Altered Version of the Palestinian National Charter

G. The Palestinian National Charter (1968)

This deceptive copy of the Palestinian National Charter is Item G in the Verity Educate Report. This version of the Charter, which was provided by a student, has been altered to remove Article 2, which states: "Palestine, with the boundaries it had during the British Mandate, is an indivisible territorial unit". The Charter has had its numbers removed to hide the alteration.

Assuming that this version of the Charter was actually presented to students - and there is no reason to think that it is not - it is yet another indication that students are using not only material that is biased and inaccurate, but material which is actually deceptive. Unfortunately, the Charter is not the only document to receive this treatment (see sections F and U).

Over eighteen months after being notified in September, 2014 that students in at least one class were given a falsified version of the Palestinian National Charter, the NPS has taken no action. Instead, administrators unabashedly state that they will not take any action to ensure that students receive the correct version of the Charter or any of the other deceptively edited material. Teachers and administrators also clearly state that they will not take any action to ensure that students receive a balanced perspective of the controversial subject of Middle East history.

PENS has told teachers about the altered version and asked that it be replaced with the original. Has this been done? We don't know, and the only way to find out is to spend the thousands of dollars the NPS demands for access to class material. This is not a feasible option for the small number of parents remaining involved in PENS after the illegal retaliation taken against the child of one of our members. Even if we were to raise the funds, there is reason to believe that the material provided to us will not be complete.

The altered version of the Charter has Article 2 removed. The numbers on the remaining Articles are deleted so that the deletion of Article 2 cannot be detected.

Article 2 states: "Palestine, with the boundaries it had during the British Mandate, is an indivisible territorial unit." This means that any representative of the Arab Palestinian people which accepts this Charter cannot recognize Israel or agree to the division or any of the former Mandate territory. It means that Oslo and other agreements with Israel have no force and that the Palestinian Authority does not have the capacity to agree to or ratify them.

It's easy to understand why the P.A. would want to hide this Article.

The question is, why does the NPS want to hide it?

In addition to the altered Palestinian National Charter, students are also given inaccurately edited versions of the Hamas Covenant and important speeches given by Israeli and Palestinian Arab leaders. Information about these deceptively edited documents can be found here and here, and in the 'Primary Sources' section of the Verity Educate Report.

Here are the first articles of the altered version of the PNC given to students, and the real version:

Analysis - Altered version of the PNC distributed to Newton students

Note that the altered version given to some students at Newton South High School cites the URL of the Yale archives, even though the altered version is substantially different than the real version at the Yale website and the website of the Palestinian American Council (it does not appear on the official Palestinian Authority/Palestinian Liberation Organization website).

You can see that the Articles are not numbered in the altered version; to do so would draw attention to the fact that one of the Articles was left out.

The meaning of Article 2, set forth below in the "real" version of the PNC ("Palestine, with the boundaries it had during the British Mandate, is an indivisible territorial unit") is that all of Israel, as well as Jordan, the West Bank, and Gaza, are necessary parts of any Palestinian state. The Article also indicates that the Palestinian Authority (the governing body of those areas designated as 'Palestinian' in the Oslo Accords and subsequent treaties) does not and will not accept any Israeli or Jewish presence in any of the aforementioned areas (Israel/Jordan/West Bank/Gaza) except under Palestinian rule. In other words, the Palestinian government is stating that they will not accept a 'two-state' solution, except possibly as a short-term agreement leading to the imposition of Palestinian rule over what is now Israel.

Although the PNC has stated a number of times that it would or even had modified the Charter, the alleged modifications have not appeared in any official version.

The Palestinian government is unwilling to accept an Israeli or Jewish presence in what is now Israel, Jordan, the West Bank, and Gaza (the area comprising the P.A.'s anticipated Palestinian state). Mahmoud Abbas, the P.A.'s president, explained his position with respect to a post-peace settlement as "not a single Israeli" will set foot on Palestinian land. Pursuant to official Palestinian policy, all of Israel is Palestinian land.

Altered Version of the Palestinian National Charter received by some students at Newton South High School - First 2 paragraphs

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/plocov.asp

The Palestinian National Charter: Resolutions of the Palestine National Council July 1-17, 1968

Palestine is the homeland of the Arab Palestinian people; it is an indivisible part of the Arab homeland, and the Palestinian people are an integral part of the Arab nation,

The Palestinian Arab people possess the legal right to their homeland and have the right to determine their destiny after achieving the liberation of their country in accordance with their wishes and entirely of their own accord and will...

“Real” Palestinian National Charter as it Appears on Yale Primary Sources Website - First 3 paragraphs

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/plocov.asp

The Palestinian National Charter: Resolutions of the Palestine National Council July 1-17, 1968

Article 1:

Palestine is the homeland of the Arab Palestinian people; it is an indivisible part of the Arab homeland, and the Palestinian people are an integral part of the Arab nation.

Article 2:

Palestine, with the boundaries it had during the British Mandate, is an indivisible territorial unit.

Article 3:

The falsified version and the 'real' version of the Charter can also be found here and here.