Assads curriculum: Hating Israel, ignoring Holocaust
Syrian students are exposed to anti-Semitic content encouraging Jihad and acts of terrorism.
The study was written by Dr. Eldad Pardo and Maya Yaakobi from the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE).
Since 1998, the organization has explored and analyzed official textbooks from all over the globe to determine their compliance with international educational standards of peace and tolerance .
In the report, the writers analyze Syrian official textbooks for the 11th and 12th grades used in the 2017-2018 academic year, in areas controlled by President Bashar Assad’s regime.
One of the most serious accusations against Israel, which is repeated several times in various textbooks, is that it “forces Zionist identity on the Golan’s population,” enforcing the Hebrew language on the Syrian Arab residents, and Judaization.
Israel is consistently referred to as a “Zionist entity,” its territory is called “Palestine” or “occupied Palestine” and the entire geographical area is presented as “the homeland of the Arabs.”
In addition, “the Zionists” are accused of destroying the natural environment of the Golan and exploiting the region’s economic and tourism potential, as well as preventing the economic prosperity of its residents. Zionists are further accused of plotting to replace Syrian education with the “Zionist and terrorist entity’s plans”, in order to keep Syrian Arab citizens “in the dark.”
Similarly, in almost every study conducted by researchers looking into incitement in Palestinian textbooks, materials have been found which breach the Palestinian Authority’s pledges to halt anti-Israel incitement in schools.
Authors of the report also studied Russian culture and language. In 2014 the studying of the Russian language became mandatory in Syrian schools, the report says, while Persian is not taught.
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