Who teaches Palestinian children to hate?

If one were to peruse the Palestinian Media Watch website, one would get the impression that there is no worse place on earth than Palestine for a child to grow up in. Not because the site reveals anything about the dispossession or impoverishment of the population or Israeli attacks on "terrorists" that kill children in the process. No, Palestine is a terrible place for children because there is no corner of youth life that is free from the cult of hatred and terrorism: it infects music videos, cartoons, even children's books. All this is scrupulously documented on the website.

Such is the influence of this media watchdog, that its director Itamar Marcus (an Israeli) presented a report in 2007 to the U.S. Senate on the dangerous ideology of Palestinian textbooks (non-acceptance of the existence of the Israeli State, Holocaust denial, criticism of America). In 2003, he talked at a Senate hearing about media clips and summer camps directed at Palestinian children that extolled the greatness of martyrdom. Here is an excerpt featuring two prominent American senators as well as a Palestinian representative (emphasis is mine):

Sen. Arlen Specter: “This hearing has been scheduled as promptly as we could, because of our views that these films ought to be known by the people of the United States. ...The characterization at the end [of the film] about [the PA as] child abusers is a vast understatement. They’re civilization abusers. The children are their means to destroy civilization.”

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton: “With the testimony and the documentary evidence concerning the glorification of suicide killers and the incitement of young people to aspire to that position, will the Palestinian Authority direct the PATV to remove any reference to martyrdom, Shahada and the glorification of suicide bombers from the television?”

Hassan Abdel Rahman: “I understand that you want to focus on this issue, but I personally, honestly, cannot separate this from the wider context.”

Let me first of all say that I am not denying the glorification of violence and extreme anti-Israeli sentiment to be found in Palestine. It certainly exists, it is frightening, and it is detrimental to the peace process. What troubles me with this site is that Palestinians are being presented to American (and other Anglophone) audiences as hateful enemies of "civilization" without 1.) any positive counter-images, and 2.) any context provided for the virulence of Palestinian anger against Israelis.

The way that historical context is passed over can also be seen in the mission statement of Teach Kids Peace (which is sponsored by so-called HonestReporting.com, a site that attacks anti-Israeli biases in the media):

"As terrorism stands at the center of world challenges for the 21st century, Teach Kids Peace maintains that reforming education is the most important and often most ignored key to eliminating terror. Terrorists are not born, they're taught. September 11 and other attacks were only possible through years of indoctrination in schools, media, and mosques. Hateful teachings produce hateful actions. Stopping incitement is the only way to stop terror."

It's an interesting proposition. I believe there is truth in the statement that "Terrorists are not born, they're taught," but I also believe that it ignores the importance of personal experience in developing hateful ideologies and a willingness to commit suicide missions for a cause. If these personal grievances did not exist, there would be nothing for these "inciters" to play off of. If large proportions of Palestinians had not undergone the experience of being kicked out of their homes, of being deprived of their ancestral homeland, of living in poverty with limited educational and professional opportunities, of being humiliated at hundreds of check points, of losing friends and relatives in attacks by the Israeli military, of having the little land allowed them invaded by illegal Israeli settlers...Yes, we could try to censor spiteful and violent rhetoric, but will that also suppress the deep-rooted frustration that fuels this rhetoric? In my opinion, stopping incitement is merely one step in stopping terror. It will have no long-term effect if you do nothing to correct the broader political and socioeconomic problems that are breeding this conflict in the first place. It is easier to blame Palestinian violence on hate-mongers, but the Israeli government has to accept some responsibility for this so-called "culture of hate and death".

Maybe this is cynical of me, but I can't help but wonder if this is entirely about Western grown-ups being concerned for the welfare of Palestinian children. Intentional or not, there is an underlying political message here. A dichotomy has been set up between Palestinians as the monopolists of hate/violence/barbarism and Israelis as representatives of peace/civilization. Not only could this dichotomy be construed as racist, but it sidelines a long history of generalized anti-Palestinian violence and rhetoric by Israelis. By portraying the Palestinian Authority as a supporter of extremism and terrorism in media/educational resources, and by ignoring the historical and current causes of Palestinian frustration, these sites can effectively delegitimize the Palestinian cause in the eyes of American and other audiences.