Yemeni Scholars Slam Saudi Removal of Anti-Zionist Contents from Textbooks
In a statement, the association said the move is a step toward Israeli domination.
A new report has revealed that Saudi education authorities have ordered the removal of significant amounts of anti-Zionist material from textbooks for the coming school year, in a clear sign that the ultra-conservative kingdom is working on full normalization with Israel.
IMPACT-se, a research institute based in occupied Jerusalem al-Quds that analyzes school textbooks and reviews educational material, said in a report that the books no longer include the narrative that Muslims and Jews would fight each other in a war and the Muslims would kill all the Jews. That story served as a foundation for much of the anti-Israel attitudes in Saudi Arabia, and was in the curriculum for decades.
A classic trope that was included as late as 2019 and stated that Jews, identified as “Zionist forces,” use villainous methods, including money, women, and drugs to achieve their ends and control the world has also been dropped.
Moreover, a chapter called “the Zionist danger,” which delegitimized Israel’s right to existence and dealt with the regime’s plot to expand its territory from the Nile to the Euphrates has been removed as well.
Saudi officials are gradually changing public attitude toward Israel, laying the groundwork for a process that could culminate in full bilateral relations.
On November 23, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet and Likud party confirmed reports that the Israeli prime minister had flown to Saudi Arabia for a clandestine meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Earlier in the day, Israel’s Kan public radio and Army Radio said Mossad chief Yossi Cohen also attended the meeting.
The meeting marked the first known encounter between senior Israeli and Saudi officials, amid attempts by Pompeo to coax the Riyadh regime to follow its neighbors, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, in establishing formal diplomatic relations with Israel.
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