ALBAWABA - School textbooks in Saudi Arabia have removed words such as ‘Zionist enemy’ in describing Israel, along with removing the name ‘Palestine’ from the map, according to a report by Israeli research group Impact-se.
An Israeli based organization called Impact-se, whose job it is to campaign for pro-Israel changes in Arab countries school textbooks, has noticed a positive shift of attitude in Saudi textbooks toward Israel, it says.
Impact-se published its review of the Saudi curriculum in late July, praising the Kingdom for removing the line ‘the Muslims will never give up on Jerusalem’ from its textbooks, saying: “The statement implied that Muslim control over or presence in Jerusalem was under threat,”
Adding that the reference “could be interpreted as framing Jerusalem as a site of ongoing struggle between Muslims and other groups, particularly Israel.” The report also mentioned that “all instances of anti-Semitism” have been removed from the textbooks.
Other changes include the removal of passages from the Quran and the Hadith, the report says, citing the removal of a hadith that tells the story of the Prophet Muhammad visiting a sick Jewish child who later converts to Islam as one example,
“The removal of this example in the 2025 edition marks an improvement in the acceptance of religious minorities, as students are no longer taught that unbelief in Islam leads to damnation,” the report says.
However, the report was still critical of certain aspects of the curriculum, particularly the use of the words ‘Israeli occupation’ to refer to Israel, the report says, whereas before it was ‘the Zionist enemy’.
“While the change of terminology reduces hostility toward Israel, the use of the term 'the Israeli Occupation' [...] continues to reflect a position of non-recognition of Israel,” the report says.
Another key change was in the maps of the Middle East, where earlier in Saudi textbooks the entirety of Palestine would be labeled ‘Palestine’, now the name is entirely removed; though ‘Israel’ was not added instead, the report says:
“[W]hile Israel is still not identified on these maps, the revision removes the explicit designation of the entire territory as Palestine.”
After publishing the report, Impact-se wrote on X: “We appreciate Saudi Arabia’s continued efforts to improve school curricula, including work to address concerning themes in textbooks.
