Jeremy Greenstock, Britain's former ambassador to the United Nations, said this week that former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair asked the Palestinian Authority to remove the word "Palestine" from school textbooks and replace it with "Samaria," the biblical name for the occupied West Bank. A spokesperson for Blair has denied the claim, calling it "a complete fabrication."
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Greenstock, who served as UN ambassador between 1998 and 2003, made the claim during an interview on the David Hearst Podcast, published by Middle East Eye. He said Blair was asked by the Board of Peace, the US-created body overseeing Gaza's postwar reconstruction, to travel to Ramallah and press the Palestinian Authority to drop any reference to "Palestine" from its curriculum, as a condition for the board to view the Authority as capable of reaching an agreement with Israel to end the war that began after October 7, 2023. Greenstock said he received this account from a ministerial-level source.
Greenstock said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas rejected the request. He said the fact that the Board of Peace would make such a demand raised questions about "what principles the Board of Peace is working on, and what understanding they have of justice, of the sense of fairness of the history of all of this."
A spokesperson for Blair told the Jerusalem Post that the claim is untrue, stating: "We categorically deny the claims made in a recent media report, attributed to a former British diplomat, alleging that Mr Blair asked the Palestinian Authority to remove the name 'Palestine' from Palestinian school curricula or replace it with another term."
Greenstock Questions Blair's Neutrality
reenstock said Blair faces "difficulties" in his role overseeing Gaza's postwar administration for the Board of Peace, and questioned whether Blair can act as a neutral intermediary given his record in Iraq and on Palestinian issues since leaving office. He said Blair "will be seen as biased" as a result.
Blair traveled to Israel in mid-August alongside Jared Kushner, an adviser to US President Donald Trump, and Nikolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. The three held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has rejected the proposed Gaza roadmap, before traveling to Cairo to meet with a Palestinian technocratic group slated to help administer Gaza, as well as members of Hamas.
Greenstock, who left government service in 2004, described the Board of Peace as an "abstract and arbitrary committee" that he does not believe has the institutional strength to handle major decisions about the future of the Palestinian territories.
Part of a Broader Pattern, Report Says
The claim comes amid a wider campaign, which Al-Ghad's report describes as led by Israel and its allies, to remove references to "Palestine" from educational and cultural institutions. On Tuesday, Israeli authorities began imposing Israel's curriculum on more than 45,000 Palestinian students in government schools in East Jerusalem.
Earlier this year, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in Lebanon, an organization Israel has banned, faced criticism after replacing the word "Palestine" with "West Bank" and "Gaza Strip" on maps in sixth-grade geography materials, a change that prompted strikes and protests. A separate independent review led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna found no evidence supporting Israeli allegations that UNRWA staff belonged to terrorist organizations, though it issued 50 recommendations to strengthen the agency's neutrality.
A group of British members of parliament has also called for an investigation into the British Museum's removal of the terms "Palestine," "Palestinian" and "Israeli occupation" from its exhibits. A Middle East Eye investigation found the museum's decision followed pressure from pro-Israel activists between October and December 2024.
Greenstock Calls for UK to Reassess Israel Ties
Greenstock, who has previously joined other former ambassadors in calling for a ban on goods from Israeli settlements considered illegal under international law, urged UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government to reconsider Britain's arms exports to Israel. He said failing to uphold basic principles domestically would undermine the UK's credibility in applying those principles elsewhere.
Greenstock also said that Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, both subject to arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court, should be arrested if they entered the UK, citing Britain's obligations under the Rome Statute.
Source: Al-Ghad, citing Middle East Eye. (Agencies)
