Syria’s post-Assad educational curriculum heavily features Islamic content that glorifies jihad and martyrdom, according to a new study released on Monday.
The findings, which come nearly two years after the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, raise serious concerns about Syria’s direction under its current leader, who founded Syria’s Al Qaeda affiliate but has since moved to ally himself with the United States and other Western governments.
The report by the London-based watchdog IMPACT-se finds that the new Syrian curriculum replaces a pan-Arab nationalist narrative with an Islamist worldview which glorifies jihad and martyrdom.
Jews are repeatedly portrayed through antisemitic stereotypes of betrayal, hostility and dishonesty, while Syrian Jewish history is absent, according to the study, which took in 130 Syrian textbooks used for grades 1-12. Israel’s right to exist and Jewish national identity are rejected, with Palestinian violence justified or glorified as resistance and martyrdom.
A Grade 8 Arabic language textbook cited in the study includes a text which states “The heroes asked Allah for martyrdom... They gave their souls, watered its soil with pure blood.” Meanwhile, a Grade 4 Islamic Education textbook includes a lesson which teaches that “The believer draws closer to God Almighty through righteous deeds, foremost among them jihad and resistance.”
Syrian schoolbooks honor controversial historic figures, such as Izz ad-din al-Qasam, the namesake of Hamas’s military wing, and Dalal al-Mughrabi, infamous for perpetrating a 1978 massacre in Israel, which killed 38 civilians, including 13 children. A Grade 5 Arabic language textbook includes a poem which portrays al-Mughrabi as a symbol of exemplary heroism.
Moreover, the curriculum also omits scientific theories such as evolution and excludes minorities such as Kurds, Turkmen and Druze. Textbooks also diminish the role of women and depict them in stricter Islamic dress.
A Grade 4 Islamic education textbook replaces an image of modest Islamic dress with men in strict Sunni Salafi-style clothing and women in full black niqab, promoting a more fundamentalist standard of dress to students.
“This report should raise serious concerns among international leaders who hope to see Syria emerge as a partner in building a peaceful and prosperous Middle East,” said IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff.
