Reports that UNRWA–linked educational materials used in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon omitted the word "Palestine" have triggered widespread outrage, protests and condemnation, including from Hamas, which described the move as an act of "erasure".
Video footage circulated by Arabic-language media showed Palestinian refugees burning geography materials in several camps across Lebanon in protest.
According to the Palestinian Refugee Portal website, which monitors refugee affairs in Lebanon, demonstrations have been ongoing for more than two weeks.
Local media reports say the disputed materials refer to Gaza and the West Bank while omitting the term "Palestine".
Activists, educators and linguists have long warned that fragmenting Palestinian geography through selective terminology undermines national identity, weakens collective memory and erodes the right of return.
Protests have spread across multiple Palestinian camps in Lebanon, including sit-ins, strikes, school closures, sharply worded statements and public denunciations of UNRWA's administration.
In Ain al-Hilweh camp near Sidon, parents, students and community members took part in demonstrations and book-burning, rejecting what they said was an attempt to "erase" Palestine from the curriculum.
Ain al-Hilweh is home to an estimated 80,000 to 120,000 Palestinian refugees who were forcibly displaced during the 1948 Nakba, when Zionist militias killed and forcibly expelled more than 700,000 Palestinians to enable the establishment of Israel.
The camp also hosts Palestinians displaced elsewhere in Lebanon during the civil war.
Protests also erupted in the Al-Jalil camp in the Bekaa Valley, where students staged a sit-in outside al-Qastal school, while demonstrators in Nahr al-Bared gathered in front of a UNRWA clinic.
The Higher Follow-Up Committee for Popular Committees in Palestinian camps in Lebanon issued a statement urging parents to return the disputed geography materials to school administrations as a collective act of rejection.
The committee warned that omitting the word "Palestine" threatens refugees' right of return and erases historical memory passed down through generations.
Hamas' Popular Action Department in Lebanon also condemned the issue, accusing UNRWA of participating in a systematic effort to erase Palestine and symbols associated with Palestinian dispossession.
The Palestinian embassy in Lebanon responded by saying UNRWA adheres to host country curricula and that the disputed content was not part of official textbooks, but rather supplementary material intended to support critical thinking and map-reading skills.
An UNRWA statement shared with The New Arab said the agency only uses the official textbooks approved by the host country and has not altered them.
"UNRWA has not made any changes to these official textbooks," the statement said, adding that the geography materials in question were enrichment content designed to encourage classroom discussion.
"Some parts of the enrichment geography material are intentionally left open-ended to encourage discussion and active exploration in the classroom. This approach allows students to think critically, investigate, and identify geographical information themselves," the statement added.
The New Arab contacted Lebanon's education ministry for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication.