QATAR SCHOOL BOOK OUTRAGE
A wide-ranging review of textbooks used by school students in Qatar, in ages from six to 18, shows deeply unpleasant attitudes to Jews and Israel, just when the Qataris are thought to be among the Arab nations ready to establish diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.
The review, of 238 textbooks used in the Qatari school system between 2016 and 2020, has been carried out by the Jerusalem-based education group, IMPACT-se, whose focus is on analysing textbooks and curriculums throughout the Arab world.
Marcus Sheff, chief executive of IMPACT-se, says the findings are really troubling. He said: “Jew-hate remains a central element of Qatari education. Textbooks teach that Jews control and manipulate world powers and markets, are treacherous and killers of prophets. Christians are infidels who will go to hell”.
He added: “Qataris are proud of their education system, which is heavily influenced by Western educators. But the hate renders it unfit for the modern world. The Qataris have pumped over $1 billion into elite US universities since 2011. They might want to put some of that money into de-radicalising their own curriculum”.
Among the antisemitic tropes taught to Qatari school students are that Jews “control the global economy”, are “to blame for the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany”, and that “Jews do not have the characteristics of a nation, share any connection to each other, nor do they have a shared history, a cultural heritage, or shared customs and traditions.
In Islamic education textbooks published in 2019, the students are taught that Jews are “treacherous and betrayers” for behaviour allegedly relating to the Prophet Mohammed. Students in the upper age ranges learn that Israel is considered “an evil aggressor that must be confronted and stopped at all costs”. Arabic language textbooks for the oldest students teach about the “Judaisation of Jerusalem” and the “aggress i o n ” o f J e ws against the holy Muslim sites of the city. There are no references to Jewish holy sites, and in fact, say IMPACT-se, the books make a point of saying that Jews have no historic connection with the land.
Students are taught that Palestine was occupied by “Zionist gangs” who violated its holy sites, and that “global forces” allowed Zionists and Jews to occupy the land, lending to the antisemitic trope of a global Jewish conspiracy. A map of the Islamic world shows Palestine with no Israel— referred to only as disconnecting Arab countries in Africa from Arab countries in Asia.
Zionists, according to an Islamic studies textbook, want to rule the world, and the movement is “a racist movement that aims to achieve Jewish global dominance”.
Hamas, firing thousands of rockets into civilian populations forcing “Zionist citizens to enter the shelters” and stopping “airplane traffic to and from Israel”, is glorified and described as “brave” and “remarkable”.
Perhaps the mildest attitudes
Hamas is glorified and described as brave and remarkable ’
towards Jews and Israel are displayed in English studies textbooks — possibly because they are more immediately accessible to the outside world.
The review was conducted using international standards based on UNESCO and UN declarations and other recommendations and documents on education for peace and tolerance. IMPACT-se concluded: “We have determined that the Qatari curriculum does not meet international standards, despite some improvements having been made in this last academic year.”