Following the recent murderous attacks by Hamas, Washington lawmakers and policy leaders of both political stripes have spoken of the need for America to support Israel.
The reality is the U.S. is part of the problem.
In June, the government gave $153 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), a group whose stated role is to provide assistance and protection for registered Palestine refugees. According to its website, that assistance comes in a number of ways, primarily through education.
The U.S. also gives directly to the Palestinian Authority (PA), but it is the money flowing through the UNRWA that is going to the schools, where generations of young Palestinians are taught to hate.
Itamar Marcus, a researcher and founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch, told "Washington Watch" Monday, "It's in the textbooks."
They quote a Hadith, which is an Islamic tradition attributed to Muhammad that is part of Islamic law:
The hour of resurrection won't come until Muslims fight the Jews and kill them. Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and the trees will say, "Muslim servant of Allah. There's a Jew behind me. Come and kill him."
After years of conflict with Israel, hate is also preached in mosques.
"We have heard it from sermons. What they're saying is the hour of resurrection, the end of time, the redemption of humanity is contingent on the extermination of Jews," Marcus reported. "The Palestinians, in this case tragically, are very religious people, with 95-98% of them saying that religion is important to them. So, you've got all these people believing that Allah wants them to kill."
That indoctrination also extends to state-run media.
Young and old are taught that Jews aren't human
Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority, has a personal advisor on Islam, Mahmoud al-Habbash, who was on television a few months ago extending the narrative to adults.
"He went on TV, and he said that the Jews have been the enemies of Islam since the beginning of time, since the time of Adam – which, of course, is ridiculous, but that's what he said," Marcus relayed. "Then he said, 'Today the Jews are fighting with Satan,' and … when you see a Jew, it actually might be Satan in the form of a human."
In another talk al-Habbash gave a while back, he called Jews "humanoids, creatures that Allah created in the form of humans, but aren't really humans."
"So, you've got the top religious figure in the Palestinian Authority. He gives almost all the sermons on Friday, and his message is that Jews are actually subhuman – either Satan, or animals, but they're humanoids," Marcus said.
"We've heard children's programs on Palestinian Authority official TV – owned and controlled by the PA – where children have said they've learned in school to hate the Jews and kill them," Marcus told show host Tony Perkins. "We've heard many, many times on children's programs where they talk about the Jews being the descendants of apes and pigs."
The most heinous lesson of all
Palestinian school textbooks also do not show Israel on a map, so children are taught that the state of Israel does not exist.
But Marcus submits that the most heinous lesson learned in Palestinian schools – with the assistance of U.S. taxpayers – is that death is glorious.
"In the last year, we have probably had 14 examples of children around or under 15 [years old] who left farewell letters telling their parents that they didn't want them to cry over them and that they should be happy over their death," the researcher lamented. "They went out, grabbing a gun, grabbing a Molotov cocktail, and went out when Israeli soldiers were around, hoping to be killed."
Those parents, who were likewise taught earlier in life to hate, celebrate that loss.
"There was a grandmother of a terrorist who said that before [the grandson] went out on his attack, he showered, put on his best clothes, put on cologne, and went out hoping to die. He literally dressed up as if he was going to a wedding," Marcus detailed.
So while the West may think it is a joke, the Palestinians are taking their mission seriously.
"They're literally preparing themselves and going out to die," said Marcus.
On it goes
When the message of hate reaches adults, it is often added to layers of hate that are already in place.
The UNRWA announced Tuesday that six people died when an Israeli air strike hit a UNRWA school in the al-Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza's middle area.
Dozens were injured, including UNRWA staff, and severe structural damage was caused to the school, where more than 4,000 people had taken refuge, a news release said.
The UNRWA reportedly provides coordinates of its facilities to "relevant parties" on a daily basis.
It was unclear if any Hamas leadership or other terrorists were holed up inside the school, but Hamas has long gathered around Palestinian civilians to use them has human shields.
According to reports, amid the present violence, Hamas leaders have killed or detained many Palestinians from leaving northern Gaza, as encouraged by the Israelis, to seek safety elsewhere.
