UNRWA erases “Palestine” from school curriculum in Lebanese camps
BEIRUT, Jan. 14 (YPA) – Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon are seeing a sharp escalation in popular and student protests opposing the removal of the name “Palestine” from geography curricula, a move widely criticized as undermining national identity and distorting the historical and geographical narrative of the Palestinian people.
The protests broke out after the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) implemented changes to geography textbooks in its schools in Lebanon, replacing the name “Palestine” on maps and educational materials with “West Bank” and “Gaza Strip.”
The move triggered widespread anger among refugees, students, and educators throughout the camps.
In response, students and residents staged strikes and sit-ins, closed schools, and issued statements denouncing the decision, accusing UNRWA of seeking to erase Palestinian national identity and weaken the collective awareness of younger generations.
In Ein el-Hilweh camp, students and parents set fire to geography textbooks in protest against the curriculum changes.
Similar demonstrations took place in the Galilee camp in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, where sit-ins were held and textbooks were pulled from schools in rejection of the revisions.
In Nahr al-Bared camp, protests escalated further, with parents removing and burning books while chanting slogans condemning the decision and reaffirming their commitment to preserving the name “Palestine.”
Amid the escalating unrest, the Higher Follow-Up Committee of the Popular Committees in Palestinian camps and communities in Lebanon issued a statement firmly rejecting the policy.
The committee called on parents and parents’ committees to return the geography textbooks to school administrations, warning that replacing the name “Palestine” would pose a direct threat to students’ national identity, infringes on Palestinians’ right to preserve their collective memory, and undermines their right of return to the homes from which they were forcibly displaced.
Meanwhile, the committee for the defense of the rights of Palestine refugees called for the launch of a broad popular movement to reinstate the name “Palestine” in UNRWA school curricula in Lebanon, describing its removal as an educational and national scandal and part of a systematic targeting of the agency’s national role and content.