I thought the article was rather objective and somewhat balanced. It did state that only 10% of the area schools taught such stuff, and it also described teachings to better ends in other Palestinian schools: constructive encouragement for Jewish and Palestinian children to play together, etc. I did't get the sense the article was trying to depict Palestinians unfairly or with bias; rather, I think it portrayed what is actually occurring in these Palestinian areas.


I do happen to think that there is more fanatical extremism amongst Palestinians than amongst Israelis (although it certainly exists in Israel too, as the example you provided shows). I suspect this is because the Islamic world tends to view things as being more in black or white terms than does the West/democracies. Islam does not embrace pluralism or democracy and is perhaps the only major religion in the world which is so deeply entwined with its governments. Agreed, Israel is strong in its own religion too; but in Israel there are the moderating influences of democracy, and greater/more modern educations.


Of course there is hate-mongering propaganda in existence somewht on both sides (but I seriously doubt that anywhere in Israel are schoolchildren being taught the equivalent of what 10% of their Palestinian counterparts are being taught). I'm not saying this to blame the Palestinians because they certainly appear sincere. Rather it strikes me as sad to the point of tragic: a deeply complex issue with no easy solutions, being exacerbated for the future by such unfortunate misguided teachings. I call attention to the fact that extremism seems more part and parcel of the Islamic world simply because I view it as fact...and I believe the Islamic world desperately needs to come into the 21st century as quickly as possible--in their thinking, in their ways, in their governments, and in their schools. Teachings and living according to 14th century beliefs just isn't going to cut it in the 21st century world economy, or in world relations, or in scientific/technological development, or in anything else for that matter, no matter how much oil they possess. The Islamic world as a whole has a lot of catching up to do, and the Israeli/Palestinian issues are special as well, but if there is an Allah, I would pray to him to help modernize the thinking of the Islamic world ASAP, because the rest of the world isn't going to wait around for them. A great deal of the humiliation or powerlessness the Arab world may feel (not referring to the Palestians here per se) stems from the fact that their systems are antiquated and therefore produce inferior results, including an inferior economy which relies almost entirely upon production and export of one single natural resource. Unfortunately their religion as is commonly interpreted seems to foster adherence to antiquated and extremely rigid views. Fortunately with the increased globalization of eveything from news to communications, etc., etc., the Arab world cannot be as insular as they might prefer, and so modernization will be staring them in the face at every turn. Hopefully they will respond positively for the most part, and the more modern world will encourage Islamic efforts towards modernization. Much remains to be seen.