From 'Jewish treachery' to coexistence: How Egypt's textbooks have changed

On the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Yom Kippur War, The Institute For Monitoring Peace And Culture Tolerance In School Education (IMPACT-se) reported finding an improving depiction of Israeli-Egyptian relations in school books.

IMPACT-se expressed that textbooks, for students up to grade 6, were portraying the war as more of a pre-cursor to the peace agreement that ended conflict between the two nations.

Egyptian textbooks have been analyzed yearly by the organization since 2018 and they plan to continue their investigations until 2030.

Antisemitic attitudes in Egyptian textbooks

The original attitude taken by the textbooks expressed an ideology the portrayed “Jewish treachery,” IMPACT-se said. Only a year ago, a fifth grade Islamic Education textbook was removed as it compared the Yom Kippur War to the Muslim Prophet Mohammed’s wars against Jews of Arabia.

The removed book also used antisemitic stereotypes, assigning evil deeds, disloyalty and fraud to Jewish people collectively. Specifically, the books described “the Jews are people of treachery and betrayal,” emphasizing that “they are always like this” and asked students to use the internet to search for Qur’anic verses about “the treachery of the Jews."

The textbook also didn’t refer to ‘Israel’, rather substituted the name for “enemies” and “usurping Jews.”

Under the new version of the textbook, lessons celebrate an underlining tolerance and coexistence between Jews and Muslims.

IMPACT-se Marcus Sheff commented that “The fiftieth anniversary of the Yom Kippur War gives opportunity to reflect on Israel-Egyptian relations today. While the Israel-Egypt peace agreement  has often been viewed as a ‘cold’ peace, this report shows how Egypt’s textbook reform is increasingly promoting the values of peace, tolerance and respect for Israel.  This offers hope for a warmer, closer peace between the two peoples."