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Palestinian Authority Indoctrinates Children: Israel Shouldn’t Exist, Balfour Declaration Was ‘Satan’s Promise’
The opening of a hall that the Palestinian Authority named for a terrorist who killed 125 people. Photo: Palestinian Media Watch.
Marking the anniversary of the 1917 Balfour Declaration — which declared that the British government “views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” — the Palestinian Authority (PA) stressed its belief that Israel has no right to exist in any borders.
The PA presents the establishment of Israel as “theft” and the Balfour Declaration, the letter from British Foreign Secretary Balfour to Baron Rothschild, as “the ominous promise,” through which “one who has no ownership” — i.e., Britain — “gave a promise to one who has no right” — i.e., the Jews.
This message is taught to Palestinian schoolchildren throughout the year, and the PA Ministry of Education makes sure to particularly emphasize it on the November 2 anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.
During a school event commemorating “the ominous promise,” young school children held signs and Palestinian flags. One sign read “Satan’s promise”:
Text on yellow sign: “Satan’s Promise
Nov. 2, 1917”
Text on pink sign: “Lod [i.e., an Israeli city]”[PA Ministry of Education, Facebook page, Nov. 3, 2024]
The anniversary of the Balfour Declaration also serves as the perfect opportunity to emphasize the PA’s antisemitic ideology.
The Palestinian antisemitic explanation for the Balfour’s Declaration is that Britain led the initiative to create a state for the Jews so they could “get rid of them,” because the Jews “tried to take control of the economy … in most of the European states”:
Palestinian Writers’ Union General Secretariat member Talal Abu Afifa: “These Jews, ever since they arrived in Britain in the 18th century… at the start of the 20th century, they began to constitute a problem for Britain. Especially because the Jews, wherever they settle, they try to take control of the country’s economy and wealth. When the Zionists in Britain began to do this, bitterness and complaints began from the civilians, economists, and statesmen, that the Jews are attempting to take control of Britain. They did this not just in Britain, but in most of the European states…”
Official PA TV host: “Indeed, wherever they arrived destruction followed.”
Talal Abu Afifa:: Therefore, Britain thought about how it would get rid of the Jews [and issued the Balfour Declaration].” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, In Memory, Nov. 2, 2024]
A retired PA Security Forces Maj. Gen. repeated another part of the PA’s narrative regarding the establishment of Israel in general: That it was, and still is, part of a “colonialist project”:
PA Security Forces Maj. Gen. (ret.) and national security expert Ahmed Issa: “Israel is the only state that was not established by its people on its land. It was established through theft, and it is a product of a large colonialist project led by the colonialist states under the leadership of Britain.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, Israel in the News, Oct. 28, 2024]
Along with the colonialist conspiracy theory, the PA sees the Balfour Declaration as marking the West’s submission to “the desires of global Zionism”:
The Balfour Declaration’ was tantamount to the West’s first step on the path to establishing an entity for the Jews on the land of Palestine, while acceding to the desires of global Zionism at the expense of a people that has been planted in this land for thousands of years … The Jews succeeded in exploiting this piece of paper of [then British Foreign Secretary] Arthur Balfour … to realize their dream, and on May 15, 1948, Israel was established. [emphasis added]
[WAFA, official PA news agency, Nov. 2, 2024]
As mentioned above, the PA actively reinforces the message to children in PA schools — that Israel has no right to exist in any borders — and uses the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration to reinforce it.
The PA Ministry of Education posted additional photos from school events, “rejecting and condemning the ominous promise”:
Posted text: “The adults will die and the young will not forget.
As a sign of rejecting the ominous Balfour Promise and an expression of the importance of preserving the national memory and affiliation among our students, activities were held condemning this ominous promise on the radio this morning [Nov. 3, 2024].
#The_Balfour_Promise”
Children kneel to form the PA map of “Palestine” that presents all of Israel together with the PA areas as “Palestine” with their bodies.
They are wearing red, black, white, and green shirts and form the Palestinian flag, indicating Palestinian sovereignty over the entire Israel, thereby presenting a world without Israel.
Text on sign: “The Balfour Promise was given by one with no ownership to one with no right”
Text on sign in center: “The Balfour Promise is null and will be nullified”
Text on paper: “The ominous Balfour Promise”
[PA Ministry of Education, Facebook page, Nov. 3, 2024]
In a video posted by the South Hebron Directorate of Education — a branch of the PA Ministry of Education — a schoolgirl appears with the PA map of “Palestine” that includes all of Israel in the colors of the Palestinian flag painted on her face.
The text posted by the Directorate of Education stresses that the activity was connected to “the ominous Balfour Promise”:
Posted text: “The participation of female student Sham Lafi Al-Haroub from the Beit Shean Elementary School for Girls in the South Hebron Directorate of Education (i.e., branch of the PA Ministry of Education) in commemorating the anniversary of the ominous Balfour Promise”
[South Hebron Directorate of Education, Facebook page, Nov. 3, 2024]
School events marking the anniversary of “the ominous Balfour Promise” were held in PA schools:
Posted text: “Pictures from the schools of the South Hebron Directorate of Education during school radio activities, which were dedicated today, Sunday, [Nov. 3, 2024,] to talking about the anniversary of the ominous Balfour Declaration (see note below -Ed.).
#The_Balfour_Promise (i.e., Declaration)”Text on girl’s sign: “We will not forget the ominous promise
The Balfour Promise
Which was given by one who has no ownership to one who has no right
Nov. 2, 1917”[South Hebron Directorate of Education, Facebook page, Nov. 3, 2024]
Text on sign: “The [Balfour] Promise is null and the [Palestinian refugees’] right of return is what is legal”
Text on sign: “The Balfour Promise to steal a homeland”
Text on sweatshirt: “All of Palestine is my homeland
(The following is in English -Ed.) Free Palestine”[South Hebron Directorate of Education, Facebook page, Nov. 3, 2024]
Fatah’s magazine for children, Waed, stated in their November 2024 issue that the Palestinians issued their declaration of independence in 1988 in Algeria as a response to the Balfour Declaration to “nullify everything that resulted from the Balfour Declaration.” In other words, elimination of Israel:
“The PLO — the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people — declared the establishment of the State of Palestine on Nov. 15, 1986 (sic., 1988) in Algeria. This declaration came 70 (sic., 71) years after the Balfour Declaration to emphasize the Palestinian people’s determination to liberate Palestine and nullify all that has happened as a result of the Balfour Declaration.” [emphasis added]
[Waed Magazine, Issue 45, November 2024]
Palestinian Media Watch has exposed many other problematic and dangerous messages taught to children by Fatah through its youth magazine Waed in the report Teaching Terror to Tots, and documented decades of PA’s rejection of Israel’s right to exist, which peaks on the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.
The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.
The post Palestinian Authority Indoctrinates Children: Israel Shouldn’t Exist, Balfour Declaration Was ‘Satan’s Promise’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.