Tunisia’s national school curriculum is rife with antisemitic rhetoric and hostility toward Israel despite modern social reforms, according to a study released on Tuesday.
The report, by the London-based Impact SE watchdog group, finds that while Tunisian school textbooks generally present peace, diversity and tolerance as foundational values, they continue to display a hostile attitude toward Israel, as well as antisemitic rhetoric.
According to the study, which analyzed 80 textbooks from grades 1-3 against UNESCO-based standards for peace and tolerance in education, while the curriculum “celebrates gender equality, condemns racism, and encourages civic duty, tolerance, and peaceful dialogue,” these values are “selectively applied.”
While some textbooks acknowledge tolerance for Tunisia’s minorities, other materials include antisemitic stereotypes that depict Jews as greedy, conspiratorial and harmful, thereby undermining messages of tolerance, the report found.
A Grade 11 Arabic Language textbook, for example, portrays a Jewish merchant as greedy and deceitful, stating that this is emblematic of all Jews, “who are always like this.”
Although textbooks discuss World War Two and the Nazis, the Holocaust receives virtually no attention, with Adolf Hitler described as having turned Germany into “a great economic and military power.”
Similarly, the curriculum emphasizes peace, coexistence and intercultural dialogue, promoting shared humanity and rejecting extremism, but at the same time, consistently frames Zionism as a colonial project and includes instances where violence against Israelis is justified or glorified.
Most curriculum maps erase Israel by labeling the territory as “Palestine,” including internationally recognized Israeli territory, thereby denying Israel’s legitimacy.
A Grade 13 history textbook cited in the report describes the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre as a “fedayeen operation,” legitimizing the attack rather than recognizing it as terrorism.
“Today’s Tunisian curriculum champions modern, enlightened values,” said IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff. “It loudly celebrates gender equality, condemns racism, and encourages civic duty, tolerance, and peaceful dialogue. These are strong signals of a society moving forward.”
“However, these values cannot be selectively applied,” he continued. “It is entirely unacceptable that antisemitic imagery and rhetoric remain across subjects, and that violence against Israel is at times justified and even glorified. If Tunisia sees itself as an example of progress in the region, then this underbelly of discrimination must be addressed.”
