A new report on Jordanian textbooks, published by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), reveals that they disseminate antisemitic messages and justify violence against Israel. The report reviewed 294 textbooks across various subjects in Jordanian schools and found that they fail to meet United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) standards for promoting peace and tolerance.
One example is a lesson in a 10th-grade Islamic history textbook, titled The Betrayal of the Jews, in which students learn that Jews betrayed the Prophet Muhammad despite his “positive” attitude toward them. The lesson presents numerous cases from Islamic tradition in which Jewish tribes or individuals sought to harm Muhammad or Muslims, including an assassination attempt against the prophet and collusion with idol-worshipers. Accordingly, the punishments decreed by Muhammad – such as the expulsion of Jewish tribes and the killing of their fighters – are portrayed as justified.
Beyond the historical distortion, the messages in these textbooks are not only antisemitic but also justify violence against the State of Israel. For example, one textbook depicted the October 7 massacre as a “response” to Israeli oppression of Palestinians.
Reports on antisemitism
The report’s conclusions are not surprising. Several years ago, a study conducted by the Anti-Defamation League revealed a similar picture. That study also concluded that textbooks spread hatred toward Jews and contained antisemitic messages.
Admittedly, about a decade ago, against the backdrop of the rise of ISIS and terror threats, the Jordanian Education Ministry updated textbooks and strengthened content promoting tolerance. However, this was a selective tolerance, directed mainly toward Christians and less toward Jews and Judaism, and was intended to satisfy the West rather than Israel.
Antisemitism in Jordan is a widespread phenomenon, manifesting across public life. Antisemitic caricatures in the press and on social media, as well as inciting statements by parliamentarians, journalists, commentators, and even retired military personnel, have become routine.
Retired Jordanian Gen. Fayez Muhammad al-Duwairi recently appeared on Al Jazeera, and in describing IDF activities in the Gaza Strip, claimed that Jews are “accustomed to lying” since it is “part of their culture.” To illustrate this, he referred to the work of Prof. Benzion Netanyahu, father of the prime minister, who, he said, distorted history, calling him the “greatest forger of Jewish history.”
In general, the atmosphere in Jordan blurs the line between legitimate criticism of Israeli policy and antisemitism. Queen Rania herself contributed to this discourse when she stated in a CNN interview in November 2023 that “Israel uses antisemitism to deflect criticism.” From Israel’s perspective, the situation has not fundamentally changed for many years: The more criticism of Israel arises, the more antisemitism grows in Jordan as well as in the Western world.
One point of contention between Israel and Jordan is a longstanding government decision to prevent the entry of Jews bearing visible religious symbols or ritual objects. The official reason given for this policy is the desire to ensure the safety of observant Jews. About six years ago, Jews who came to pray – without coordinating with Jordanian authorities – at the tomb of Aaron near Petra were expelled on the grounds that they had prayed there against regulations.
Tolerance in Jordan
Nevertheless, it is important to emphasize that Jordan is still considered relatively tolerant toward refugees and religious minorities residing there. This tolerance is rooted in the Hashemite tradition, which sought to present itself as a moderate and tolerant stream of Islam, opposing even antisemitism.
King Abdullah I, the founder of the Hashemite Kingdom, maintained relations and cooperation with Jews; King Hussein never called for Israel’s destruction and did not engage in antisemitic propaganda, unlike other regimes, such as Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Egypt or the Assads’ Syria.
Moreover, his brother, Prince Hassan, established in Amman in 1994 the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, intended to bring together representatives of different religions – including Jews from Israel and abroad – reduce religious tensions, and promote peace.
The gap between the Hashemite tradition and the open expressions of antisemitism in Jordan’s public sphere reflects the ongoing tension between Israel and Jordan, fueled by Israeli policy toward the Palestinians. This tension has peaked due to fears of a mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza (and possibly also from the West Bank) – a scenario considered a “redline” in Jordan, intensifying uncertainty about the future of the peace agreement.
The growing popular solidarity in Jordan with the Palestinians, in general, and with Hamas, in particular, together with the victory of the “Islamic Action Front” (the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood) in the 2024 parliamentary elections, granted legitimacy to a wave of virulent criticism from Jordanian officials and public figures.
This criticism included not only condemnations of Israeli policy but also openly antisemitic statements. In this context, the changes in textbooks must also be understood. These books are the product of a process supervised and approved by state authorities.
Textbooks, especially in history and civics, reflect both the narrative the regime wishes to promote and the “spirit of the times.” For instance, an Arab Barometer survey conducted in January 2025 showed that only about 3% of Jordanians support normalization with Israel, the lowest support rate among all Arab states. The textbooks thus reflect the profound change in attitudes toward Israel, not only in the general public but also within state institutions.
The changes in Jordanian textbooks may not be surprising in light of recent events, but they are surprising compared to positive trends found in textbooks in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE in recent years regarding depictions of Jews and Israel.
UNESCO’s charter, which also deals with textbook revisions, states that since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed. Accordingly, revising textbooks in Jordan – or elsewhere in the Middle East – aimed at eliminating biased and stereotypical depictions of Jews and Israel is essential for building peace between peoples, even if such peace currently seems distant.
Prof. Elie Podeh teaches in the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University and is a board member of Mitvim.
Prof. Ronen Yitzhak is head of the Middle Eastern Studies Division at the Western Galilee Academic College and a researcher on Jordan at the Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University.