon ship when they attacked another vessel. Not long thereafter, top Houthi and Hamas figures met to coordinate their efforts. Then, on Friday, the Houthis fired a missile at a commercial vessel, which was damaged but able to continue its journey. American forces also shot down one of the group’s drones yesterday.

Seth Cropsey argues that Washington needs a new approach, focused directly on the Houthis’ sponsors in Tehran:

Houthi disruption to maritime traffic in the region has continued nearly unabated for months, despite multiple rounds of U.S. and allied strikes to degrade Houthi capacity. The result should be a shift in policy from the Biden administration to one of blockade that cuts off the Houthis from their Iranian masters, and thereby erodes the threat. This would impose costs on both Iran and its proxy, neither of which will stand down once the war in Gaza ends.

Yet this would demand a coherent alliance-management policy vis-a-vis the Middle East, the first step of which would be a shift from focus on the Gaza War to the totality of the threat from Iran.

Read more at RealClear Defense

More about: Gaza War 2023, Iran, U.S. Foreign policy, Yemen