The new Saudi school curriculum for the 2023-2024 academic year appears to have omitted the name of Palestine from maps in social and national studies textbooks.
According to a report by New Arab, recent images from these textbooks show a map of Saudi Arabia and its neighboring countries, but the area traditionally labeled as Palestine is left unnamed. This contrasts with maps from the 2022 textbooks, which included Palestine.
The revised Saudi curriculum reflects significant changes from the previous academic year, particularly in terminology related to Israel.
Words deemed “hostile” towards Israel have been removed, including terms such as “enemy” and “the Zionist enemy.” Additionally, references warning of Israeli ambitions in the region and efforts to displace Palestinians have been excised.
The textbooks now refer to East Jerusalem as occupied and designate it as the Palestinian capital, rather than the entire city of Jerusalem. Moreover, Zionism is no longer described as a “racist European movement,” and other critical language towards Israel has been moderated.
In total, IMPACT-se identified 21 instances of anti-Israel sentiment that have been removed from the new textbooks.
These curriculum changes are speculated to be linked to US-mediated negotiations aimed at normalizing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Earlier this month, the US announced it was close to finalizing a defense pact with Saudi Arabia, which could pave the way for Israeli normalization. However, Riyadh has maintained that it will not establish ties with Israel until Palestinian statehood is recognized, a stance that Israel’s far-right government currently opposes.