Jews, Zionism and Israel in Syrian school textbooks

The Center (established in 1998) examined 68 Syrian textbooks on various subjects, all of which were part of the curriculum in 2000. The survey (containing extensive excerpts from the textbooks) shows that the Arab-Israeli conflict is a major theme in the curriculum. The essence of the conflict is presented as the question of Israel's right to exist. Israel is portrayed as an alien and artificial entity, not as a legitimate state; it serves imperialism, against the Arabs, and is a cause of the lack of Arab unity and of Arab backwardness. The textbooks are meant to educate the children in a spirit of hatred toward the enemy, who is defined alternatively as Zionist or Jew. The Jews are denied the characteristics of a nation and are said to have no connection with the land of Palestine. The Jewish religion is described as racist, and the Jews themselves are blamed for antisemitism. The textbooks justify the Holocaust, and they claim that its magnitude is exaggerated by the Jews. One passage was found that calls for the elimination of the Jews. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)