US charity proposes AI monitoring to flag ‘hateful’ speech in Gaza classrooms

Classroom conversations at a US charity’s Gaza schools would become recordings for AI review under a plan disclosed in an October 9 Associated Press story. Gaza Children Village wants to flag speech it considers antisemitic, inciting or hateful. The proposal has drawn objections from a board member and concern from a partner aid organization.

From testing to teacher feedback

The proposal grew out of founder and CEO David Hasan’s effort to enforce a curriculum he says promotes peace and tolerance. Lessons at the charity’s Academies of Hope largely follow the Palestinian Authority curriculum. Hasan says material encouraging violence, anti-Israel beliefs or antisemitism was removed. He declined to give AP examples of those changes.

In a text message sent before August and seen by AP, Hasan said the monitoring technology had been tested. He described plans to deploy it in dozens of classrooms and said it was created with PollyLabs, a New York nonprofit. PollyLabs denies having any role in developing or deploying the technology.

At a September webinar with humanitarian groups, Hasan described monitoring as a way to train teachers to uphold the curriculum. Under his proposed process, AI would analyze recorded conversations and send him a warning when it detected potentially problematic language. He could then contact the teacher to understand the context and offer feedback. Hasan said recordings are stored for 72 hours.

Objections inside the charity

Board member Bishara Bahbah said he had not known about the monitoring proposal and that it had not been raised with the board. He distinguished monitoring classroom performance from using cameras to silence teachers and students. The latter, he told AP, would interfere with the free exchange of ideas in class.

An official at a partner aid organization said classroom cameras could cause it to reconsider working with Gaza Children Village. AP granted the official anonymity because they feared jeopardizing the group’s work in Gaza. Six current and former Academies of Hope teachers declined to comment, leaving their views on the proposal unknown.

Deployment and notice remain unresolved

The schools serve a population with few educational options. UNICEF estimates that hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza are out of school and most schools were damaged or destroyed during the war. Gaza Children Village says its schools in central and southern Gaza serve thousands of children and also provide meals and medical and psychological care.

When monitoring would begin remains unclear, as does the specific language it would flag. It is also unclear whether teachers, students and families have been told about the plan. AP found no indication that the charity intends to share classroom recordings with anyone else. The disclosure establishes a proposed monitoring system, not a confirmed classroom rollout.