Teaching an enemy · Saudi Arabia · Late 1990s–2008 reviews
Earlier Saudi textbooks made hostile collective claims about Jews part of formal learning.
Explore Saudi ArabiaPublished by WTJPublication updated
Late 1990s–2008 reviews
Teaching an enemy · The schoolbook gives prejudice an official voice
Earlier Saudi textbooks made hostile collective claims about Jews part of formal learning.
A child learns a collective category
Reviews of earlier Saudi schoolbooks documented portrayals of Jews as enemies and morally suspect. The problem was the transfer from selected religious stories to claims about Jews as a people. A student could be taught to judge a group before meeting any of its members.
Religious language acquires state authority
A textbook is not merely one preacher’s opinion. When approved for schools, its lessons carry institutional authority and are repeatedly taught. Hostile language could therefore travel through a structured national system. That mechanism matters more than assuming every teacher or student accepted every passage.
Belief and demonization differ
A religion can disagree with another faith’s teachings without portraying its followers as a dangerous collective enemy. The reviewed passages crossed that distinction where they assigned hostile characteristics to Jews as a group. Examining the actual wording explains what made the teaching antisemitic.