US charity plans to use AI surveillance in Gaza classrooms to monitor ‘hate speech’
A U.S. charity operating in Gaza plans to record classroom conversations and use artificial intelligence to flag speech deemed “hateful” or “inciting,” citing concerns that teachers could deviate from a curriculum designed to promote peace and tolerance.
The plans, outlined by the founder of the Gaza Children Village during a webinar last month, have drawn ethical, safety, and privacy concerns from Palestinian organizations, human rights advocates, and at least one of the charity’s partner groups.
While there is no evidence suggesting the charity intends to share classroom recordings with third parties, anxieties over potential surveillance misuse remain high in Gaza after three years of war.
The Israeli military has used AI to analyze intercepted communications and identify targets for strikes.
Palestinian advocacy groups have also criticized the charity’s broader educational approach, arguing it operates without accountability to local or UN bodies that traditionally oversee Gaza’s schools.
The question of who directs education in Gaza remains one of many unresolved issues surrounding its postwar governance.
It remains unclear when the classroom monitoring will start, what specific words will trigger alerts, or whether teachers, students, and their families have been informed of the strategy.
The charity’s founder and CEO is Dr. David Hasan, a neurosurgeon born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents who currently teaches at Duke University Medical School in Durham, North Carolina.
Hasan developed the idea for the charity while volunteering in Gaza hospitals during the war, seeking to break cycles of violence between Palestinians and Israelis.
Hasan noted that he was raised to view Israelis and Jews unfavorably, only encountering alternative viewpoints after attending college in the U.S., perspectives he wants children in Gaza to access early in life.
Funded primarily by individual donors, including American Jews, the charity says it partners with aid organizations and medical institutions across North America, Israel, and Europe.
Operating under the name Academies of Hope, its schools offer meals, medical care, and psychological support alongside lessons, having opened its first facility last summer.
Lessons are largely derived from the Palestinian Authority curriculum, though Hasan stated that content glorifying violence or promoting anti-Israel or antisemitic views was excised.
Hasan declined to comment for this story or share examples of modifications to the curriculum.
