Re-posted with permission from The Israel Institute of New Zealand.

For almost two decades, the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education, or IMPACT-se, has produced reports exposing serious issues with the curriculum produced by the Palestinian Authority. In 2019, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) took the unprecedented step to express concern

“about the existence of hate speech in [PA]… school curricula and textbooks, which fuels hatred and may incite violence, particularly hate speech against Israelis, which at times also fuels antisemitism.”UN CERD

These textbooks are used in UNRWA schools, that New Zealand funds to the tune of approximately $1m each year.

In addition to the hateful curriculum, UN Watch has, over a number of years, also exposed UNRWA staff inciting violence on social media and, in 2019 UN Watch executive director, Hillel Neuer, said he was “not aware of a single UNRWA teacher who has been fired as a result [of inciting violence].”

Despite the numerous, evidenced red-flags, MFAT officials failed to record meetings where issues were raised or brief ministers about the concerns.

When the Israel Institute of New Zealand first discussed the issues with MFAT staff in 2019, they denied any problems and continued to praise UNRWA donate Kiwi taxpayer money to the organisation. It was only after media enquiries that MFAT staff briefed the minister as to possible issues, but they justified the funding on the flawed basis that the curriculum was the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority, not UNRWA.

The Human Rights Commission is now involved. Chief Commissioner, Prof Paul Hunt, told The Israel Institute of New Zealand that he and his colleagues met with MFAT staff and told them that

NZ’s international human rights obligations do not stop where its territorial sea ends.

When NZ Ministers enter the meeting rooms of the United Nations, they carry with them NZ’s international human rights obligations. These binding obligations are not left in the cloakroom outside the meeting room.

The same principle applies to public funds from the NZ taxpayer. Such funds must be disbursed in a way that is consistent with NZ’s international human rights commitments. Of course, among those obligations are those enshrined in [UN] CERD. If NZ taxpayer funds are being used to publish antisemitic textbooks, this would place NZ in breach of its international human rights obligations.Prof Paul Hunt, Chief Human Rights Commissioner

MFAT officials have chosen to ignore the decades of documented evidence, insisting that they are waiting for a report that has been commissioned by the European Union to be completed by the Georg Eckert Institute.

The Georg Eckert Institute report was due at the end of 2020 and an interim report was found to have significant flaws, including reviewing the wrong textbooks and basic Arabic mis-translations. A final version has not yet been produced.

The Israel Institute of New Zealand asked MFAT why they have apparently ignored the evidence produced by IMPACT-se, UN Watch, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, and even the concern expressed by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Their response was “As previously indicated, New Zealand will await the release of the formal findings of the investigation to assess implications for UNRWA’s activities”.

The Human Rights Commission has not commented on MFATs apparent refusal to acknowledge the evidence to date and has said they are making enquiries about when the Georg Eckert Institute report will be available.

It is instructive to consider the timeline of important events relating to New Zealand’s funding of hate, which we have documented below:

(see timeline here)

The Human Rights Commission, like MFAT, has resolved to wait for the Georg Eckert Institute before making further comment or taking any action. There was no explanation given by either the HRC or MFAT about why they ignore the evidence from the IMPACT-se, UN Watch, Simon Wiesenthal Centre, and United Nations reports.

There is also new evidence that the UNRWA curriculum in Gaza is even worse than the PA curriculum. New Zealand is expected to pay another $1m to UNRWA in March unless there is intervention. If you are concerned about your tax funding hate, please consider raising your concerns with Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta, MFAT officials, The Human Rights Commission, or your favourite media outlet.

Read the complete article and view the timeline here on The Israel Institute of New Zealand