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Saudi Arabia: Significant reduction in school book anti-Semitism

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A monitoring group reported Tuesday that, while there remains work to be done, Saudi Arabia has significantly reduced anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist content in its school books for the coming year, the Times of Israel reports. The Jerusalem-based Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) published its report amid speculation that Saudi Arabia, a long-time enemy of Israel, may follow Bahrain, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates in normalizing relations with the Jewish State.

In a statement about its findings, IMPACT-se said that no new tolerant content had been added to the Saudi school books but “a substantial amount of offensive material had been removed,” the Times of Israel reports. IMPACT-se noted that the textbooks no longer contain a famous prophecy about a religious war in which Muslims murder all the Jews. Moreover, Jews are no longer defined as “Zionist forces” which control the world through money, women, and drugs. An entire chapter about the “Zionist danger” that contested Israel’s right to exist has also been removed, the Times of Israel said.

“Examining the trendline of our 2002, 2008, and even 2019 reports of the Saudi curriculum, it is clear that these new 2020 textbooks represent an institutional effort to modernize the Kingdom’s curriculum,” IMPACT-se CEO, Marcus Sheff said in a statement. “The Saudi authorities have begun a process of rooting out anti-Jewish hate,” Sheff added.

“This being said, anti-Israel content does still remain in the curriculum,” IMPACT-se cautions. Israel is not shown on maps and Zionism is described as a racist political movement. And there remains “a decontextualized and ambiguous” story about Jewish “wrongdoers,” who are described as monkeys, the Times of Israel reported.

“There is clearly still work to be done. However, the changes made thus far show promise for a moderate and tolerant curriculum,” the IMPACT-se statement said.