A young Palestinian Arab resident of eastern Jerusalem appeared before the Knesset Education Committee on Sunday to expose the incitement to anti-Israel terrorism being taught in schools in the Israeli capital.

The young man, who was identified only as “E” and had his face covered for his own safety, was brought to the Knesset by Israeli Arab Christian activist Yoseph Haddad.

Haddad began by calling out virulently anti-Israel Member of Knesset Ahmad Tibi, who conspicuously left the committee session before E had a chance to speak.

“It’s a shame MK Ahmad Tibi left before having the opportunity to hear to hear a genuinely courageous voice from eastern Jerusalem, but I knew he’d do that, I knew he wouldn’t engage,” said Haddad.

E told the committee that he was “educated at a school that taught the Palestinian curriculum, from first grade until graduation. And from the very start I was taught that there is no State of Israel. I learned that we are Palestinians and that we are under occupation. We were not taught any Hebrew, because we were taught that the occupation was temporary. So we were told there is no need to learn Hebrew, no need to interact with them [the Jews], only that we need to hate them.”

He went on to explain why we see so many Palestinian Arab children involved in violence and acts of terrorism: “We were taught from first grade to hate the Jews, and then at the age of 10 that to kill a Jew is not wrong, that we will receive 72 virgins and go to Paradise. That is what we were taught in the Palestinian school.”

He noted that “some of the teachers were terrorists who had spent time in jail. And now many of the people I grew up with in school are sitting in jail” for the same reasons.

העדות של ע’, מתנדב בעמותה שלנו ממזרח ירושלים, צריכה לזעזע את כולם!
אתמול הוא הגיע איתי לכנסת כדי לספר בגוף ראשון בועדת החינוך על ההסתה לטרור שהתחנך אליה שבבית הספר שבו למד…
מדינת ישראל חייבת לשים סוף למוסדות לימוד תחת הרשות הפלסטינית בבירה שלנו ירושלים! pic.twitter.com/OC10qIlNlw

— יוסף חדאד – Yoseph Haddad (@YosephHaddad) July 10, 2023

Nelson Mandela once famously said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

He was talking in the context of educating for peace and coexistence, which is something the Palestinian leadership committed itself to in the co-called “Oslo Accords.”

But Mandela’s remark also suggests that education can be used to foment conflict and to destroy, which as E revealed is the path the Palestinians chose.

The question now is whether or not the world is listening.

Western peace brokers like the Biden Administration regularly voice how “deeply troubled” they are by Jewish settlement in the biblical heartland, painting it as the primary obstacle to peace. But what about hateful indoctrination of children that perpetuates conflict? Is that not at least as troubling as a few more Jewish houses?