Antisemitic propaganda found in Jordanian textbooks despite Government’s promise to promote tolerance

Textbooks in Jordanian classrooms have been found to promote antisemitic tropes and propaganda.

The revelation comes despite the Jordanian Government’s earlier plans to repackage school textbooks in order to promote tolerance.

The ADL, which carried out a study and rigorous translation, found “particularly troubling examples in first and second semester textbooks for the seventh grade course on Islamic Education.”

In an autumn textbook, a story involving a Jewish tribe included the antisemitic explanation: “the Jews broke their pact with the Muslims, as is their custom always.” The chapter ends on the multiple-choice question: “Among the characteristics of the Jews for which they are renowned are: (A) the breaking of pacts, (B) treachery and treason, (C) hating Muslims, or (D) all of the above.”

A spring textbook taught the antisemitic trope that Jews are responsible for the death of Jesus, stating: “The Israelites who did not believe in Jesus, peace be upon him, wanted to be rid of him and eliminate his call, so they tried to kill him.”

A twelfth-grade history textbook describes Zionism as “a racist, settler political movement aimed at establishing a national homeland for the Jews in Palestine, founded on historical claims without basis in truth,” and claims all Jewish ties with Jerusalem are “founded on historical and religious claims without any actual grounds on which to base them.”

According to the ADL, these textbooks are still under official authorisation from the Government.

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