‘Jews are damned, have gone astray’ – Syrian school curriculum

The changes, which were posted on the Education Ministry’s Facebook page, sparked near-instant backlash.

By World Israel News Staff

Changes made by Syria’s new government the country’s school curriculum have raised serious concerns, after lesson plans were edited to include messages condemning those who do not follow Islam.

Islamist rebels recently ousted longtime leader Bashar al-Assad, who had long promoted secularism in the country and within its institutions, in a flash offensive.

The current caretaker leader of Syria, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, who was previously affiliated with Al-Qaeda, has repeatedly claimed that Syria will grant full rights to all of its citizens, regardless of their faith.

But changes to lesson plans posted online suggested that Syria’s education system is currently undergoing an Islamic revamp.

Lessons about evolution and the origins of life have been entirely removed from the curriculum, CNN reported.

A document specifying edits to lesson plans showed language changed in a way that clearly states non-Muslims are misguided.

The phrase “path of goodness” was changed to “Islamic path,” and “those who have are damned and have gone astray” to “Jews and Christians.”

The changes, which were posted on the Education Ministry’s Facebook page, sparked near-instant backlash.

“The current government is a caretaker government that does not have the right to make these amendments to the curricula,” one Syrian wrote in response on the ministry’s Facebook post.

“The curricula must be amended in accordance with the new constitution.”

Another Syrian commented, “How long does it take to write a constitution? [The Islamic rebel groups] are telling us three to four years. Time it takes to change the national curriculum? Three hours. What a farce.”

In a statement, Education Minister Nazir Mohammad al-Qadri downplayed the changes.

He claimed that he had only ordered “the removal of content glorifying the deposed Assad regime and replaced images of the regime’s flag with those of the Syrian revolution’s flag in all textbooks.”