Textbook row ‘was never about providing good education’ for Palestinian children

German professor Riem Spielhaus led the EU’s study of the Palestinian textbooks which Israel claims teach hatred of Jews. The study reached a different conclusion. In an in-depth interview, the professor says she has come to understand that the allegations of antisemitism are not about improving education for Palestinian children but have rather been used as leverage to defund the education system and delegitimize the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. “It is a very dangerous path,” Spielhaus says.