UNRWA Commissioner-General, Qatari Education Minister Visit Palestinian Authority School In Doha Where Maps Show Palestine From River To Sea

On December 9, 2024 Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and Qatari Minister of Education Lolwah Al-Khater visited a school in Doha operated by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and built with Qatari funding.[1] Pictures of their tour posted in the Qatari press and on social media show that the classrooms are hung with maps showing Palestine stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, which disregard Israel’s existence.

It should be noted that maps of Palestine from the river to the sea are commonly used in various Qatari education frameworks, including in activities held in kindergartens, schools and universities.[2] They are also frequently used in PA educational frameworks, including in UNRWA schools.[3] Former Palestinian prime minister Muhammad Shtayeh said in January 2024 that "throughout its years of activity, UNRWA has been a source of hope for the Palestinian refugees – [hope] for aid and for returning to their homes [inside Israel]."[4]

It should also be noted that, since the beginning of the war in Gaza, there have been indications that UNRWA employees were members of Palestinian terrorist organizations and were even involved in Hamas’ October 7 attack, and that the agency has helped Hamas to seize humanitarian aid distributed in the Gaza Strip during the war. [5] Lazzarini himself met in May 2024, during a visit to Lebanon, with representatives of the Alliance of Palestinian Forces, which includes Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian organizations.[6]

It is noteworthy that, in an April 2024 report, the European Parliament condemned the “problematic and hateful contents encouraging violence, spreading antisemitism and inciting hatred in Palestinian school textbooks... as well as in supplementary educational materials developed by UNRWA.” The report warned that “education to hatred [has] direct and dramatic consequences on the security of Israelis as well as on the perspectives of a better future for young Palestinians,” and called on the Palestinian Authority to modify its school curricula.[7]

The following are pictures of Lazzarini and Al-Khater’s visit to the Palestinian school in Doha.

Al-Khater and Lazzarini visit a classroom in the Palestinian school in Doha. In the upper right-hand corner is a map of Palestine from the river to the sea in the colors of the Palestinian flag (Image: Al-Raya, Qatar, December 10, 2024)

A classroom in the Palestinian school in Doha. In the upper right-hand corner is a map of Palestine from the river to the sea and above it a Palestinian flag with a fist and the words "Palestine is free" (Image: Alraya.com, December 9, 2024)

Map of Palestine from the river to the sea in the colors of the Palestinian flag and a map of Qatar in the colors of the Qatari flag displayed in one of the classrooms, in video posted by Al-Khater on her X account (X.com/Lolwah_Alkhater, December 10, 2024)

Al-Khater at the school with Yahya Zakariya Al-Agha, staffer at the Palestinian Embassy in Qatar and inspector-general of the Palestinian schools in Doha. Above them are portraits of Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad and his father and of PA President Mahmoud Abbas (Image:  Instagram.com/qatar_edu, December 9, 2024)

Pictures from the school website of "recreational activities": the children’s faces are decorated with maps of Palestine from the river to the sea and keys representing the hope for the return of the Palestinian refugees to their homes insider Israel (Image: Palschool.qa)