U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., was able to help get the “Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act” to the U.S. House floor.
The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the bill from U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., without opposition last week. The bill to “prevent United States tax dollars from funding anti-Semitic education materials in schools in the Gaza Strip” was co-authored by Mast who was an original co-sponsor. The proposal “requires the U.S. Department of State to conduct an assessment of educational materials used in schools in Gaza and Palestinian Authority-controlled areas and determine if the materials encourage violence towards other groups, including Israelis” and the “State Department must also assess if any U.S. foreign aid is used to produce or disseminate such materials.”
U.S. Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., and Greg Steube, R-Fla., are also co-sponsors.
“There’s no world in which the U.S. should be funding education that teaches another generation of Palestinians to hate their neighbors and our allies, the Israelis,” Mast said. “Since its creation, Israel has had to live with a constant threat of violence from its neighbors, and this bill is a small step we can take today towards a peaceful and secure Israel tomorrow.”
Over in the U.S. Senate, U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., is championing the proposal with U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., as a co-sponsor.
