'No peace in the shadow of radicalization'

"There is no peace possible in the shadow of radicalization," said Israel Allies Foundation (IAF) Europe Executive Director Leo van Doesburg.

He made the statement in advance of a conference on "how to stop the radicalization in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict" and the road to long-lasting peace, which will be held on Wednesday in the European Parliament in Brussels. Hundreds of parliamentarians from European countries are expected to attend, alongside Christian leaders and NGO representatives.

The conference is spearheaded by IAF Europe and MPs Bert-Jan Ruissen and Cristian Terheș. Knesset Christian Allies Caucus Co-Chair Sharren Haskel will be the keynote speaker.

"The violent extremism and radicalization we are seeing begins in the Palestinian education system," Haskel said. "October 7 terrorists were bred on a deep hatred for the Jewish People from as early as their kindergarten days.

"If the European Union continues to fund this kind of education and the salaries of those who disseminate it, there is, tragically, no solution to ending terror," she said. "A new level of scrutiny must be applied to the EU's aid to the Palestinian Authority."

Antisemitic content in Palestinian schoolbooks

In September, the Georg Eckert Institute, in a study commissioned by the European Commission, uncovered instances of antisemitic content in Palestinian schoolbooks – as was found in other studies in previous years. The European Parliament has on several occasions called on the commission to make EU funding to the Palestinian Authority conditional on textbooks being free from antisemitism and hate. However, funding has persisted, as has the antisemitic content and even incitement to violence.

Van Doesburg said the EU should compel the PA to discontinue its pay-for-slay program that offers subsidies to convicted terrorists or their families and formulate a "comprehensive strategy to counteract indoctrination and combat the dissemination of antisemitism fueled by the Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria, as well as its spread in Europe."

The conference will deal with these  specific issues, according to MEP Ruissen and more broadly with how to "halt radicalization by taking away the breeding grounds for radicalization both in Palestinian territories as well as in the EU."

He said: "Radicalization is a looming danger, both in the Middle East and Europe. It is often invisible until it suddenly comes to the surface and confronts many. The atrocities committed on October 7 are a terrifying example of what radicalization can lead to."

The IAF works to empower pro-Israel, faith-based legislators worldwide. It coordinates 52 Israel Allies Caucuses in addition to the EU caucus. In 2022, IAF Europe opened a new office in the Netherlands to extend the IAF network and to empower IAF chairpersons from European countries and the European Parliament.