UNRWA Teacher Says She Was Threatened With Mutilation for Challenging Anti-Jewish Lessons

She sought work at UNRWA because she believed a United Nations-run school would protect children from Hamas’s culture of violence.

By Shula Rosen

A veteran Palestinian UNRWA teacher in Gaza has accused colleagues of teaching students to hate Jews and glorify Hamas, saying she was threatened with having her tongue cut out after challenging another teacher over the lessons, the New York Post reported.

The 40-year-old woman, who worked in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency school system for 15 years, spoke through an interpreter and remained anonymous because she feared for her family’s safety.

She told the Post she had sought work at UNRWA because she believed a United Nations-run school would protect children from Hamas’s culture of violence. Her experience, she said, proved different.

“I was shocked to find the reality was far different from what I had imagined,” she said.

According to her account, some teachers encouraged students to hate Jews while presenting Hamas’s fight against Israel positively. She cited a sixth-grade history teacher who blamed Jews entirely for Palestinian suffering.

After she challenged a colleague over the material, she said a senior school administrator approached her with scissors several days later and threatened her.

“We will make you wish you were dead, and if you don’t stop arguing, we will cut out your tongue.”

The teacher said she decided to speak publicly because she believes Gaza’s education system is producing another generation of extremists and could contribute to future atrocities similar to the October 7 attacks.

“As a teacher, it’s my duty to convey an accurate picture and call upon the world to save our children from these ideas,” she said.

“My most important message is that we need to care about who is teaching our kids.”

U.S. and Israeli government watchdogs have said more than 100 UNRWA employees participated in or were linked to the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, including teachers, school principals and security personnel.

UNRWA subsequently fired dozens of Gaza-based employees as part of an operational security assessment. The agency maintained that the assessment did not substantiate individual external criminal allegations.