Egypt revises textbooks to remove antisemitic and anti-Israel content

Eighty per cent of Egyptian schoolchildren are now being taught from revised textbooks which have removed antisemitic content found in previous editions, with students showing improved attitudes towards Jews and Israel according to a new report by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (Impact-se) published last week.

“Review of Changes and Remaining Problematic Content Egyptian Textbooks: Selected Examples 2023-24,” published by the Israeli watchdog group and authored by Yonatan Negev PhD, revealed that year-on-year revisions to the Egyptian school curriculum, which has in the past portrayed Jews through antisemitic stereotypes, have yielded promising results.

Impact-se, which has been reviewing the Egyptian curriculum since the early 2000s, looked at a sample of 350 textbooks published from 2018 to 2024, focusing its report on humanities subjects including Arabic language, Islamic and Christian religious education, social studies, and history.

The report noted that ten antisemitic passages previously identified by Impact-se researchers, including a multiple-choice question in which Jews were described as “people of treachery and betrayal,” were replaced with passages “emphasising peace, coexistence, and cooperation between Islam and Judaism.”

The antisemitic depiction, which has since been removed, was included in a lesson comparing the Yom Kippur War to the Prophet Muhammad’s battles with Jewish tribes in Arabia and asked students to use the internet to search for Qur’anic verses about “the treachery of the Jews.”

Since the revisions were made, students are instead tasked with creating a booklet titled “A Guide for Dealing with Others” to foster respect for Jews and those of other faiths.

The report also found growing positivity in the curriculum’s presentation of Israel. Grade 9 social studies students are required to memorise provisions of the Israel-Egypt peace treaty and outline the “advantages of peace for Egypt and the Arab states”, with peace-making illustrated in the curriculum through the inclusion of a picture of former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin alongside former President Anwar al-Sadat, symbolising efforts toward diplomatic cooperation.

“We are delighted to see the ongoing reforms taking place in the Egyptian curriculum, which mark significant progress,” said Impact-se CEO Marcus Sheff. “There are 25 million children in school in Egypt and around 80 per cent are now studying this new material. The progress in revising materials for younger grades is extremely encouraging, especially in material regarding Jews and Israel. We believe a similar evolution will be implemented in the curriculum for older grades. These changes in the most populous Arab country with a long-standing landmark peace agreement with Israel, are of real importance to the region’s future.”

The report notes Egypt has been implementing textbook reforms in an effort to “reject violence and extremism, promote dialogue, emphasise recognition of differences and coexistence and combat hate”, with one grade examined per year since 2018.

However, the report also identified 14 lingering problematic cases; in addition to the lack of any reference to the Holocaust and hostile presentations of Israeli and Zionism in unrevised textbooks for the upper grades, a grade 11 history textbook teaches examples of the “Jewish hatred towards Muslims”, which include “recurring attempts to disunite the Muslims”, and a lesson explaining that “Muhammad’s expulsions and killings of Jews were instigated by a Jewish jeweler’s public harassment of a Muslim woman.”

Impact-se has long promoted educational reform as a crucial change-maker in Middle Eastern societies. A report in 2018 examined the Syrian national curriculum under Assad’s regime and uncovered deep-seated narratives of radical nationalism and militarism, ultimately finding that the curriculum failed UNESCO’s standards for peace and tolerance.

Arik Agassi, COO of the Institute who has been briefing diplomats and policymakers on changes in the Egyptian curriculum since 2016, said:

“IMPACT-se’s ongoing research demonstrates that many leaders in the region, such as President Sisi, have in recent years recognised the transformative power of education and curriculum reform as a stabilizing force. The continuing reforms in the Egyptian curriculum are a commendable step toward promoting a culture of coexistence and tolerance in the region.

“Similar to recent textbook reforms implemented in Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and the UAE, the new content introduced by the Egyptians is a powerful example of what education could look like in Gaza on the ‘day after’. Textbooks have the unique power to shape minds and serve as a barrier to radicalisation. We look forward to seeing the continuation of positive change in Egyptian textbooks, especially in higher grades even before the full curriculum reform is completed,” said Agassi.