Palestinian President Of Al-Quds University Younes Amr, Who Has Researched Alleged Incitement In Israeli Children's Books: A Jewish Boy Drowning At Sea Would Not Want To Be Saved By An Arab, Better Let Him Drown

Palestinian academic Younes Amr, the President of Al-Quds Open University, said in an October 5, 2020 interview on Jordan TV that Israeli authors, including those who write Hebrew books for children, have been influenced by "religious stereotypes" and call for Palestinians to be killed or deported. Giving an example, he argued that a drowning Jewish youth might rather drown than be saved by an Arab because of what he has been taught about Arabs and their hostility. Younes Amr published a book in 1989 about "the Image of the Arab in Hebrew Children Books."

Younes Amr:"Hebrew writers were immensely influenced by the religious stereotypes. They were baffled by the Palestinian people, and some of them called the Palestinians 'occupiers' who should be killed, expelled, or deported. This was the background for the cruelty that was exercised at the Arab villages where massacres occurred, or from which people were displaced. Some of them said that the Palestinians, and especially the Bedouins, were Jews who converted to Christianity, and that there is nothing to prevent them from converting back to Judaism. This explains why Ben Gurion chose to live and be buried in the Negev Desert. This is the reality that Hebrew authors face when they come to write stories for Hebrew children.

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"Palestinian writers should deal with this, but they must not engage in counter-incitement. We are people who believe in Allah, and we recognize the Jewish religion, and we must not incite against them like they incite against us. We must not let them drag us into the uncivilized and inhuman behavior which they call for in their [books] for the younger generations. But we must pay attention to such issues. I presented such an example in my book. If an Arab goes to the beach and sees a Jewish child or adolescent boy about to drown, he should know that this boy is groomed for hostility towards the Arabs before rushing to save him. The [Jewish] boy may prefer to be swallowed by the sea than to be saved by an Arab because of his prejudice about the Arabs' hostility."