10/07/2021 Saudi Arabia (International Christian Concern) – School textbooks and curriculum for 2021 in Saudi Arabia have shown drastic improvements to hate speech directed at Christians and non-Muslims, according to a new report by IMPACT-se. An entire unit on jihad was removed from textbook curriculum that originally advocated for violent jihad to spread Islam and protect Muslim properties.
The majority of the offensive and troublesome material cited in IMPACT-se’s last report has now been removed. In total, 28 lessons that promoted religious intolerance were removed or heavily modified.
A long list of removals from the 2021 curriculum includes the forbidding of friendships with Christians and Jews as infidels and enemies of God, lessons condemning Christianity as excessive, and lessons justifying and advocating for violence and murder on behalf of the Prophet. Hate speech against Jews was also addressed in the updates.
Saudi textbooks still contain problematic areas towards gender and non-People of the Book. While improvements must be done to align with international standards, the changes made thus far significantly decrease the amount of discrimination and persecution against Christians taught formally in schools.
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