While the Trump administration has increased scrutiny on foreign aid, it recently pledged to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan that at least most of its $1.45 billion in annual aid is safe from cuts. But despite being on the receiving end of the fourth largest aid check by Uncle Sam in the world, and despite having a peace agreement with Israel since the early 1990s, Jordan, similar to the Palestinian Authority, continues to undermine U.S. interests in the Middle East by spreading hatred towards Jews and Israel and promoting jihad in its textbooks. A recent report by the NGO IMPACT-SE provided the following examples:
Propagation of Antisemitic Tropes
Rather than promote greater understanding of Jews and Judaism, Jordan’s textbooks libel the Jews.
Several passages portray Jews as dishonest and traitors:
- According to a ninth-grade textbook, “The Jews share many of the characteristics of the Hypocrites [false believers], chief among which is lying.”
- Another ninth-grade textbook says that “[t]reachery and the violation of agreements are some of the traits of the Jews and their natural qualities.”
- A 10th-grade textbook contains a list named “The Jews’ Betrayal,” listing instances in history when the Jews allegedly betrayed Mohammed despite arguing that he treated them favorably
- A 10th-grade teacher’s guide instructs teachers to teach their pupils that “the Jews have always breached agreements and violated treaties.”
Other passages portray Jews as sowing conflict among Arabs:
- A 12th-grade textbook tells a story of two Arab tribes, the Aws and the Khazarj, who were “in discord to the point of almost fighting each other, due to the scheme and malice of one of the Jews who wanted to sow the seeds of discord between them.” The passage later states that the two tribes reconciled after they realized their disagreement was “incitement by Satan, and a plot of their enemy against them.”
- An 11th-grade textbook similarly tells a story of two Jews reminding two Arab tribes that were friendly with each other “of their past wars,” causing the Arab tribes to fight again. After seeing the tribes quarrel, Mohammed visits them and scolds them, and the tribes realize that their present fight “was incitement by Satan, and a plot of their enemy against them.”
The two passages above not only accuse Jews of being enemies of Arabs/Muslims, but being nothing less than agents of Satan.
Other Jordanian textbooks accuse Jews of other libels. For example, several textbooks accuse Israel/Israelis of the 1969 arson attack on the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, when in fact the perpetrator was an Australian Christian who was mentally ill. For example, one textbook puts the blame on “an extremist Jew” who acted “in collusion with the Israeli occupation authorities.” Other textbooks blame “a fanatic Zionist,” “the Zionists,” or “the Israelis.” The textbooks also ignore Israel’s role in extinguishing the fire quickly, bringing the arsonist to trial, and renovating the mosque in a joint Israeli/Jordanian program.
De-legitimation of Israel
Rather than promote and build upon the Jordan–Israel peace treaty, Jordan’s textbooks de-legitimize Israel. They do this in several ways.
First, multiple passages portray Israel as having false claims to the land:
- A 12th-grade textbook states that “The Israeli Occupation attempts to Judaize Jerusalem, to efface its Arab, Islamic and Christian landmarks and to empty it of its Arab residents, on the basis of historical and religious claims which have no basis in reality.”
- Another 12th-grade textbook accuses Israel of “Judaizing Jerusalem” and forging archeological excavations
- Another 12th-grade textbook calls Israel’s claim that the Western (“Wailing”) Wall is a holy site to Judaism a “false claim,” and instead names the site the Al-Buraq Wall
- Another 12th-grade textbook states that the Jews’ return to the land of Israel is “based on completely unfounded historical claims.”
Other passages show Israel as having other illegitimate, nefarious claims to the land:
- An 11th-grade textbook portrays Zionism as having “greedy colonial ambitions for the Arab lands,” which “go back to ancient times.” Additionally, there is an “alliance between Zionism and colonialism” meant “to control Arab countries, to divide them apart and to prevent them from achieving progress.” Zionism is defined as “a racist political movement.”
- A 12th-grade textbook accuses Israel of creating “false and fake Jewish graves” in Jerusalem in order to “Judaiz[e] the Arab Islamic and Christian landmarks of Jerusalem, seiz[e] additional waqf [i.e., Islamic trust] lands, and [prevent] … the people of Jerusalem from burying their dead in their graves.”
And still other passages refuse to recognize the very existence of the State of Israel:
- A 10th-grade textbook shows a map with the word “Palestine” written over the pre-1967 territory of Israel, instead of over the West Bank or Gaza
- Another 10th-grade textbook references a bridge from Jordan to Israel, saying that it connects Jordan to “Palestine”
- A 12th-grade textbook refers not to Israel, but to the “Zionist entity”
- Several other textbooks label “Palestine” on maps of the region, while not labelling Israel at all
Glorifying Jihad and Martyrdom
While the United States views Jordan as a staunch moderate Arab ally, Jordan’s textbooks clearly promote jihad:
- A 12th-grade textbook states that a Muslim who gives up jihad is “[e]xposing oneself to Allah’s wrath and punishments in this world and the Hereafter”
- An 11th-grade textbook states lesson goals, including “To take pride in the ethics of jihad in Islam.” The same textbook teaches that “[j]ihad is a great commandment [farīḍah] in Islam”
- Another 11th-grade textbook extols martyrs as being able to experience an afterlife that is “a special life that is not similar to their life in this world.”
- A fifth-grade Arabic workbook instructs students to write the sentence, “The blood of the martyrs purified the soil of my land.”
And some passages explicitly link jihad to a war against Israel. For example, a 10th-grade textbook calls for Arabs “west of the [Jordan] river” to pursue jihad against Israel: “And the sword in one’s hands, O beloved ones, shall never tire.”
As the Trump administration continues the U.S.’s strategic partnership with Jordan, it should use its influence to get Jordan to moderate the antisemitic, anti-Israel, and pro-jihad tone of its textbooks. As Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Morocco have demonstrated, such reform is possible.
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