U.K. ripped: Funds school books that help kids blow themselves up

A British commentator is blasting his government for underfunding education in the U.K. while spending millions of pounds to provide textbooks to Palestinians to teach their children to become martyrs.

Douglas Murray, an author, commentator and public affairs analyst, wrote for Gatestone Institute that "the true scandal for Britain" is "that while the UK government fails to pump the resources needed into helping young British children to grow up literate and numerate … it pumps millions of pounds into the Palestinian Authority to make sure that young Palestinian children think that a career of violence is a career worth pursuing."

"While failing to help British children grow up, the UK government helps Palestinian children to blow themselves up."

He pointed out a review by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education found that found some 20 million pounds was directed toward a selection of Middle East books that "omits teaching peace, promotes the use of violence – specifically jihad – and encourages martyrdom."

The report said the books exert "pressure over young Palestinians to acts of violence."

His recommendation is simple.

"Any government genuinely interested in promoting peace would withdraw funding from any entity – wherever in the world it was – which taught violence as such a core part of its curriculum."

Regarding its basic duty of teaching its own citizens, he said a 2016 study from the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development concluded "for literacy in the developed world, England ranks dead last."

"The same study also stated that for numeracy in the developed world, England ranks second-to-last. Even among graduates from English universities, the OECD study found, one in ten had literacy or numeracy skills that were classified as 'low.'"

It's the result of "decades of misdirection in British education, including the misdirection of resources," he explained.

But there are millions of pounds going to Palestinian textbooks, which, for example, taught Newton's second law of motion this way: "During the first Palestinian uprising, Palestinian youths used slingshots to confront the soldiers of the Zionist Occupation and defend themselves from their treacherous bullets. What is the relationship between the elongation of the slingshot's rubber and the tensile strength affecting it?"

Then, in a math lesson for 9-year-olds, they are instructed to calculate the number of "martyrs."

"Elsewhere, the study found that social studies books included images of children in their school rooms with an empty desk fitted with a sign reading 'martyr.' Repeatedly the textbooks refer to the 'Occupation,' to 'Zionist Occupation,' 'Zionists' and much more, all of which perpetuates the notion that Israelis are 'invaders' and 'oppressors,'" he wrote.

"In other words, these textbooks are clearly and consistently intended to indoctrinate a new generation of Palestinian children to hatred of their neighbors. Any government genuinely interested in promoting peace would withdraw funding from any entity – wherever in the world it was – which taught violence as such a core part of its curriculum."

The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education investigation warned radicalization was pervasive in the books "to a greater extent than before."

The books advocate "equal rights" by encouraging girls to sacrifice their lives and tell students "the cup of bitterness" is better than a long life.

Member of Parliament Alistair Burt also told the Sunday Times that the U.K. also funds teachers who use the materials.