Saudi Arabian school textbook curriculum reforms

Saudi Arabia is implementing curriculum reforms in its school textbooks to moderate rhetoric regarding Israel and religious minorities. According to reports from the organization IMPACT-se, these changes align with the kingdom’s Vision 2030 modernization goals.

Initial revisions focused on softening language toward Israel and Zionism. Specific changes included replacing the term “Zionist enemy” with “Israeli occupation” and removing the sentence “Muslims will never renounce Jerusalem” from 11th-grade Arabic language textbooks. Some social studies materials also began depicting the territory of Israel without explicitly naming it.

Subsequent updates expanded these reforms to include the removal of antisemitic and extremist content. Revisions eliminated passages that compared religious minorities to maimed animals, suggested Jews were destined for hell, or discouraged befriending Jews and Christians. The curriculum also addressed themes of warfare; for example, a Grade 9 textbook now prohibits harming noncombatants, and a Grade 12 textbook no longer celebrates martyrdom in battle. While researchers noted improvements in the treatment of religious minorities, they observed that Israel remains unnamed on official maps and the Holocaust receives minimal coverage.