Saudi Arabia Removes Palestine from School Textbook Maps
In a significant and controversial move, Saudi Arabia's new school curriculum for the 2023-2024 academic year has reportedly omitted Palestine's name from most of its textbook maps. This change was highlighted in a recent report by IMPACT-se, a pro-Israeli think tank focused on monitoring peace and cultural tolerance in educational materials. IMPACT-se's review encompassed 371 textbooks, comparing the 2023-2024 Saudi curriculum with that of previous years. The findings are striking: the social and national studies textbooks now feature maps of Saudi Arabia and its neighboring countries without naming Palestine. This marks a notable departure from the 2022 textbooks, where Palestine was clearly identified. The report also noted the removal of 21 examples previously flagged as problematic, particularly in the now-abolished "Courses System" textbooks. A high school social studies textbook, which included an entire chapter on the Palestinian cause and content deem
