Image via WikipediaIBRAHIM BARZAK (AP) — The United Nations has launched a new plan to teach the Holocaust in Gaza schools, drawing fierce condemnation from Gaza's militant Hamas rulers, school teachers — and even the body tasked with peace negotiations with Israel.
If implemented, it would be the first time most Palestinian children learn about Jewish suffering. But the outcry underscores how sensitive the issue is to Palestinians.
"Playing with the education of our children in the Gaza Strip is a red line," Hamas Education Minister, Mohammed Asqoul told a website of the group. He said Hamas will block attempts to teach the Holocaust "regardless of the price."
Even Hamas' bitter enemy, the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which rules the West Bank, reacted angrily to the U.N. plan. And the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the chief body tasked with negotiating peace with Israel, rejected the idea.
"Teaching the Holocaust to Palestinian students in U.N. schools is unacceptable," said Zakaria al-Agha, a member of the PLO's executive committee.
In a war that followed Israel's declaration of independence, more than 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes.
"The agency will open the gates of hell with this step," said one schoolteacher, Sami. "This will not work."
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